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Let me tell you about an exciting new issue of UU World—but it’s not the exciting one you are holding in your hands.
This summer, for the first time we published an anthology of articles and photographs designed specifically as an introduction to Unitarian Universalism. We’re calling it a “seeker issue”—a magazine you would hand to a friend who expressed curiosity about our liberal faith tradition; a magazine your congregation might send to visitors or place at a welcome table.
UU World’s first ‘seeker issue’ is available for purchase in packs of ten and twenty-five.
The 32-page seeker issue is organized in four sections: Who We Are, What We Believe, How We Gather, and What We Do. It’s beautiful, engaging, colorful, informative, and tangible.
Most of the seeker issue’s articles and photographs appeared in earlier issues of this magazine—gems like the Rev. Dr. Kendyl Gibbons’s “Primal Reverence,” for example—or in other resources for newcomers, such as Melissa Harris-Perry’s introductory essay, which also appears in the Unitarian Universalist Pocket Guide, and the Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich’s popular internet essay “Ten Things I Wish People Knew about Unitarian Universalism.” Each of these popular pieces is already available separately, but we believe they are even more compelling together, packaged as a gift you can hand someone.
Our goal was to offer a collection of stories and images that give glimpses into our spiritually curious, community-minded, intellectually restless, and justice-oriented faith community. We hope these glimpses inspire readers to further explore Unitarian Universalism. We think UU World does this with the quarterly issues we publish for members of UU congregations. Why not make one more issue expressly for nonmembers?
The seeker issue is available for purchase in packs of ten or twenty-five copies from the UUA’s inSpirit Book and Gift Shop. (Call 800-215-9076 for information on bulk discounts.) We hope congregations and individuals will find a variety of ways to use the magazine in outreach efforts—on brochure racks and welcome tables, in newcomer orientation classes, at community events, and so on. We will mail sample copies to congregations and to each minister in active service as the church year begins, so that you can decide whether the seeker issue meets a need in your congregational outreach efforts. We hope to hear back about the ways it proves most useful.
Why not buy a pack so you have something on hand to share with a friend, relative, or coworker the next time your involvement in a UU congregation comes up? I can’t believe we didn’t think to try this sooner.