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Get Involved!

Become involved with a project that has caught your passion: whether it's Green Sanctuary, Gift-Based Ministry, as a worship associate, leading a covenant group, or something entirely different, your congregation needs your involvement in order to benefit from your unique talents and gifts!

Become a religious educator. Whether you are working with children, youth, young adults, or adults, this work can be deeply fulfilling and fun!

Offer to become a lay leader in your congregation. Talk to your nominating committee. If your congregation's in search for new professional leadership, think about whether you might contribute in new and exciting ways to that venture.

Witness your faith in the company of others, on behalf of your congregation. Seek out connections with other religious groups who share similar values. Help carry the message -- beyond your congregation -- that makes clear Unitarian Universalism's values and voice in this challenging world.

Become a delegate to your UUA District's meetings. You'll learn new skills, develop a sense of Unitarian Universalism that extends beyond your own congregation, and help nurture the vitality of our faith in your district.

Don't wait to be asked: contact your congregation's Nominating Committee and tell them you're willing to serve. They'll be glad to hear from you!

- from the UUA

Central East Regional Group (CERG)

The Central East Region helps congregations of all shapes and sizes connect with each other and with resources that help them best express their Unitarian Universalist faith in a changing and hurting world.

Farewell Message from Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray

As her time as UUA President winds down, Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray shares a message of appreciation for the work we’ve done together and excitement for what’s to come. Some of her proudest moments during this time include fulfilling the Promise and Practice campaign to fund Black Lives of UU, implementing the recommendations of the Commission on Institutional Change, leading UU the Vote campaigns in 2020 and 2022, and supporting UUs to show up unequivocally and courageously for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities and for people with disabilities.

In this moment of great challenge and cultural change in our world, Rev. Frederick-Gray reminds us that Unitarian Universalist values matter. This is an opportunity to be bold and unwavering in living and leading in love. We have done amazing things, and we will continue. With excitement for our next president, Rev. Frederick-Gray is confident in how new leadership will guide us through these continuing fraught times.

Watch on UUA YouTube

June 2-4 —

Jubilee 3 Anti-Racism Training

Do you wish to deepen your understanding of how race and ethnicity play out in our institutions and our daily lives? Are you ready to take a leading role to nurture a multicultural future in the face of opposing cultural currents? Come Join Us for this Life-Changing Weekend!

Weekend Activities: The training includes presentations, discussions, videos, exercises, and small group work. This 2 ½ day workshop is open to anyone who wants to journey toward making a stand against racism. Church members and church leaders of any faith, as well as non-church members are all welcome! June 2-4, 2023 online. Registration and details at the CER website.

June 21-25 —

General Assembly 2023 - CER Meet Ups and More!

General Assembly 2023 is coming to Pittsburgh, PA! Join us June 21-25, 2023 in-person or virtually to worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through the democratic process.
  • The Central East Region is setting up several meet ups in-person and virtually for our attendees to GA. Please check the Whova app for additional topics, dates and times for both in person and virtual gatherings.
    • Congregational Presidents - Friday, June 23, 11 am, in person Convention Center room 325
    • Virtual CER Participants - Wednesday, June 21, 3:15-4 pm,
      Connect with other Central East Region folks attending virtually. We'll introduce ourselves, connect, and swap tips for doing GA online before we all join the Virtual GA Orientation. Link in the Whova App.
    • Virtual CER Participants - Thursday, June 22, 11:45am-12:15pm.Online check-in space for Central East Regional folks attending GA virtually. Casual drop-in space for making connections and asking questions. Link in the Whova App.
    • Virtual CER Participants - Friday, June 23, 11:45am-12:15pm Online check-in space for Central East Regional folks attending GA virtually. Casual drop-in space for making connections and asking questions. Link in the Whova App.
  • The GA App by Whova will be available to all in-person and full virtual registrants June 1. Learn more at the UUA GA webpage.
  • Regional Staff across the country are sharing our expertise on a variety of subjects at General Assembly! Look for these on-demand workshops:
    • Creating a New Future for Struggling Congregations - created by the Southern Region
    • Faithfully Finding Balance: Reaching in and Reaching Out - created by the Smaller Congregations Team
    • Spiritual Leadership: Becoming Who We're Born to Be - created by the New England Region
    • Conflict, Destructive Behavior, Our Bodies, and Our Brains - Created by the Pacific West Region
    • Making Your Congregation an Employer of Choice - created by Lisa Presley of the Mid-America region along with Jan Gartner from the Office of Church Staff Finances, and Sean Griffin from Stewardship and Development
    • The Repercussions of Misconduct - created by Sunshine Wolfe of the Central East Region, Sarah Millspaugh of the Pacific West Region, and Terasa Cooley, author of Transforming Conflict
    • UU the Vote: Run for Office! (2023 Edition) - created by Carlton Smith from the Pacific West Region along with the UUA Organizing Strategy Team
General Assembly registrants (online or in-person) will have access to these workshops during and after General Assembly through your participation portal. The workshops will be available to everyone through the UUA website in the fall. Register for GA here!

