GA Programming

Maria Hinojosa selected as the 2012 Ware Lecturer

Maria Hinojosa, award winning broadcast journalist and author, as been selected as the Ware Lecturer for the 2012 Justice GA. She is the anchor and managing editor of NPR’s Latino USA.  In April 2010, Hinojosa launched The Futuro Media Group with the mission to produce multi-platform, community-based journalism that respects and celebrates the cultural richness of the American experience. In addition, Hinojosa is the anchor of the Emmy-award winning talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One from WGBH/La Plaza.

Recently, Hinojosa was a corresponant for a powerful PBS Frontline documentary called Lost in Detention, a comprehensive examination of the detention, deportation and enforcement aspect of the United States’ controversial immigration policy.

 Watch Lost in Detention on PBS.org

From NPR:  Maria Hinojosa has helped tell America’s untold stories and brought to light unsung heroes in America and abroad.

Hinojosa has reported hundreds of important stories—including the immigrant work camps in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, teen girl victims of sexual harassment on the job, and Emmy-award winning stories of the poor in Alabama—previously as a senior correspondent for PBS’Now and currently as a contributing correspondent on PBS’ Need to Know.

Throughout her career Hinojosa has helped define the conversation about our times and our society with one of the most authentic voices in broadcast. As a reporter for NPR, Hinojosa told groundbreaking stories about youth and violence and immigrant communities. During her eight years as a CNN correspondent Hinojosa took viewers into communities that had never been shown on television. Her investigative journalism presses the powerful for the truth while giving voice to lives and stories that illuminate the world we live in.

Hinojosa has won top honors in American journalism including two Emmys, the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Reporting on the Disadvantaged, and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club for best documentary for her groundbreaking Child Brides: Stolen Lives. In 2009, Hinojosa was honored with an AWRT Gracie Award for Individual Achievement as Best TV Correspondent. Three times over the past decade, Hinojosa has been named one of the 100 Most Influential Latinos in the United States by Hispanic Business magazine. She has received the Ruben Salazar Communications Award from the National Council of La Raza and was inducted into the “She Made It” Hall of Fame at the Paley Center/Museum of Television and Radio in a program that honors women trail blazers in the media.

Hinojosa is author of two books including a motherhood memoir, Raising Raul: Adventures Raising Myself and My Son.

Born in Mexico City, Hinojosa was raised in Chicago. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College at Columbia University in New York.

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GA Programming, Phoenix

Deadline Extended for GA 2012 Program Proposals!

Program proposals for the 2012 General Assembly, a Justice GA, will now be accepted until Wednesday, November 30.

Proposals submitted will be reviewed by the GA Program Development Group (PDG), a diverse team of Unitarian Universalist Association staff and members of the GA Panning Committee. For GA 2012, a Justice GA, the PDG will also include representatives from the Arizona Immigration Ministry (AZIM) and the GA 2012 Accountability Group.

The Program Development Group is charged with identifying excellent General Assembly programming – education and preparation that will build the capacity of Unitarian Universalists to stand in opposition to systemic racism and to witness on immigration, racial and economic justice. The PDG will review all submitted proposals and will select approximately 100 proposed events for inclusion on the General Assembly schedule.

To merit consideration, proposals submitted for the 2012 GA should be related to the issues of migration and borders, and/or racial and economic justice. Workshops and other events that serve to educate and prepare attendees to publicly witness and to perform service, both in Arizona and at home, are especially sought. Every proposal need not be about immigration; however, a reasonable person must be able to draw a clear connection between the proposed topic(s) and the issue of Justice. For example, a program on water scarcity would be considered, as its relationship to immigration and economic justice is easily demonstrated.

All proposals must be submitted by Wednesday, November 30.  Though the Program Proposal Form is short, it still requires the clear description of a fully designed 75-minute event (workshop, worship, etc.). Proposers must assume the participation of people of all abilities and of all generations in all General Assembly activities.

GA 2012 Program Proposal Form

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GA Programming, Phoenix

2011 Ware Lecturer is Karen Armstrong

Dr. Karen Armstrong, who has been named Ware Lecturer for 2011 General Assembly, will discuss her new book, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life and the companion project, Charter for Compassion during her appearance at GA.

Armstrong recommends that anyone attending this year’s Ware Lecture read Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life in advance of her engagement. The book offers thought-provoking information about religious, ethical, spiritual, philosophical, and literary traditions that supports Armstrong’s thesis that compassion is a central component of all.

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Charlotte, GA Programming

A Message from the 50th Anniversary Task Force of the UUA

May 15

While we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of our Unitarian Universalist Association at this year’s General Assembly in Charlotte in June, the true date of the consolidation of the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association falls on May 15, 1961, the anniversary of which will occur this coming Sunday, May 15, 2011. So let’s get the celebrations started now!

To help our congregations mark this important moment in our history, we would like to share the following possible Chalice Lightings or reflections for worship this Sunday.:

***

Fifty years ago this week, Universalism and Unitarianism in America combined to form the Unitarian Universalist Association. This “milestone moment,” as one leader of the time put it, envisioned a religious family of congregations and people dedicated to a faith that would be “history-making rather than history-bound.” Over the last fifty years Unitarian Universalists have indeed made religious history – at Selma, in courageous interfaith action for justice; in the Women and Religion movement; in pioneering efforts on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender rights; in environmental activism; and more. Therefore, “seeing that we are compassed round by so great a cloud of witnesses, the great of past and present and all the humble heroes who worked and sacrificed beside them, who, indeed, held up their hands and made strong their voices, let us now, in our own day, lay aside every weight of selfishness and fear and take up with faith and joy the urgent tasks to which this historic hour has summoned us. Let us together build the free and universal church of tomorrow.”

