Main content | Sidebar | Links

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

2009 UUA presidential election resources.

by Philocrites

While I was preoccupied with my adorable new son (who's now 13 lbs 2 oz at 9 weeks, thank you very much), there were all sorts of new developments in the 2009 UUA presidential race. The last time I mentioned the race was just after Laurel Hallman and Peter Morales announced in January that they were running to succeed Bill Sinkford, whose second term ends in June 2009. Since then:

P.S. I had speculated back in 2006 on how new Web technologies might play out in the 2009 race. How fun it is finally to find out!

Disclosure: As a UUA employee, I will not be expressing any personal opinions about the race or about individual candidates on this site or elsewhere, nor will this site accept paid advertisements related to the elections. You, however, are very welcome to discuss the race.

Posted by Philocrites on 23 July 2008 at 9:56 PM | 2 comments

Globe religion reporter launches Articles of Faith blog.

by Philocrites

At long last, Boston Globe religion reporter Michael Paulson has launched a blog about religion in the Boston area. Two years ago I had noticed that Boston.com had retooled Paulson's April 2005 blog about the selection of a new pope into an all-purpose religion blog, and added it expectantly to my July '06 list of favorite religion blogs, but no new content appeared there until this month. Check out the new Articles of Faith.

Reflecting the general absence of Unitarian Universalism-related news in the Boston area, despite the many UU churches, three districts, several service agencies, and denominational headquarters in the area, Paulson doesn't offer links to UU blogs or news — unless you count Beauty Tips for Ministers, which Paulson profiled last year — but then again, he only offers links to two Episcopal blogs and one Evangelical one. Despite all that, I'm still a fan.

Posted by Philocrites on 23 July 2008 at 4:08 PM | 0 comments

Red Sox: 'Support the Wally program with Wallies.'

by Philocrites

Need a job? The Red Sox are looking to hire a second Wally, which gives the Philocrites family its favorite recent example of corporate-speak: "We want to make sure that we support the Wally program with Wallies," said team spokeswoman Susan Goodenow. The Globe Names column (fifth item) says, "According to an MLB job posting, applicants must be available on weekdays, weeknights, weekends, and holidays — in other words, every day — and have a minimum of one year experience as a sports mascot, theme-park character, or actor. Most importantly, applicants must be able to withstand high heat and be able to lift 50 pounds." What a job!

("Names," Mark Shanahan and Paysha Rhone, Boston Globe 7.23.08; photo by Flickr user BOldenburg used under a Creative Commons license)

Posted by Philocrites on 23 July 2008 at 9:16 AM | 0 comments

Monday, June 23, 2008

My 10 lb 4 oz excuse for skipping General Assembly.

by Philocrites

Philo Jr in his spiffy hatReally, could you wave goodbye to this little guy — who weighed in at his one-month visit to the pediatrician at 10 lbs. 4 oz. — to spend a week covering the annual UUA General Assembly? Happily, UU World will be well represented in Florida without me, with daily news coverage by Jane Greer, workshops by Kenneth Sutton and Don Skinner, a booth in the exhibit hall with Sonja Cohen, and magazine coverage by Kimberly French. Visit the UU World General Assembly blog to keep up! I'll be providing long-distance technical support, but spending my nights burping and changing young Philo Jr.

P.S. I have finally added some more photos to my Philocritot album, for those of you who want to say, "Aww!"

Posted by Philocrites on 23 June 2008 at 8:32 AM | 5 comments

Thursday, June 19, 2008

New 'UU World': Paradise, Sources cantata, counting UUs.

by Philocrites

UU World, Summer 2008While I was offline welcoming my adorable son into the world, UU World's summer issue arrived in subscribers' mailboxes; most of the issue is also available online. Some highlights:

  • Theologians Rita Nakashima Brock and Rebecca Ann Parker present one of the central arguments of their new Beacon Press book, Saving Paradise: They argue that the Crucifixion was not the central image of salvation in Christianity's first thousand years. Instead, they write, early Christian worship was oriented around images of the restoration of an earthly paradise. The Crucifixion came to dominate Christian worship and art only as the Holy Roman Empire and the First Crusade began killing people in Christ's name. Brock and Parker hold up aspects of the Universalist tradition as helping us reclaim a doctrine of salvation focused on this world.

  • Kimberly French profiles composer Jason Shelton and lyricist Kendyl Gibbons, two UU ministers who composed a cantata celebrating Unitarian Universalism's Six Sources. The "Sources" cantata will be performed during the opening ceremony at this summer's General Assembly.

  • Rich Higgins takes an in-depth look at the Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, which found that 3 in 1,000 American adults identify their religion as "Unitarian" — a number significantly larger than the number of people who belong to Unitarian Universalist churches. (Although the UU blogs discussed the survey when it came out, Higgins interviews a number of sociologists who have studied American religious affiliation, so he's got material none of the rest of us had access to.)

    • Also in the summer issue: Forrest Church tells his congregation that his cancer has returned; Jeff Wilson reviews Philip Gura's new history of Transcendentalism; Tad Waddington recommends thinking mythically about your goals; and Alice Blair Wesley gives a shout out to the Puritan "Cambridge Platform," the root of Unitarian Universalist "congregational polity."

    Members of UUA congregations receive a subscription to UU World as a benefit of membership. Others can subscribe in the U.S. for only $14 a year. Visit uuworld.org for articles from the magazine's current and past issues, online-only essays and blogs, and fresh news. And be sure to sign up for the magazine's weekly email newsletter.

    P.S. If you want to write a letter to the editor, write to world {at} uua.org and include your name, address, phone number, and congregation; only your name and city will be published with your letter.

    Posted by Philocrites on 19 June 2008 at 8:38 AM | 2 comments

    Previous entries . . .