The Chesapeake Bay watershed has been hit by a large snowstorm; indeed, two outsize storms since December, and a supplemental snowfall is due this week.

The sidewalks are a patchwork of the clear and dry — a crown in heaven for those responsible persons who shoveled them — or, when, left uncleared like a wet and rocky beach, with uneven mounds of shifting snow for shifting sand. The main roads are said to be plowed, but compacted and smoothed would be a more accurate description. Ice unseen makes walking and driving a hazard. The side streets are impassible.

Restless workaholics are clamoring to return to their cubicles. Staples foods are running out of the open stores. The fun is wearing off the spectacle.

But certain dangers and inconveniences come with a storm. Having spent much of my childhood in hurricane-targeted New Orleans, you learn how to prepare for wind and flood, but you cannot prepare for the smells or the boredom that follow. Nor, indeed, can you prepare yourself for the hapless mess of oh-so-clever names this winter storm has been given. Let’s review.

• Snowpocalypse. My favorite, if worn. A good use of hyperbole and the construction is little changed from the original word. Tricky to spell. That is, if you’re not cutting-and-pasting it.
• Snowmageddon. Not as good, because it doesn’t map from Armageddon unless you say it with an intrusive R in the first syllable. Of course, native “Warshingtonians” might.
• SnOMG. Unacceptable. When spoken “Snow my God!” it’s dated and twee. To those unfamiliar, it looks like the word smog spoken by someone eating peanut butter.
• Snogasm. Evokes nasty thoughts. And laughable, since we’re now in the fourth day of this event.

Any other constructions (“snono”) means you’re trying too hard. Take that energy and apply it, say, to a shovel and a sidewalk.

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The snow has stopped falling here in D.C., and I’m tired of writing about it. Back to church administration.

Earlier, I wrote that much of the utility of newsletters — not e-newsletters, but the ones handed to you or sent by mail — comes from their physicality, thus providing a connection to the ministry that sends them. I think this is why printed newsletter’s biggest defenders (and backseat copy editors) are the elderly, and not so much because of their age but because of the added difficulties of getting to church. It’s also more than “not getting the technology” — very often they have a vested interest in getting those printed pages. Think how many snow-bound people here will miss church but — perhaps unconsciously — leaf to see what the church news is as a touchstone or connection. (The instinct is akin to bringing and receiving food in times of distress.) For shut-ins and moved-aways, and for extra-congregational ministries, every Sunday is a snow day.

So I think the church and ministry newsletter will survive. But it needs to value the readers’ time and sensibility, be more clever in its production and attentive to quality.

Some thoughts about what I’ve seen next time.

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I had a very nice invitation the middle of last week to fill in for a vespers service for a small church tomorrow. Since I’m not preaching these days, I was happy to be invited but asked . . . “what about the snow?”

They canceled, and I’m getting on the schedule. But it begs the question:

Which religious services will be open this weekend? This list, from WTOP Radio, rules out many of the synagogues and Adventist churches (understandable since the blizzard will be running neatly over the sabbath) but I wonder if other churches are holding out for more news, or have decided and are just not getting the word out. Please be clear about your opening policies, particularly in big, clear letters on your website.

If you’re in a position of leadership and haven’t decided, consider this. Some of my nicest experiences of worship have been at a church I don’t normally attend because the one I would attend is inaccessible, and bad weather certainly counts. Like the time several winters ago when we closed at my former pastorate and so I — living near the church anyway — wandered down a few more blocks and joined the remnant of First Baptist. They even took in two new members that day! Many of the twenty or thirty or so of us — less than 5% of the usual congregation — decamped to a local diner for lunch. A great experience of hospitality and a thought for those thinking, “none of our people will show up.”

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Reports of record snowfall — perhaps the worst since 1996, perhaps 1922, thus the worst I will have seen in my time in Washington, D.C. — have put our buttoned-up city into a tizzy. Snowmageddondc.com says it all. The groceries have been busy, and the nearby Trader Joe’s — always busy — last night was one big line snaking up and down the aisles and out the door. (It was a full loop inside the store on Wednesday, when I was there.) Locals, when facing a snow threat, buy bread, milk and toilet paper. (It begs the question: what do you make with that?) But this time other staples, including whole meat departments, are being cleared out.

