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 Issue 56: May, 2010It’s time to turn our attention to General Assembly, all the more exciting because it’s in Minneapolis this year! I hope to see many of you at GA. Be sure to attend our District Ingathering on Wednesday afternoon, and if any of you want to meet with me (nheege@psduua.org) or Phil (plund@psduua.org), email us soon to set up an appointment. We always appreciate your comments and suggestions for the newsletter. Click on the “email the editor” link in the menu on the right to send us a message. — Nancy Heege, District Executive This issue of the PSD Newsletter, and previous issues, can be read at http://www.psduua.org/Newsletter Two congregations were the first recipients of grants from the new Chalice Lighters Social Justice Fund. The grants were awarded to:
The Social Justice Fund makes grants to Prairie Star congregations of up to $1,000 for use in integrating social justice into the congregation’s mission and active work. The grants are intended to put Unitarian Universalist values into action by strengthening and empowering local interfaith partnerships and state-level issue advocacy. The overall goal is to encourage congregations to evolve from service work to effecting long-term systemic change through social witness and social advocacy, ideally in collaboration with local interfaith partnerships or area networks. Recipient congregations are expected to fund a portion of program costs. Your contribution to this fund will increase the number of grants that can be offered. Information about making a donation or applying for a grant is available at http://www.psduua.org/ChaliceLighters . At the Annual Business Meeting in April, new officers and directors were elected to the PSD Board of Directors. Kathy Burek, a member of Michael Servetus Unitarian Society in Fridley, Minnesota, was elected President after having served as Vice President. The new Vice President is Joanne Roudebush from the UU Fellowship of Topeka, Kansas. Dave Martin, UU Society of Iowa City, was elected to a second term as Secretary. New Directors are Heather Coffman, Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, Kansas, and Kristi Schuck, UU Fellowship of Mankato, Minnesota. Additional information about their backgrounds and qualifications is available on the Board Bios page of the PSD web site.
 Our Whole Lives (OWL) helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior. These trainings are for adults who want to teach the Our Whole Lives (OWL) curriculum in their congregations or community setting.
Information about registering for the fall 2010 trainings will be on the PSD website by the end of June. More information about the 2011 trainings will be available early in the fall. These trainings are co-sponsored by the Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ, and Prairie Star District. Camp UniStarPrairie Star District’s north woods camp, Camp UniStar, on an island northern Minnesota, still has space available some weeks this summer.
Remaining weeks are full or nearly full; please contact the Registrar, Chris Bremer, if you have a question about space availability or would like to be placed on a waiting list, as cancellations do occur. Chris can be reached at registrar@campunistar.org . Information and registration forms are available at http://www.psduua.org/Camps/CampUniStar . Camp StarTrailCamp StarTrail 2010 is set for August 1–6,2010, at a camp located between Lincoln and Omaha NE. We have room for more people, so if you’re still thinking about attending, we’d love to have you. Information is available at http://www.psduua.org/CampStarTrail2010 . Midwest UU Summer AssemblyMUUSA will take place July 4–10, 2010, near St. Louis, Missouri. For more information see and here is a video: Save the Date The fall online Leadership Conference has been scheduled for Saturday, October 9, 2010. Ninety-minute workshops will be offered for congregational leaders who are new to their positions: new Presidents, Treasurers, Religious Educators, Membership Committees, Worship Coordinators, and Social Action Committees. The workshops will bring together people from the MidAmerica region (Prairie Star, Heartland, and Central Midwest Districts) for online presentations by experienced lay leaders from UU congregations. Watch our web site http://www.psduua.org/Workshops for more information about registration. Monthly WorkshopsThis year’s round of monthly online workshops will end with the Safe Congregations workshop on May 20, 2010. Over the year, UUs from 35 of our Prairie Star District congregations participated in one or more of our free workshops. You too can participate starting again in August. All you need is high speed internet access and a separate phone line. Over the summer more information and registration details will be available on our web site http://www.psduua.org/Workshops . The 2010 PSD Awards presented at the Annual Conference went to nine recipients. See their citations and photos on our web site: http://www.psduua.org/Awards/2010Awards. A few photos from Annual Conference 2010 can now be seen at http://www.psduua.org/AnnualConference2010/Photos. News of PSD Congregations celebrating anniversaries with a variety of activities is online at http://www.psduua.org/Newsletter/56May2010PeopleAndCongregations. Thanks to individual contributions from members of congregations all over the District, 18 people were awarded scholarships to help offset the cost of attending the Prairie Star District Annual Conference. This year the scholarships paid for one-half the registration fee for each recipient. The scholarships are intended to increase financial accessibility, increase diversity, build commitment of youth and young adults, encourage seminarians to attend, and encourage denominational awareness among congregational leaders. Many thanks to all the donors who made this possible. |