Based on the sermon given by the Rev. Dr. Donald Szantho Harrington at the
service in Symphony Hall, Boston, celebrating the formation of the UUA.

***

50th Anniversary Chalice Lighting words by Stefan Papa:

As two candles lit one flame fifty years ago, the chalice held two traditions with their histories, hopes, and dreams.

Our kindred fellowships have come together; united, we are stronger. With gifts from each tradition, we have developed our faith for today: an empowering, justice seeking and spiritually grounded faith, which blesses us and calls us to live with courage and love.

May this fire kindle within us, as it did for those who lit it fifty years ago, strength and hope, clarity and commitment, gratitude and faith in the future.

***

For more worship resources, to explore historical documents, or to share your own reflections about our Association and participate in our Oral History project, please visit us at http://www.uua.org/50th .  Happy Anniversary, everyone!

Yours in Faith and Celebration,

The 50th Anniversary Task Force of the UUA

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Charlotte, GA Programming

An Invitation to Remember, Reflect and Aspire at General Assembly

50_logo

50th Anniversary Perspectives:

The Spirit and Necessity of Liberal Theology
Dr. Gary Dorrien, Leading American theologian Union Theological Seminary New York
Friday 1:00 PM  Ballroom A&D

A People’s History of Universalists and Unitarians
Rev. Dr. John Buehrens
Thursday 2:45 PM Ballroom C

Community Churches and Consolidation: John Haynes Holmes and Clarence Skinner
Dr. Dan McKanan, UUA Senior Lecturer
Harvard Divinity School
Friday 10:45 AM 213 D

Moral Imagination: 50 Years of UU Social Justice
Panel Discussion
Thursday 9:00 AM Ballroom A&D
Looking Forward, Looking Back: UU Scholars of Color Assess our History Panel Discussion
Saturday 1:00 PM 208 A

Fifty Years of Sexual Justice
Rev. Debra Haffner
Thursday 10:45 AM 218-219

Rewriting the UU Narrative: Where We Went Wrong
Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed
Friday 2:45 PM Ballroom A&D

Meet the UUA Presidents
The Revs. Schulz, Buehrens, Sinkford and Morales
Thursday 10:45 AM Ballroom A&D

50th Anniversary Worship Services:

Opening Worship: Re-Covenanting after 50 Years
Wednesday 7:45 PM  Hall C

Love, Unity, Aspiration: Blended Family as Metaphor
Dr. Leon Spencer
Friday 8 AM  Hall C

A Promise We Will Keep: Synergy Bridging Worship
Friday 8 PM  Hall C

What They Dreamed Is Ours to Do
Rev. Claire Feingold Thoryn
Saturday 8 AM  Hall C

And more:

Visit the Fiftieth Anniversary Booth (#921) in the Exhibit Hall
Share your UU memories in our recording booth and get your free 50th Anniversary pin!

50th UUA Birthday Party
Join the Celebration in the Exhibit Hall immediately following Opening Worship

New Epiphany Revival Hour
with UU composer and songster Nick Page, Friday 7 PM Hall C

Sing Fifty Years of UU Music
Saturday 7 PM in Hall C, before the Ware Lecture by Karen Armstrong

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Charlotte, GA Programming

Check out our new 2011 GA Web/Mobile Event Guide!

We have recently unveiled a new interactive, innovative, and eco-friendly mobile event guide that gives attendees the ability to engage and access event information on their smartphones, tablet devices and computers.

GA 2011 web/mobile guide

It goes well beyond what is possible with a traditional printed guide.  It allows us to take our GA event to the next level by enhancing attendee networking, and increasing engagement, all while reducing paper printing. Attendees will have easy access to customizable agendas, maps, speaker bios, attendee profiles, and detailed exhibitor information right on their phone or portable computer. Speakers and exhibitors are currently updating their profiles, so you can keep checking back for more information.  You can even make your own attendee profile right now!

You can see our general schedule here and always check our website for the latest and greatest information!

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Charlotte, Exhibit Hall, GA Programming, New Media

Proposing a program for the 2011 General Assembly

New this year, there is a unified process to propose a program for the 2011 General Assembly. Beginning September 1, GA program proposals may be submitted by way of an online proposal form at uua.org/ga.

Proposals submitted via the 2011 General Assembly Program Proposal Form will be reviewed by both the GA Program Development Group (PDG) and the GA Planning Committee. The PDG is a diverse team of Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) staff and GA Planning Committee representatives committed to providing excellent General Assembly programs that are aligned with the vision and mission of the UUA and its member congregations. The PDG will review program proposals with the goal of filling over 100 program slots. The GA Planning Committee will also review proposals seeking innovative programs and distinguished speakers that will appeal to many UUs attending GA.

The  deadline for submitting a GA program proposal is November 1.

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GA Programming

Discussion Groups at GA

In order to provide follow-up opportunities for General Assembly (GA) attendees to discuss and process what was learned in GA programs, the Planning Committee has arranged for follow-up discussion groups. Leaders of all GA programs were given the opportunity to reserve a discussion room for follow-up conversation. Review a current list of Discussion Groups (PDF). An updated list will be published in the first day newsletter at GA and will be posted at the local information table in the lobby of the Minneapolis Convention Center. Discussion Groups are scheduled for Saturday, June 26 and Sunday, June 27.

2009 GA attendees in conversation with one another


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GA Programming