For fifty years we have been doing things one way.  Each year, congregational delegates traveled from across the Unitarian Universalist Association to our General Assembly to focus on business and the unique situation of the host site.

Now in the fifty-first year of our consolidated Association, things will be different!  And your District will be mirroring many of those changes as well.

In late June, 2012, General Assembly will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, structured around a shared value, Justice, rather than around a shared business agenda.  And, in late June, 2012, congregations across our Association will be invited to a Day of National Service and Witness in their local communities, not just in Phoenix.  We will be called to the vision and work of justice where we live and work and worship. 

Even the small amount of business which will be conducted will be opened to people everywhere.  The 2011 Bylaw amendment on off-site voting allows for active, valid participation on an equal basis for people voting in Phoenix, Jacksonville, Key West, Orlando, and even Jupiter.  General Assembly has come home, to a city or town near you!

On Saturday, June 23, 2012, all of our congregations will be called to express themselves in their local communities through organized education, action, and witness.  Now is the time to begin thinking about what that expression of your Unitarian Universalist values might look like in your community.  Keep in mind some important questions as you plan:

- how will we plan for whole-congregation participation: how we involve people of all ages and abilities speaks as much to justice as will our other actions.

- what are the ways in which we address root causes more than just symptoms?

- with whom do we need to develop sustained partnerships now in the work of justice to prepare for June?

- how can we transform this call to action into an abiding presence more than just a single event?

On March 23-25, 2012, in Jacksonville, we will gather in our District Assembly, which will be a time to share, learn, grow, and experience around these same themes, helping us better tend to the justice work in all of our communities.   Like the General Assembly, much of the District Assembly's program features will be available electronically to those who cannot get to Jacksonville. 

I am hoping to hear, at District Assembly, about exciting plans for June 23 in all of our local communities, a day when Unitarian Universalism comes alive in the civic life of Florida. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if people around the whole Unitarian Universalist Association pointed to Florida with pride and said: "Wow, look at the many, diverse programs of justice work they created there!" 

Time to get organizing, planning, recruiting, connecting is now!

Be in touch if you want more ideas about what and how and why . . . from broad theological ponderings to specific issues such as child-friendly justice action and time-line planning. 

Rev. Randy

UUA TRUSTEE TIDBITS

Board Communications Checklist

☑ Approved Board minutes are posted the Sunday after the Board's meeting.

☑ Board President's newsletter column identifies clearly significant Board decisions each month/quarter.

☑ Two Board members are scheduled for each month to hold informal Q&A session about Board business the Sunday after a Board meeting.

☑ The Board has scheduled 3 "town meetings" in the calendar year to discuss with congregation emerging issues & priorities.

☑The Annual Report has a summary page of major Board actions in the last year.

Nominations open October 15th

The October 2011 district monthly packet has been posted to the district website and may be viewed at the following link:

http://www.floridadistrict.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/FLD-October-2012-Packet.pdf  (2.5mb, 18 pages)

Please share the information contained in the monthly packet with individuals in your congregation. This edition of the district packet contains the following items:

• District Calendar, page 1
• Southern Region UU Leadership Experience information, page 2
• UUA Association Sunday, page 3
• West Central Cluster Picnic flyer, page 4
• UUF Vero Beach Emerson Center Humanities Series Flyer, page 5
• Mountain Women's Retreat flyer & registration, pages 6-8
• General Assembly 2012, pages 9-10
• GA, Now Accepting Program Proposals, pages 11-12
• UU Church of Sarasota job opening announcement, pages 13-14
• Mountain Thanksgiving flyer & registration, pages 15-16
• Florida UU Women's Retreat flyer & registration, pages 17-18

Looking for a single event flyer? District event flyers are linked to the "Events Calendar" page on the District website (see http://www.floridadistrict.org/?page_id=1419).   Simply click the event listed on the calendar and the flyer will open. UUA, Congregation, Cluster, and Affiliated Organization event listings are linked to those entities websites whenever possible.

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The UUA Monthly Bulletin for Congregations is a collection of announcements and updates from the staff groups and committees of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) of Congregations, and from the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF).

