Prairie Star District

This is the third PSD newsletter of this program year. Welcome to those who are new to Prairie Star District and congregational leadership positions.

We always appreciate your comments and suggestions for the newsletter. Click on the “email the editor” link in the menu on the left to send us a message.

This issue of the PSD Newsletter, and previous issues, can be read online.

If you’re already dreaming about the warm, sunny days of Summer 2009, we invite you to consider attending a UU camp.

Camp StarTrail

Camp StarTrail will be held August 2-7, 2009 near Omaha, Nebraska. Join us for a multigenerational camp that celebrates and explores Unitarian Universalism, in the beautiful rolling hills of the Platte River Valley. From the morning Celebration, to the workshops, to the evening Vespers and campfires, there will be fun and good conversation. If you’d prefer to sit in a rocking chair and read a good book, you’ll enjoy the quiet of the woods, lake, and sky. We’re renting a Lutheran camp for the week. There’s a swimming pool, a small lake for canoes and paddle boats, and excellent food.

Photos of the camp and more information are available on the StarTrail page of the District Web site. Registration will be open in mid-January.

Camp UniStar

Camp UniStar in northern Minnesota offers a full summer of week-long programs. See the Camp UniStar page for more information. The complete program is usually posted in February.

Midwest UU Summer Assembly

MUUSA takes place one week in July near St. Louis, Missouri. For more information see the MUUSA page.

Blessed Unrest

The keynote speaker for the 2009 PSD Annual Conference, Linda Barnes, has chosen this book to be read, digested, and shared: Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement In the World Came Into Being and Why No One Saw it Coming, by Paul Hawken, a leading environmentalist. The book is a social activist’s examination of the worldwide movement for social and environmental change.

Borrow it from your library or buy copies from your local bookstore and share with each other what you have learned. Blessed Unrest will be discussed in a workshop session at the Conference; book clubs could read and discuss this book; and congregations could organize discussions as well.

More information about Blessed Unrest is available on the District Web site.

The 2009 PSD Annual Conference is a weekend of workshops, networking, and worship, which will take place April 3-5, 2009 in Duluth, Minnesota. This year’s theme is Our Blue Boat Home: Living the Seventh Principle. Information about keynote speakers, the UUA presidential candidates forum, and workshop descriptions are now posted. Registration material will be available in January.

More information at Annual Conference 2009.

Wanted:

A volunteer craftsperson to design and make the gold stars used to honor growing congregations at the PSD Annual Conference. More information about the gold stars is on the gold star page of the PSD web site.

News of PSD People and Congregations is online. Look there for news of awards to a musician and architects and a sesquicentennial Web site. There is also an In Memoriam section.

Our denomination embarked on a four year study action of Peacemaking in 2006. We UUs have been and are Peacemakers -- now is the time for us to organize and establish where we UUs stand on this issue. It is very important that many voices get heard -- as this will be our official UU position. After much work by many good UUs, we now have our first draft of a proposed statement of conscience.

It is vital that a significant number of congregations become involved in this review process. Without a full 25% of our congregations providing feedback these Peacemaking effort will not move forward. This is our self imposed new rule, which will require congregations that have never been involved to be involved. Here is a helpful link that gives many ideas for providing feedback.

Produced by UUA

In light of the passage of Proposition 8 in California and similar blows experienced on election day which restrict the rights of bisexual, gay, lesbian, queer, and transgender people, the Unitarian Universalist Association has produced a video which makes clear the support of people of faith for marriage equality. See the video on YouTube.

The International Convocation of UU Women, the first-ever international gathering of UU women, will take place February 26 - March 1, 2009 in Houston, Texas, to energize the tremendous capacity of UU women to enhance and create global and local programs to address the rights of women and to eradicate severe poverty. Visit the Web site at http://www.icuuw.com to read bios of inspiring international speakers, and register to attend and/or register for an exhibit table to promote your business or non-profit organization.

 
Prairie Star District is one of nineteen districts of the Unitarian Universalist Association. We serve almost 70 congregations in the Upper Midwest. We have three full time staff people and three part time program and support staff members who work with many volunteers to assist congregations. To learn more about us, see our Web site.