Southern Region

Turn, Turn, Turn: UUA Southern Region Virtual Assembly 2020
Saturday, November 14
10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Central Time/11:00 AM to 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Join your Southern Region staff team and sibling Unitarian Universalist congregations in the photo_Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-GraySouthern Region for a day of collaboration and learning! UUA President Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray will be our keynote speaker in the morning. Afternoon workshop include:

  • Widening the Circle of Concern with Kathy McGowan and Rev. Nato Hollister
  • What’s Next? The Changing Congregational Landscape with Natalie Briscoe and Connie Goodbread
  • Small Group Ministry and Membership Paths with Cameron Young and Lillian Drab-Braddick

Registration fee: $20 per person. We hope you’ll join us! Register today!

Toolbox Webinars 2020-21

The Southern Region Toolbox Webinars are compact and efficient one-time training sessions, offered monthly, that support congregations and congregational leadership. Toolbox Webinars are offered live, and recordings of these live sessions are sent to all participants who registered for the webinar. $15.00 per participant. Download a printable flyer here. Learn more and register here.

Upcoming sessions and topics (Second Tuesdays at 7:00 PM ET):

  • October 13th, Congregational Stewardship Practice
  • November 10th, Dismantling White Supremacy Culture within the Congregation
  • January 12th, 2021, Practicing Shared Ministry
  • February 9th, Systems Perspectives on the Congregation
  • March 9th, Policies and Resources for Safer Congregations
  • April 13th, Pastoral Care and Chaplaincy Resources
  • May 11th, Governance in the Congregation

Energize Your Community with Virtual Small Group Ministry
Embrace small groups to engage and connect your congregation

By Lillian Drab-Braddick

This Fall, focus on building connections in your faith community through Small Group Ministry. Small groups are great places to relate to fellow UUs and get to know yourself too.

In small group ministry, five to twelve folks gather regularly to share, reflect, and discuss significant life topics. Through this practice, we build deep connections with each other and with the divine. We also build strong bonds with our congregation, our community.

This time of pandemic is both a vital time for connection, and a wonderful time to start, grow, or reinvigorate your congregation’s small group ministry program.

This webinar is free but registration (no later than October 12th, please!) is required. Register today!

Introducing Leader Lab

Relentlessly Useful Resources for Leadership Development

As Susan Frederick-Gray mentioned during her president’s report at General Assembly in June, LeaderLab is a tremendous resource for congregational leaders. Check it out at: https://www.uua.org/leadership.

You can go there for extensive training by taking one of the full length leadership courses from the Unitarian Universalist Leadership Institute that are designed to help leaders with the basics of leadership and to help them understand the unique complexities of leading in the context of our UU congregations. Enrollment for these online courses is typically in the fall, winter and summer. Registration for the fall courses is open now; classes begin September 6. For a complete list of the courses offered, both elective and on demand, go to: https://www.uuinstitute.org/course-list/. Courses are $30 each. If you are a member of the congregation and need assistance with registration for any of the courses, please talk with Bob Whitaker at denomconn@uucolumbia.org.

Southern Region Monthly Webinar Series

The Southern Region staff team offers a series of webinars for congregational leaders and members. There is no cost to attend but pre-registration is required. Save the dates for these upcoming webinars:

  • Southern Region Online Leadership Experience
    Saturday, October 3, 2020, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT.

    • Session 1 of 3, October 3rd
    • Session 2 of 3, November 7th
    • Session 3 of 3, December 5th

Registration for this event is limited. For more information contact kcharles@uua.org.

Spiritual Care Training for Congregational Leaders

Companioning one another spiritually is one of the most important ministries of a faith community. It’s often referred to as “Pastoral Care,” which might imply that the Pastor should do all of the care. But ministry in congregations is meant to be shared between ordained and lay leaders.

This robust training has been created for non-ordained congregational leaders (usually lay leader and/or paid staff) who have been endorsed by other leaders in the congregation (the minister, or the board in lay-led congregations). It may also be used as a part of professional credentialing for non-ordained staff such as religious education or music professionals. Ordained ministers may want to take the training with their lay associates, or as a refresher.

Learn more about this training opportunity here. Enroll in this training here.

UU the Vote Updates

Gather the Spirit, a UU the Vote virtual mass mobilization on Wednesday, September 23rd at 7:30 ET / 4:30 PT will get us ready for ‘all hands on deck this fall’ where we’ll hear from UU leaders and musicians as we gather together to be nourished by the abundant, loving spirit of our beloved community. Register here.

Vote Love, Defeat Hate: Organizing for the Long Haul Worship Service

Join UUA President Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, the UU the Vote team, and a lineup of powerful, prophetic UU voices and musicians as we explore the intersections of faith, justice, and democracy in this collective virtual service. Register here to receive access to livestream and videos, available starting September 22nd for use at Sept. 27th worship services through November 1st.

 

What should your congregation do in response to the current pandemic? Here is a list of all the available resources.

Browse Coronavirus Resources

Meet Your Southern Region Staff

Southern Region staff team Jan 2018

Leadership Experiences

Sending a team to a Leadership Experience is an investment in the future of the congregation and in the future of Unitarian Universalism.

The Southern Region hosts several Leadership Experiences (LEs) each year; one residential and some extended over the course of multiple weekends. All LEs provide a full five days of Unitarian Universalist leadership for teams from congregations.

Congregations are strongly encouraged to invest in the leadership of marginalized persons by nominating leaders of color and different ability statuses, youth, and young adults as part of their teams. As we deepen our commitment to the Movement for Black Lives, we affirm that black leadership matters. All Leadership Experiences in the Southern Region welcome participants ages 16 and up, and the Southern Region Staff is committed to assuring that Youth and Young Adults are fostered in leadership positions not just in Youth and Young Adult Groups, but in the congregation as a whole.