Day Job, following the federal government’s lead, closed four hours early, and so we dutiful office-folk ambled home. What food, drink to buy? Or would we have to resort to cannibalism? Seems if you stuck to the smaller stores — even the drug store and convenience stores — you had and have much better luck.

I thought this was an opportunity to drag out the bread machine — even though at my neighborhood market still had bread and milk — so I went out for bread flour and dry milk (for the recipe I use). Oh, and a fifth of sweet vermouth for the Manhattans.

The day had taken its toll on the usually well-stocked shelves, and it was clear what people in my neighborhood would be eating over the next few days. Pots of beans, canned and homemade soup, tuna salad, macaroni and cheese, pasta with red sauce.

Some will bake. Gaps in the flour, but a five-pound sack for me. Packets
of cookie mix and chocolate chips gone. Muffins, perhaps, instead of the more esoteric loaf bread and buns remaining.

Coffee and white wine. Plenty of wine. Fresh cases pulled out, but all hands at the registers, so not on the shelves.

I think we’ll survive. Tuck yourselves in and ride it out.

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I have one, valedictory issue of the Liberal Christian to publish. At this point, I’m looking towards a spring date.

That 2009 experiment was helpful, for me, for a couple of reasons and one was an appreciation of print publications for certain settings. Also my current Esperanto studies, since that community has been heavily dependent on print and web publications. (Liberal Christian is a web-only publication, and I think that was one of its problems.) Contrast the mode of work of a dispersed religious group — say, like one of the former independent affiliates of the Unitarian Universalist Association — and something more immediate, like a conventional church. A church is made real in ways we see and touch. Spiritual realities are manifested in physical gatherings, in a particular space with recognized tools and artifacts. Information — more than just the date of this meeting or that potluck — need not come in a newsletter, though it may, because people will learn what it means to be a part of the church primarily from living in it. A congregation that publishes its news in a RSS feed isn’t too far in my mind that one — as was the norm not many decades past — the announced all its news in worship.

Groups that don’t regularly meet — that appeal to a commonality, by web and mail — must be more intentional about how people (literally) sense them. Some have real-world meetings or retreats. Many send some kind of artifact — televangelist were famous for this — but most rely on a news publication.

One ministry I particularly like is the Saviour of All Fellowship. Universalist in theology, but never structurally a part of the Universalists. Indeed, its readers seem to have more affinity for the Concordant Publishing Concern, with its own biblical translation and theological works. The physical manifestation of the Saviour of All Fellowship is a one-page monthly newsletter. It comes in a long envelope with my bills and fliers, and I’m always happy to get it. Far more happy than if the same content were mailed to me.

The format is simple. A fragment of devotional literature, notices of future in-person conferences, obituaries and the like. One page per month. So simple, but a lifeline for that community.

More on this subject next time.

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The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office claims to be the only religious voice at the United Nations advocating for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons, or in their lingo, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) work. I believe them and wish there were more sharing in their labor. (Anyone? Please. Or correct me if I’m wrong or misunderstood the claim.)

I’m a member, joining when I was last in New York and impressed by the hard-working staffers in their tightly packed UN-adjacent digs. I think you should join, too. Give generously. The UU-UNO is surely the highest value organization most Unitarian Universalist don’t know about.

But I’m sure there are other vital organizations that support, encourage and defend BGLT/SOGI people, particularly in the Caribbean and the African continent, where so much bad news has recently come.

Do you have a favorite, and if so, what makes them so valuable?

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It’s that time of year again — the season where member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association will have certified with the UUA, ostensibly for voting rights in the General Assembly. (The proposal radically to change the nature of General Assembly is hot now; not sure I’ll make much comment. It seems like a misplaced overkill, but GA delegates aren’t bashful about killing overreaching measures and power grabs. So it might not be worth the effort to comment.)

In years past, I used to watch the certifications day by day and delight in the trends. Now, working for a data-driven government transparency organization, I would rather see the data in a format more useful for researchers. Online at all time for sure. An API perhaps. Certainly not my hackish manipulation of certification results to see which congregations are shrinking and which growing.

