173 Excerpt: Good Relationships Between Ministers and Congregations
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What makes a good, long-lasting relationship between ministers and congregations when they’re not in search? This is a highlight clip from episode #173 with the Rev. Keith Kron, director of the UUA’s transitions office.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
172: Susan Frederick-Gray, Candidate for UUA President
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Susan Frederick-Gray joins us as the first of three candidates for UUA President who will be on The VUU in March. Throughout our conversation, Susan emphasizes the importance of fundraising and mission as central to the role of president.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. Tom Schade joins as special host for this week’s episode. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET.
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
171: Black Lives of UU
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Kenny Wiley and Lena K. Gardner join us from the Black Lives of UU organizing collective. What a full and deep conversation about immigration, the threats to penalize protestors and how that will change organizing tactics, the need to move from reactionary to visionary, the life-giving form of creativity around resistance. Plus, Kenny, Lena and host Aisha Hauser made a passionate and compassionate call for white UUs to step up both their internal and external work around anti-racism and anti-oppression.
BLUU Convening:
March 9-12, 2017 in New Orleans
BLUU is gearing up to host this inaugural event that will bring together Black Unitarian Universalists from across generations. Learn more and register.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on February 16, 2017.
Note: This audio has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
170: Moral Resistance with Jen Butler
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The VUU welcomes the Rev. Jen Butler, CEO of Faith in Public Life (FPL). We talked about the need for moral resistance against the Trump administration’s use of religious freedom to discriminate against people. Faith leaders have a unique role to play as prophets who tell the truth about the present, and faith communities have power at the local, state and national levels particularly when they work together.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on February 9, 2017.
Note: On this episode, our guest experienced bandwidth challenges, so the audio is somewhat choppy. The podcast has been edited to improve sound quality as much as possible. View the live original recording on YouTube.
169: UU Talks with Peter Bowden and Twinkle Manning
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Peter Bowden and “Twinkle” Marie Manning join The VUU to introduce us to the new UU Talks. This initiative helps congregations and other organizations share their own UU values and ideas with the world through Ted Talk-like live events. The videos that are produced can then be distributed both online and on television.
UU Talks provides coaching and mentoring for all the pieces that go into producing, promoting and distributing an event. It is an ideal tool for both small and large organizations to enhance their fundraising incomes, community outreach, and publicity.
UU Talks is hosting their first model event on April 28 with the theme, “Collaboration.” It will be used as an example for how others can host their own UU Talks at their own location.
Learn more at UUTalks.org or on their Facebook page.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on February 2, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
168: Prophetic Faith Development with Judith Frediani
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We talk with Judith Frediani about religious educators as community organizers and how they apply an intersectional lens in curricula that benefits all parts of congregational life. We also go deep into rankism and the many ways people assert their superiority. In our UU faith movement, this manifests itself around credentialing for religious educators and potential fragility of ministers.
Judith has long been a staunch advocate for religious educators and the importance of their leadership in UUism. At the 2016 UUA General Assembly, she was recognized for her outstanding contributions to religious education.
Show notes:
- Judith’s Odyssey presentation at the 2016 LREDA Conference
- 2016 LREDA Conference YouTube playlist
- UUA Tapestry of Faith curricula
- Our Whole Lives (OWL) Sexuality Education
- TEDxBerkeley talk with Dr. Robert Fuller, who coined the term rankism
- Childism: Confronting Prejudice Against Children by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl (Amazon)
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 26, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
167: Black Lives of UU
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Leslie Mac and Lena K. Gardner join The VUU from the Black Lives of UU organizing collective. We talk about assumptions around authority, decentering whiteness, humility and the need for liberal white folks to first do the work within and not expect kudos for not voting for Trump.
Show notes:
- Inaugural Black Lives of UU Convening in New Orleans, LA on March 9 – 12, 2017
- Safety Pin Box
- Recording of Standing on the Side of Love’s pre-march webinar with Lena K. Gardner, Caitlen Breedlove and Rev. Ashley Horan
- “Liberals love to kill movements with bureaucracy, not outright resistance.” — Rev. Ashley Horan
- What’s Next After All the Marches? Organize by Brittney T. Oliver
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. Tom Shade joined the hosting crew this week. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 19, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
166: The Religious Right with Peter Montgomery
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The VUU talks with Peter Montgomery about religion and politics, the global impact of the religious right, the religiosity behind fascism, and the countering power of the arts and beauty. Peter is a writer who has studied religious conservatives for close to two decades. In this past presidential campaign, he attended the GOP Convention and a number of Trump rallies.
Peter is a well-regarded writer/thinker and a source for national media. Follow his work:
Peter finds inspiration and hope in this quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (referenced at the end of the show):
A [person] should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of [their] life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 12, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
165: Immigration and the New Sanctuary Movement with Katia Hansen
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Our guest is Katia Hansen, President/CEO of UURISE. We talk about congregational support for immigration justice including providing sanctuary, the importance of becoming a coalition partner, immigration services her organization provides, and general concerns going into the new Trump administration.
Resources mentioned in today’s episode:
- UURISE (UU Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education)
- UUA’s New Sanctuary Movement page
- BorderLinks trip to US/Mexico border
- United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the nation
- Puente Movement, a grassroots migrant justice organization based in Phoenix, Arizona
- National Day Laborer Organizing Network
Upcoming webinars:
- UUSC’s Sanctuary and Solidarity webinar (for clergy only) on Tuesday, January 17, 3:00-4:15 PM (ET) – Register
- UUSC’s Sanctuary and Solidarity webinar (open to all) on Sunday, January 22, 3:30-4:45pm (ET) – Contact Paul Langston-Daley
- UUCSJ/UURISE: Faithful Discernment: Is Your Congregation Called to Offer Sanctuary? on Monday, January 30, 7:00-9:00 pm (ET)
- UUCSJ/UURISE: The Path Toward Sanctuary: A Practical Guide on Monday, February 27 7:00-9:00 pm (ET)
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. Tom Shade joined the hosting crew this week. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on January 5, 2017.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
164: Joy as a Form of Resistance
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The regular VUU crew chats about the power of joy, where Santa Claus fits in, and the complexities of multi-faith families during the holidays. Plus, Jackson Crawford pops by at the beginning of the episode to share stories about his time as a White House intern this fall.
As mentioned in the show, visit Joanna Fontaine Crawford’s blog to read more about the different levels of Santa (don’t miss the day-after Christmas letter posted in the comments).
The VUU is hosted by Meg Riley, Joanna Fontaine Crawford, Aisha Hauser, Hank Peirce, Michael Tino and Alicia Forde, with production support provided by Terri Burnor. The VUU streams live on Thursdays at 11 am ET. This episode aired on December 22, 2016.
Note: The audio above has been slightly edited for a better listening experience. View the live original recording on YouTube.