July 9-15 —

Featured Resource: CERSI and UUMAC Together!

Summer Institute (CERSI) will be teaming up with UUMAC (UU Mid-Atlantic Community) this year for a joint camp at PennWest University in California, PA. Everyone is welcome to join us for a week of community, fun, learning and sharing.

Adult theme speaker CB Beal (they/them/theirs), is a storyteller, educator, and speaker who is known for their humor, insight, ability to use their own foibles and unfortunate life experiments as cautionary tale, and to hold space where people can be braver and safer, facilitating learning experiences where people get to make their next move towards justice. Through stories, reflections, and conversation about practices of preemptive radical inclusion, CB will help us explore our capacity for witness, self examination and change. The theme is The Call is Coming From Inside the House: Preemptive Radical Inclusion and Practices for Witness, Self Examination and Change.

Youth have their own speaker and program and children have daily RE programming each morning. Drop-in programming, including games and art for all ages, is offered in the afternoon. Evenings are filled with community fun time such as a talent show and games.

Registration is open. Scholarship Deadline is May 31. Learn more today at the CERSI website. Registration closes June 20th.

Second Week in July —

Creating Intentional Summer Communities

Many people have an intentional community that brings them joy and sustenance. It might be a fiddle camp, quilting retreat or one of the of the many other options out there. It is intentional, you will only sign up for fiddle camp if you play or love the fiddle. And there is community, a community that shares your values and interests. That intentional community gathers each year. The bonds are strong even though people often see each other during that one week because of their shared interest and time spent together.

CERSI (Central East Region Summer Institute) has been an intentional UU community for over 40 years. It started in the Ohio Meadville District (OMD), known as Summer Institute. The very same year another group in the Mid Atlantic area of our country started having a weeklong intergenerational intentional community, UUMAC (UU MidAtlantic Community). For 40 years both camps have run successful programs the 2nd week in July. Hundreds of UUs have participated in these intentional communities.

Read the rest of the article.
 

CER Events at a Glance

The following events are upcoming in the region. For full details and a complete list visit the CER Calendar Page. Also, please note, if you are mailing a check to the regional office to pay for your registration, you must write the name and date of the event in the memo line. Otherwise we may not get it properly credited.

If you are looking for Renaissance Modules for Religious Educators or Our Whole Lives Trainings, check the full calendar on the UUA website.

This year the Central East Region is offering a series of
Networking Calls for congregational staff and leaders.

Instead of dividing up by geography this time, we're offering two times on each date for you to choose from. Come to one or to all. CER staff will be on each call to answer questions, but our main focus will be what you can learn from and share with each other.

Who can attend? Any congregational staff member, board member, committee chair or member, or other leader in the congregation. Come if you have questions to ask your peers, or if you have successes to share.

The 2022-23 call schedule: Thursday, April 20 - 12:30-2 pm and 6-7:30 pm

Meeting connection information: Join Zoom Meeting

Featured Resource: YUUP - Young UU Project

Have you heard of YUUP yet? The Young UU Project began in 2020 as a way for young UUs to keep in touch with each other and their faith during the pandemic, and is held by Lifespan Faith Engagement. The purpose of YUUP is to be a national community care network and multi-directional communication channel that centers BIPOC, trans/non-binary and neurodivergent youth and offers a transition zone for young people moving into emerging adulthood.

Anyone (youth, caregivers, religious professionals, lay leaders, everyone!) can tap into the social ministry of YUUP by following them on Instagram @yuup.uua and signing up for the YUUP newsletter. YUUP also has a community sphere just for youth, those who bridged in 2022 and support adults. These "Third Monday Meetups" are where youth swap ideas they can take home to their local communities. In August they swapped Favorite Check In Questions. In September they swapped favorite youth group games, which will soon be released on Instagram and in the newsletter.

Adult readers - We need your help connecting youth to this community! Please point them to UUA.ORG/YUUP to connect at whatever their capacity is.

To find out more about this organization, visit this UUA SITE

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