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DENOMINATIONAL EVENTS
For more information about these events, please go to the website http://www.swuuc.org/, unless noted otherwise.
March 29 - 31, 2012
Batter UUp! - UU Spring Training
The First Unitarian Church of Dallas
April 27-29, 2012: SWUUC Spring Conference. One World, Many Voices: Leadership for a Multi-Cultural Age. Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston, Texas
June 20-24, 2012: General Assembly, Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit
http://www.uua.org/ga/index.shtml
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Dear Friends,
I hope our note finds you hale and hearty and ready for the holidays!
I am writing because you have an important part to play in an exciting opportunity in our Association. Gathered Here is an invitation to all Unitarian Universalists (UUs) to explore the future of our movement together—to discover our common aspirations and unleash the power of our faith. I am writing to urge you and your congregation to become involved in Gathered Here.
Gathered Here is a joint initiative of our UUA Board of Trustees and UUA Administration, and is formally endorsed by many of the major groups of our Association including the UU Ministers Association.
Community Conversations are the heart of Gathered Here. Community Conversations are designed to promote dreaming and sharing of the future we hold in our hearts for our UU movement. The process of gathering and distilling our visions will continue through the summer of 2012 in the hopes that all who wish to participate will have a chance to do so. A Community Conversation can involve a large or small group and can be offered in as little as three hours or as long as a weekend event. All of the materials needed to host a Community Conversation are available free of charge on our UUA website.
Over recent weeks the Gathered Here core team has produced a series of short videos to explain the initiative, its benefits and process. These videos are posted on the Gathered Here page of the UUA website at Gathered Here. I encourage you to watch the videos, read the FAQs section, and then “Take Action” as directed on the website.
I would especially like to encourage you, as leaders of our congregations and UU movement, to consider serving one of the two Gathered Here volunteer roles—Congregational Coordinator or Local Facilitator. Congregational Coordinators facilitate a Community Conversation in their home congregation or UU community (such as a local youth group or young adult network). Local Facilitators support the efforts of up to three Congregational Coordinators. Later in the process, the Local Facilitators will host a conversation with their cluster of three Congregational Coordinators to lift up and integrate the stories and dreams that started in the Community Conversations. Complete job descriptions for Congregational Coordinators and Local Facilitators are posted as links on the left hand side of the Gathered Here page noted above.
As a Senior Facilitator for Gathered Here, my role is to help recruit Congregational Coordinators and to recruit and train the Local Facilitators. Note that all Local Facilitators and Congregational Coordinators will be vetted and must apply on-line through the links under the “Take Action” section of the Gathered Here web page. I will be happy to assist you with this process.
If you have further questions please contact me @ 281-342-8133 or jsullconsulting@gmail.com, or contact our District staff, Susan Smith ssmith@uua.org or Jennifer Nicholsjnichols@uua.org.
In faith,
Joe Sullivan
Gathered Here Senior Facilitator