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The Rev. Linda Olson Peebles, minister of Faith in Action at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Arlington, Virginia, joined Unitarian Universalist and other clergy to speak out against the appointment of Jeff Sessions as attorney general. The Rev. William J. Barber led the interfaith crowd as they marched to the office building of the U.S. Senate to share their views. (Washington Post – 1.9.17)
More coverage:
Faith leaders rally to protest Jeff Sessions’ nomination (ThinkProgress.org – 1.9.17)
Rev. William Barber Calls Jeff Sessions Nomination A “Moral Crisis” (Religion Dispatches – 1.10.17)
LGBTQ co-pastors make news
Sally Sarratt and Maria Swearingen will take positions as co-pastors of the historic, progressive Calvary Baptist Church in downtown Washington, D.C. The placement is making news among Christian organizations because Sarratt and Swearingen are a married lesbian couple. Sarratt has been serving part-time as associate minister at Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in South Carolina. (Religion News Service – 1.9.17)
News from congregations
For a few years now, members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah, Georgia, have been running a small community radio station called WRUU. They have several shows already airing on the station’s website and are now working to secure additional funding to expand existing programming. “It’s a radio station in Savannah to give an outlet to things that are not on the radio elsewhere in Savannah,” said Doug Johnson, chairman of the WRUU executive task force. (dosavannah.com – 1.9.17)
Congregations are preparing for social action in a variety of ways, and the minister of First Parish in Brookline, Massachusetts, is also thinking about ways to keep information about social justice organizing safely in the hands of her parish members. From the pulpit last Sunday, the Rev. Rebecca Bryan described moving away from Facebook to a service that uses encryption. (The Verge – 1.12.17)