Books by UU authors, Fall 2005

A selection of four books written by Unitarian Universalists.
By Kenneth Sutton
Fall 2005 8.15.05

The Safe Congregation Handbook: Nurturing Healthy Boundaries in Our Faith Communities. Patricia Hoertdoerfer and Frederic Muir, editors. Unitarian Universalist Association, 2005; $25. This handbook sets out a flexible program for helping congregations and individuals to “increase their understanding, expand their skills, develop their faith, and learn about resources that they can use when addressing and responding to the dehumanizing experience of interpersonal violence.” Essays from a wide range of contributors are followed by outlines for twelve thematic workshops of forty-five minutes or two hours, copy-ready handouts, and resources. The Rev. Patricia Hoertdoerfer has just retired as children, family, and intergenerational programs director in the UUA’s Lifespan Faith Development Department. The Rev. Dr. Frederic Muir is the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, Maryland.

A Time to Heal: Protecting Children and Ministering to Sex Offenders. Debra W. Haffner. Lifequest, 2005; $12. The Rev. Debra Haffner conducted much of the research and writing for this manual when she developed an on-line handbook for UU congregations (which can be found at www.uua.org/cde/ethics/balancing/index.html), which she has adapted here for use by other denominations. Haffner, a member of the Unitarian Church in Westport, Connecticut, is director of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice, and Healing and was president of SIECUS, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, from 1988 to 2000.

We Would Be One: A History of Unitarian Universalist Youth Movements. Wayne Arnason and Rebecca Scott. Skinner House Books, 2005; $15. Beginning with the nineteenth century, the authors recount the stories of Universalist and Unitarian youth movements right up to the early years of the twenty-first century. The appendices include a helpful list of acronyms. The Rev. Wayne Arnason is co-minister of the West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Cleveland, and Rebecca Scott, a lifelong UU, was a youth programs specialist in the UUA Youth Office from 1989 to 1990.

Serve and Learn: Implementing and Evaluating Service-Learning in Middle and High Schools. Florence Fay Pritchard and George I. Whitehead III. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004; $27.50. A structured approach to service-learning through which educators and community partners guide students toward positive learning outcomes while meeting real community needs. Florence Pritchard, a writer and educator, is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers, Florida.