But take a look and see what we have now. Perhaps I will see what changes the year brings.

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Quite a number of people are upset about CBS’s ad-sales decisions about the Superbowl and have called for a boycott or direct complaints to CBS.

I don’t like it either. I don’t like the hypocrisy of denying the United Church of Christ a spot because of their activism (anyone can attend their churches, even gays) but allowing the Tebow ad, sponsored by Focus on the Family. Or selling space a nasty anti-gay candy bar ad two (or was it three?) years ago, but not allowing a gay dating service — Mancrunch; sounds like a candy bar — the same.

But I have a hard time getting worked up. I never watch the Superbowl, and reviewing the stated advertisers have a hard time thinking of those — apart perhaps Coke — that I buy often enough to give up in a boycott. (Indeed, I’ve already boycotted domain registrar GoDaddy for its president’s go-go-Gitmo beliefs, Hooters-quality advertising and miserable terms of service. Use NameCheap.com instead.) Why spend social capital using my spending power, pitting big corporations against others. Not my fight. And the wrong approach. (I would complain to the candy bar company if that ad was current. But the Fairness doctrine is dead — such a shame — so there’s no trying to appeal to that.)

The CBS use of the public airwaves to perpetuate anti-gay bias in CBS’s business is my business. God knows the Right uses FCC complaints to get attention to what jerks their chain. Time to learn FCC regulations and get used to making complaints where it might get some attention.

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Unitarian minister and blogger Andrew Brown today posted a scanned PDF of the only in-depth biography of Universalist pioneer George de Benneville. I feel a bit bad because I’ve owned a copy for years — he paid dearly for his — and I never put it up.

He alludes to the problem of copyright — it was copyrighted in 1953. Now, since it was of that vintage, if it was never renewed, the work is in the public domain, and has been since 1981. That’ll take some research, but I think it’s a safe bet.

But if it was renewed and a copyright owner cannot be found, then this handy booklet becomes an orphan work and becomes good for nobody: not the unknown owner of the intellectual property and not good for historians, students or the general public who could not republish it. This is a serious intellectual property issue, and needs a remedy.

Until then, do download the book. (Again, I’d bet it’s in the public domain.) And I’ll scan my collection of mid-century Universalist imprints to see if there’s anything also orphaned but likely out of copyright.

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Ah kids, gather ’round and I’ll tell you about the world pre-Web. We had mailing lists, telephone trees, gopher (I transcribed the first Unitarian document for gopher, and later Project Gutenberg: Channing’s Baltimore Sermon) and before its current use as a vehicle for file downloads — Usenet newsgroups.

These were chat rooms, divided by subject and there were at least two for Unitarian Universalists: soc.religion.unitarian-univ (not enough room for Universalist; just barely extant) and bit.listserv.uus-l.

Lately, I’ve been thinking of the capacity preconditions for a renewal for Christianity among Unitarian Universalists.

I mention the Usenet newsgroups now because I remembered there was quite an interesting little thread on bit.listserv.uus-l about forming a new Unitarian Universalist Christian church — it never happened — in North Carolina, that gives a taste of Unitarian Universalist polity, class and race politics of the time.

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First, let me say that as a resident of the District of Columbia I have no senator at all, nor a voting representative in the House, but I do understand how upset some Democrats must be that Scott Brown is the Senator-elect in Massachusetts. But the big loser yesterday wasn’t his opponent Martha Coakley, President Obama or even the Democratic Party.

It was Joe Lieberman. He and the right-most of the Democratic senators, but mostly Lieberman on his “Independent Democrat” raft. My thought — not original, I’ll confess — is that the Democratic party is so broad as to be unmanageable. With a Democratic supermajority in the Senate, a Democratic majority in the House and Democratic president, no sane Republican would consent in substantive policy issues that had any chance of failing or alienating the rest of the caucus. With sixty votes to prevent a filibuster, every Democrat (or ersatz Democrat) counts, but the most unreasonable wield a disproportional power that seems more harmful to me than negotiating with an opposing minority. And now they must do that, and so Lieberman et alia lose.

The times, fate and the legendary Democratic circular firing squad set the stage for a Republican revival in 2012 if not before. At least that’s one theory. Though the large national party that seems in worse shape than the Democrats are the Republicans, so I wouldn’t place bets yet.