Click here to view the October 2011 UUA Congregational Bulletin

 Florida District Events

District Board Meeting - October 15-16 - Oviedo

Cluster, Congregation and Affiliated Organization Events

Florida Humanities Series - Multiple Dates - The Emerson Center, UU Fellowship of Vero Beach. Offered this month, October 27 - Paul Dosal, Ph.D., Florida's Hispanic Heritage

Seventh Annual West Central Cluster Picnic - October 29 - Odessa

Florida UU Women's Retreat - April 27 to 29, 2012 - Ellenton

Job Opportunity

Director of Religious Education - UU Church of Sarasota

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota (UUCS), Florida is seeking a ¾ time Director of Religious Education (DRE) for a Religious Education program which primarily runs from mid-August through May each year. We have the teaching teams in place and an engaged Religious Education (RE) Committee. Now we are searching for an energetic Religious Education professional to collaborate with our minister and RE Committee to provide leadership, volunteer development, and coordination, caring and creativity to our dynamic Religious Education program for children and youth.  Read the complete announcement.

It's Time to Pledge Your Congregation's Support

We do not belong to these larger associations by obligation but rather by covenant. We covenant to affirm and promote the principles of our Association as free churches. Part of that affirmation and promotion is our congregations' financial support. These words by the Rev. John Morehouse point to the importance of each congregation pledging its annual financial support to our UUA and District. Just as the local congregation depends on the knowledge of its members' annual giving intentions to plan its annual budget, our UUA and Districts do as well.

Congregational leaders: This is the time in the year when requested contribution forms sent to each congregation in early June must be returned to the Annual Program Fund Office, 25 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02108.

Mountain Retreat and Learning Center - Upcoming Events

October 28 to 30 - Women's Retreat: A Weekend of Rejuvenation, Featuring Rev. Amy Carol Webb

November 23 to 27 - Thanksgiving: A Family Celebration

Registration forms for both events are available on the Mountain website .

New UUA Pamphlet Available

To the Point: 15 Elevator Speeches offers a diverse collection of brief responses to the question "What Is Unitarian Universalism?" from Peter Morales, Forrest Church, Bill Sinkford and others. See: http://www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=1508 

Congregational Finances

Our UUA has an updated, free Handbook for For Congregational Treasurers & Finance teams. Go to http://www.uua.org/documents/stew-dev/apf/handbook_treas_finance.pdf to download your copy. The handbook contains the essentials for financial management. Designed to be adaptable and user-friendly, this resource that can be added to and easily updated as new information becomes available and practices and technology change. (Please note, if you downloaded a copy of this earlier in the year, this edition contains updated links following the recent UUA website reorganization.)

Congregational Growth Stories

Created seven years ago, identifying four "breakthrough" congregations is an effort to identify those congregations that had achieved  significant and sustained numerical growth and give them an opportunity to share at General Assembly what they've done, and how they've done it. Why not look to the experts-those lay and professional leaders who have already "cracked the nut" around growth-and give them the opportunity at general assembly to share their wisdom?

This year's congregations are:

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Beaufort, SC: 81 members.

Westside Unitarian Universalist (UU) Congregation, Seattle, WA : 181 members.

Universalist Unitarian (UU) Church of Peoria, IL: 346 members.

Unitarian Universalist (UU) Congregation of Fairfax, VA: 713  members

Each video is about 8 minutes. Hear their stories at Breakthrough Congregation Videos. The are  viewable & downloadable online. Will yours be among those honored in the year to come?

Immigration Justice Work

Unitarian Universalist leaders are invited to sharet faith development materials to help congregations faithfully respond to immigration justice issues, whether or not they will be sending delegates to Phoenix for GA 2012. "Cooking Together" includes both a blog, where folks can talk about particular resources, and a web page offering a growing library of resources for Worship, Theological Reflection, Religious Education, and Faithful Witness for people of all ages and life stages. The blog is the "kitchen" where all are invited to experiment with particular resources and put ideas into the simmer pot, and the web page is the "banquet table," with resources for congregations of all sizes and kinds to sample. To find out more, read the first weekly post. Join the cooking and the conversation; we think you will find it a welcoming place to be!

2011 Minns Conference on Composing Our UU Future
 Video and  Text Now Available
In April 2011, the Minns Lectureship Committee brought together
Unitarian Universalist clergy, seminarians, lay leaders, and
parishioners from across the country to reflect on the present state of
Unitarian Universalism, as well as hopes and intentions for the future
of this liberal religious tradition.
The slate of speakers and panelists included some of the most engaging,
passionate voices in Unitarian Universalism today; their complete
lectures are available online now in both video and text formats at
http://minnslectures.org/2011_series.php.