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Responding to a March 5 uuworld.org story about layoffs at the UUA (see “UU News,” page 43), the Rev. Scott Wells, in a much-commented-on post at “Boy in the Bands,” said he has “no sympathy” for people who see good news in the layoffs of the staff of the UUA’s Washington Office for Advocacy. (March 6, March 10)
Joel Monka at “CUUMBAYA,” however, has long favored eliminating the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy: “[M]y objections to the UUAWO go beyond the fact that they make us appear to be not an independent church, but merely the Democratic Party’s chaplain office. . . . [O]ur efforts are so ineffectual as to be a waste of resources. There’s no reason to believe that our efforts have ever changed a single vote in Congress. (March 7)
“[T]he real question is what we mean by ‘advocacy,’” wrote Desmond Ravenstone at “Ravenstone’s Reflections.” “Is it just lobbying for Federal legislation, or are there other ways we can bend the moral arc of the universe?” (March 9)
At “East of Midnight,” in response to discussions of the staff reorganization on the UUA-GA email list, Kim Hampton criticized the view that “Advocacy has always been and will always be at the core of UU.” “How about the exploration of the sacred/mystery being at the core?” (March 9)
In response to our Spring cover stories, “Can Unitarian Universalism Change?” and “We Must Change,” the Rev. Daniel Harper ventured a prediction at “Yet Another Unitarian Universalist”: “A few larger upper middle class white Unitarian congregations (and I mean Unitarian, not UU), the ones located in upper middle class white enclaves, will continue to thrive. Most Unitarian Universalist congregations will try to retain their upper middle class white trappings, and will continue to shrink relative to total surrounding population. . . . A few—a very few—Unitarian Universalist congregations will do the theological and cultural work to become radically inclusive and egalitarian, i.e., they will live out the Universalist side of our theological heritage, and these congregations will thrive and grow.” (February 18)
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum at “Rev. Cyn” totals up “the high price of democracy” in the UUA. “During my past five years as minister in this small, rural church, with many working-class folk, only two members have attended General Assembly, and I’ve attended twice. That means we cast four votes out of a possible fifteen. . . . I hope that we can change our GA culture to make it more accessible for all.” (February 26)
Several religious professionals wrote recently about using the social networking site Facebook. The Rev. Kathryn Bert at “The Stole’n Word” posted her decision to keep it strictly personal (January 29), while the Rev. Christine Robinson has a series of posts at “iMinister” filled with advice, starting with “Why Facebook for Ministers?” (March 24, March 25, more) Kari Kopnick at “Chalice Spark” wrote from the perspective of a religious educator (March 26), and the Rev. Cynthia Landrum at “Rev. Cyn” adds advice about privacy settings. (March 31)
Finally, a tip of the hat to a new blog by the Ballou Channing District Young Adult Ministry, “Generation Yes: News & Spirituality for Unitarian Universalists Under 40.”