Still, when Democrats act like second-string Republicans, the process goes all the faster. I’m still fuming about the bank bailout, the escalation in Afghanistan and the Fierce Advocate’s AWOL defense of the gays. So a thought: would I, had I lived in Massachusetts, have voted for Coakley? Perhaps. Given her money? No. Support her again? Never. Liberal Democrats have nothing to gain by the current cycle, so perversely may be accounted among the winners last night, from the liberating energy and blame deflection we earn. Whether it proves a Phyrric victory remains to be seen.

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Simply this: please suggest where you think donations to help in Haiti should go? Where would they make the most good. Please comment

Why? In case you missed it, there was a 7.0 earthquake near Port-au-Prince yesterday with many serious aftershocks. Thousands are missing, many dead and much damage to this poor country’s infrastructure.

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This isn’t a “favorite lentil soup” post as such.

Will Shetterly yesterday linked to two article about class, one of which was “Rich People Things, with Chris Lehmann: A Steady Diet of Nothing”

From that article comes this vital point:

While there’s little data this early in our present calamity to track the formation of durable attitudes toward saving, spending and government intervention in the economy, the general rule of thumb is that “even one really tough year experienced in early adulthood is enough to fundamentally change people’s core values and behaviors,” according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. And as Foroohar goes on to explain, “there’s an entire body of research to show that recession babies not only invest more conservatively, they tend to make less money, choose safer jobs, and believe in wealth redistribution and more government intervention.”

That’s certainly my experience. The 90s, when others were making tons of money (it seemed), were very hard for me financially. Graduating in 1991 in a bad economy, I made the mistake of going to grad school to bide my time, knowing that seminary would follow. I lived humbly and borrowed much less than others, but my first settlement barely paid at all and extra work wasn’t enough to land me in deep personal debt. It took half of the 00s with careful stewardship to drop the debt and start saving. Today, I’m comfortably middle aged and middle class; Hubby — I met him at the perfect time; too early and I would been in survival mode — and I have made a happy home with a happy mortgage.

But the old habits are there. I still don’t spend much, and there are times that I feel stingy, even if that’s not the case. I want to make use of items that others might throw away. While I don’t hoard food any more, I do like to keep supplies on hand. I save quite a bit, and even my indulgences — web domains, fountain pens and loose tea — are rather domestic, and not high-end. (And I don’t still understand the appeal of brand snobbery.)

So I suspect that however much money I may have (or not have) my habits will fundamentally be the same from here on. Practical, true, but with its own washed-out character. A character that I’ve adopted, and somewhat counterbalance (I hope) with a slightly more expressive and wry character than I once had. I feel more a part of my generation now than ever before.

That’s how I’ve learned to cope with less. And there’s a lot more less going on these day.

How do you manage?

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The concept of fair use of copyrighted intellectual property is probably under more strain now than ever before. The long term effects on a free, creative people are not known, but I can’t think it’ll be anything good.

Public Knowledge is producing World’s Fair Use Day tomorrow, January 12, to draw attention to this issue. A good idea worth examining (and I like them, plus they’re Day Job’s upstairs neighbors.)

Not in D.C.? You can download a DIY guide from the World’s Fair Use site.

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The following is a verbatim listing circa 2005 of what UUA.org had as “all organizations” — including independent affiliates, seminaries, local ministries, various resources (including three of my own defunct or re-routed sites) and even businesses. There was a wisdom to this, echoed today in the listings at UUpdates.net, that I’m afraid has been lost. No further comment, except to note that a bar through a URL means it’s dead, though even for lives ones, what might be on the other side isn’t necessarily the same resource.

