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A profile of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Niagara in Niagara Falls, New York, highlights the congregation’s commitment to supporting a theologically diverse, lay-led religious community. Although the congregation’s membership is primarily made up of about twenty active members, the members and leaders interviewed expressed their appreciation for the church and their hopeful outlook for the future of liberal religion. (Buffalo News – 7.17.17)
In a story about the changing views of women in ministry in the United States, Unitarian Universalists are noted for their early support of women ministers, particularly the ordination of Olympia Brown by the Universalists in the 1860s. The Rev. Sarah Lammert, interim chief operating officer at the Unitarian Universalist Association, added that the denomination saw a significant trend in women turning to ordained ministry in the 1970s. (Toledo Blade – 7.16.17)
The Unitarian Universalist clergy experience is included in a play showing for one night in New York City. The Clergy Project brings together Father Daniel Brereton of St. John the Baptist Anglican church in Mississauga, Ontario, the Rev. Shawn Newton of Toronto’s First Unitarian Congregation, and Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, the spiritual leader of City Shul in Toronto, and shares their personal experiences with ministry in a multifaith setting. (BroadwayWorld.com – 7.12.17)
More coverage:
“A gay priest, a gay minister and a female rabbi walk into a theatre…” (Canadian Jewish News – 7.21.17)
Abortion provider Curtis Boyd, a Unitarian Universalist, has been providing abortions in Texas and New Mexico for more than fifty years, beginning before Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Boyd’s work is profiled in a historical look at the roles religious people have played in abortion access in the United States. (Santa Fe Reporter – 7.21.17)