“Reflections of Public Ministry at Harvard Divinity School” (http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/exhibitc/)

A Catalog of UU Products (http://www.gurus.com/uuproducts/)

A Quick Index to Humanist Online (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7693/)

Adult Midwest UU Singles Enrichment (AMUUSE) (http://www.amuuse.org/)

American Ethical Union (http://www.aeu.org/)

American Humanist Association details (http://www.americanhumanist.org)

Andover Newton Theological School (http://www.ants.edu/)

Assocation of UU Administrators details (http://www.auua.org/)

Athens Area CUUPS (http://www.gaiadreaming.org/)

Bangor Theological Seminary (http://www.bts.edu/)

Bayside UU Family Summer Camp (http://www.avalon.net/~cmissen/bayside/)

Beacon (http://www.indiana.edu/~beacon/)

Bethany Union for Young Women details (http://www.bethanyunion.org)

Burlington (VT) UU Circle (http://members.aol.com/Firebearer/index.html)

Cambridge Forum details (http://www.cambridgeforum.org)

CampUU (JPD/DC area Campus Ministry (http://www.campuus.org/)

Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) Conseil Unitarian du Canada (http://www.cuc.ca/)

Chalice Jewelry (http://www.uua.org/clf/jewelry/index.html)

Channing-Murray Foundation details (http://www.prairienet.org/channing-murray/)

Church of the Larger Fellowship (http://www.clfuu.org)

Colgate Rochester Divinity School (http://www.crds.edu/home1024.asp)

Collegium details

Communitarian Network (http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eccps/index.html)

Conservative Forum for Unitarian Universalists details (http://www.cfuu.org/)

Continental UU Young Adult Network (C*UUYAN) (http://www.uuyan.org/index_js.html)

Continental UU Young Adult Network (C*UUYAN) details (http://www.uuyan.org/index_js.html)

Council for Secular Humanism (http://www.secularhumanism.org/)

Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans details (http://www.CUUPS.org)

Coyote Willow CUUPS (http://www.abqcuups.org/)

Critical Mass (http://www.critmass.org/)

CU2C2 (Council of UU Camps and Conferences) details (http://members.aol.com/JlagerCU2/uucamps.htm)

Cuba AyUUda details (http://www.cubaayuuda.org)

Culpepper Garden (http://www.culpeppergarden.org/)

DeBenneville Pines (http://www.debenneville.org/)

District Presidents Association details (http://www.uua.org/dist)

DRUUMM (Diverse & Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries) details (http://druumm.org/)

Earlham School of Religion (http://esr.earlham.edu/)

Economic Justice Action Group details (http://www.ejag.org)

Elliot Institute at Seabeck Conference Center (http://www.eliotinstitute.org/)

European UU’s (EUU) (http://bob.swe.uni-linz.ac.at/euu/euu.html)

Faith and Social Justice, Christian UU (http://www.geocities.com/capitolhill/1764/)

Faithful Fools Street Ministry details (http://www.uua.org/administration/www.faithfulfools.org)

Famous UUs (http://www.famousuus.com/)

Ferry Beach Park Association details (http://www.ferrybeach.org)

First Days Record (http://www.uuism.net/fdr)

First Parish in Cambridge Young Adult Group (YAG) (http://www.cambridgeyag.org/)

GainesVille UU Religious Union of Students (GUURUS) (http://www.uuf.org/campus.htm)

General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches (http://www.unitarian.org.uk/)

Greater Washington Association of UU Congregations (http://users.erols.com/carlson2/gwa/)

Hale-Barnard details (http://www.halebarnard.org/)

Harvard Divinity School (http://www.hds.harvard.edu/)

Harvard Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Students (HUUMS) details

Hersey Retreat

Hosea Ballou 2nd (http://www.sover.net/~daxtell/ballou/)

HUUmanists Association details (http://huumanists.org)

Iliff School of Theology (http://www.iliff.edu/)

Intergenerational Worship Services (http://www.uuintergenerational.org/)

International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) (http://www.icuu.net/)

International Humanist and Ethical Union (http://www.iheu.org/)

Interweave details (http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/orgs/uua/uu-interweave.html)

Ithaca Area Young Adult UUs (http://members.tripod.com/ithacauu/)

James Luther Adams Foundation details

Joseph Priestly District UU Young Adult Network (JPD-UUYAN) (http://jpd.uuyan.org/)

LaForet (http://camplaforet.com/)

Lake Geneva Summer Assembly details (http://www.lgsa.org)

Lambda Ministers Guild details

Lancaster Theological Seminary (http://www.lts.org/)

Liberal Religious Educators’ Association details (http://www.uua.org/lreda/)

Linked Identities Networking in Coalition (LINC) details

Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund details (http://www.licf.org)

Los Unitarios Universalistas (http://www.uuhispano.net)

LUUNA (Latina/o UU Networking Association) details

Magi Network details (http://www.magi.uni.cc/)

Meadville/Lombard Theological School details (http://www.meadville.edu)

Midwest Leadership School for UU Lay Leaders (http://www.unitarian.org/mwls/)

Midwest Unitarian Universalist Foundation (MUUF) details

Ministerial Conference in Berry Street details

Ministerial Sisterhood UU (MSUU) details

Murray Grove Retreat & Conference Center details (http://www.murraygrove.org/)

New York State Convention of Universalists details (http://www.nyscu.org)

New York Theological Seminary (http://www.nyts.edu/enter.htm)

Ohio Meadville District UUYAN (http://omd.uuyan.org/)

Ohio Meadville District YRUU (http://omd.uuyan.org/)

Orlando Young Adult Group (http://www.fuconet.org/ya.htm)

Pacific Central District UU Leadership School (http://www.pcd-uua.org/pcdldrship/pcdleadershipschool.htm)

Pacific Central District UU Young Adult Network (PCD-UUYAN) (http://pcd.uuyan.org/)

Pacific Central District UU Young Adult Netwrok (PCD-UUYAN) details (http://pcd.uuyan.org)

Pacific School of Religion (http://www.psr.edu/)

Perkins School of Theology (http://www.smu.edu/~theology/)

Portland UU Young Adult Group (http://www.puuyag.org/)

Princeton UU Campus Community (http://www.princeton.edu/%7Euucc/)

Project Harvest Hope details (http://www.projectharvesthope.org)

Promise Massachusetts Children details (http://www.promisemasschildren.org/)

REC Room (http://www.rec-room.org/)

Rice Chalice (http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~chalice/)

Russel Lockwood (MDD) Leadership School (http://www.uua.org/mdd/rlls/RLLS_2004.html)

Saturday Con (http://www.angelfire.com/ny/satuurday/)

Seventh Principle Project details (http://www.uuministryforearth.org)

Shelter Neck Unitarian Universalist Camp (http://www.shelterneckuucamp.org/)

Soulful Sundown First & Second Church in Boston details

Southeast Cluster of the Florida District (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5537/)

Southeast UU Summer Institute (SUUSI) (http://www.suusi.org/)

Southwest Unitarian Universalist Women details

Star Island Corporation details (http://www.starisland.org/)

Star Island Religious Education Conference details

Starr King School for the Ministry details (http://www.sksm.edu)

STEBBINS at Asilomar (http://www.serve.com/stebbins/)

SWUUYAN (http://swd.uuyan.org/)

The Barton Center for Diabetes Education/Clara Barton Camp details

The Ending Corporate Personhood details

The Evangelical Universalist (http://www.uuchristian.org/eu/)

The Farnesworth Room (http://www.bravenet.com/)

The Institute for Theological Studies at Seattle University (http://www.seattleu.edu/theomin/)

The Interdependent Webring Homepage (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/6679/uu.html)

The LRY Memorial Room (http://bandia.net/LRY/)

The Mountain Retreat & Learning Centers, Inc. details (http://www.mountaincenters.org/)

The New England Leadership School (http://www.uua.org/nels/)

The New England Way (http://www.uuchristian.org/neway/)

The New Massachusetts Universalist Convention details (http://www.nmuc.uua.org)

The Pennsylvania Universalist Convention details

The Percussion Choir (http://www.thechoir.org/)

The Retreat, Inc details

The Society for Community Ministries (SCM) details (http://www.UUSCM.org)

The Society for Ministerial Relief (SMR) details

The Universalist Men’s Network (UUMeN) details (http://www.uumen.org)

The University of Georgia/Athens UUYAN (http://www.uga.edu/~uuyan/)

The UU Religious Education History Group details

Unicamp (http://www.gpcomp.com/unicamp/)

Union Theological Seminary (http://www.uts.columbia.edu/)

UNIQUEST details

Unirondack, Inc details (http://www.unirondack,org)

Unitarian Univeralist Ministers’ Partners details

Unitarian Univeralists for Alternatives to the Death Penalty details (http://www.uuadp.org/)

Unitarian Universalist Buddhist Fellowship (UUBF) details (http://www.uua.org/uubf)

Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship details (http://www.UUChristian.org)

Unitarian Universalist Clergy Couples Association details

Unitarian Universalist Community Ministry Center details

Unitarian Universalist Council on Church Staff Finances details

Unitarian Universalist Curriculum and Resource Developers details (http://www.hzmre.com/uucards)

Unitarian Universalist for a Just Economic Community details (http://www.uujec.org)

Unitarian Universalist for a Just Economic Society- PNW details

Unitarian Universalist for Justice in the Middle East details (http://uuhme.org)

Unitarian Universalist for Polyamory Awareness details (http://www.uupa.org)

Unitarian Universalist Historical Society, Inc. details (http://www.uua.org/uuhs/)

Unitarian Universalist House details (http://www.nursing-home.org)

Unitarian Universalist Infidels details (http://www.UU-Infidels.org)

Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry – CA details (http://www.uulmca.org)

Unitarian Universalist Mid-Atlantic Community details (http://www.uumac.org)

Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association details

Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth details (http://www.uuministryforearth.org)

Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network (UUMN) details (http://www.uumn.org)

Unitarian Universalist Mystics in Community details (http://www.uumystics.org)

Unitarian Universalist Network on Indigenous Affairs (UUNIA) details

Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council details (http://www.uua.org/uupcc)

Unitarian Universalist Peace Fellowship details

Unitarian Universalist Process Theology Network details

Unitarian Universalist Psi Symposium details (http://www.psi-symposium.org)

Unitarian Universalist Religious Naturalists details

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) details (http://www.uusc.org)

Unitarian Universalist Small Group Ministry Network details

Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry details

Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) details (http://www.uu-uno.org)

Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry details (http://www.uuum.org/)

Unitarian Universalist Women & Religion details

Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation details

Unitarian Universalist Women’s Heritage Society, Inc. details (http://www.uuwhs.org)

Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform details (http://www.uudpr.org)

Unitarian Universalists for Religious Freedom details

Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals details (http://www.uua.org/ufeta)

Unitarian.org (http://www.unitarian.org/)

United States Chapter of the International Ass. for Religiou

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (http://www.unitedseminary-mn.org/)

UNITY (http://www.u-uakron.org/unity/)

UniUniques details (http://members.aol.com/UniUniques/)

Universalist Church.net (http://www.uuchristian.org/eu/)

Universalist Convocations details

University UUs (UUU) (http://webuus.com/uuu/)

UU Affordable Housing Corporation (UUAHC) details (http://www.uuahc.org/)

UU Blue Mountain Meditation Group details (http://www.uu-bmmg.org/)

UU Cafe (http://members.aol.com/uucafe/)

UU Council of Greater Cincinnati (http://www.netburg.net/uureligion/)

UU Fellowship of Raleigh 20’s & 30’s (http://www.rtpnet.org/~uufrya/)

UU Global AIDS Coalition details (http://www.uuglobalaidscoalition.org)

UU Homeschoolers details (http://www.uuhomeschool.org)

UU in the Pines, Inc. A Retreat/Conference Center details

UU Quotes (http://www.pbat.com/uu/uuquote.html)

UU Retired Ministers and Partners Association details

UU Rowe Camp & Conference Center, Inc. details (http://www.rowecenter.org/)

UU Southeast Winter Institute in Miami (SWIM) (http://www.swimuu.org/)

UU Women and Religon (http://members.aol.com/uuwandr/)

UU Women: History and Heritage (http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/Garden/1101/)

UU’re Home (http://www.uurehome.com)

UUs in Southern Calirornia (http://www.he.net/~uusca/)

Virtual Ethical Society (http://aeu.org/)

Wesley Theological Seminary (http://www.wesleysem.edu/)

Western UU Life Festival (http://www.wuulf.homestead.com/)

William Ellery Channing Center (http://www.uuchristian.org/channing/)

Winchester Profession Bicentennial (http://www.winchesterprofession.org/)

World Pantheist Movement details (http://www.pantheism.net)

Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal details (http://www.wrighttavern.org)

Young Religious Unitarian Universalist Adult Network (YRUU) details (http://www.uua.org/YRUU)

Young Religious UUs (YRUU) (http://www.uua.org/YRUU/news.html)

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Today is Epiphany, the celebration of Christ’s manifestation to the Nations, often represented by the three mages (“kings”). Since Universalist Christianity — it seems to me — is marked by recognizing the ever-widening bands of God’s grace, concern and love, the thrust of Epiphany and the weeks that follow are vitally important.

The light of this understanding — the star — is dim, but grows until typified by the Feast of the Transfiguration, where Christ’s purpose is typified by blinding light and his disciples trembling but resolute knowledge.

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A new hymnal — or at least ready-to-reprint hymns — is one of the pre-conditions (among many) I see for Unitarian and Universalist Christians growing new churches. Singing the Living Tradition doesn’t have the corpus of hymns needed for a rounded Christian life, other denominational hymns often have their own limitations and besides — as I’ve written before — we’re effectively between hymnal generations meaning other options are already several years old.

Besides, having a single current hymnal is a strange place for Unitarian Universalists to be. Both Unitarians and Universalists had a wide choice of hymnals in the past, and today the British Unitarians and Free Christians — only a few thousand strong — commonly use one or both of a choice of two hymnals. We could do better, but I suspect that local hymnals, rather than additional UUA-sponsored hymnals, will be the more likely outcome. Or, alternatively, a church could have their own set of hymn images to be printed in the order of service. The familiar Frankenstein arrangement of hymns photocopied, trimmed, reproduced (often badly) and tipped-in is a bore.

I’ve reviewed some of the options, but I clearly don’t have a gift for the work of typesetting hymns. For one, I don’t read music at all well. But I have been tempted by the open-source Lilypond, a music “automated engraving system”, for Linux (current), Mac OS X (to 10.5) and Windows (to XP). Add a template from HymnWiki.org, perhaps edited within something like Frescobaldi and you have something like a workflow.

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All Souls Miami

http://www.allsoulsmiami.org

They’re on to something:

Visitors might note that traditionally the name “All Souls” has applied mostly to Unitarian churches or churches of dissent. While we may be “spiritual cousins” of Christian Unitarians and other liberal churches in liberal denominations, and while we remain appreciative of denominational families, All Souls Miami remains independent and unaffiliated.

The worship has a traditional form. They also meet in rented space, about twice a month. The minister, Kenneth Claus, is experienced with seminary training (Union) and a tentmaker. Interesting.

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I stand for fiscal responsibility in non-profit organizations. Money entrusted for the common good should be used wisely and efficiently. Donors should — and increasingly do — seek out organizations with desirable missions and with the capacity to work efficiently.

I’ve been critical of churches that function like clubs as betraying this calculus; why, for instance, should a snug and private concern be tax-benefited? Church leaders have a responsibility to review their program against the public good they provide; in other words, through the eyes of taxpayers who support common infrastructure and other good organizations who are natural rivals for contributions. By which I mean general funds, building funds, organ funds.

That said, I have a warm place for ministerial discretionary funds. I’ve given them, given to them and received funds from them. (I graduated seminary so broke I didn’t have gas money from Texas to Georgia. Tough times.) World change won’t be funded through ministerial discretionary funds, but they do (or can do) a good job with the kind of emergencies that need a social net but for which there is often no kind of appropriate service organization. Money to pay for a prescription, travel funds to see a dying relative, transit fare for someone returning to work . . . very often that kind of thing.

As a matter of practice, I’d like to see financial controls in place, but in the end if you don’t trust a minister to be a good steward of the funds, then no amount of control will do much good to what end the funds are used.

So I’m getting my checkbook out and suggest you do too. That said, and not thinking of anyone in particular, there’s no rule you have to give to your minister.

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I blogged about a fragment of the Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special a couple of years ago, but I’ve never been able to watch it all. Broadcast in 1988, it means it’s old enough to legally drink. Which would probably help for viewing, too. I mean, are those real Marines? Charo? Magic screen?

The first part below — you can watch the rest if you get sucked in at YouTube.

I want a deluxe woodburning kit!

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