Lent for UUs, minister canned for basketball (long ago), and more

Lent: Take it or leave it

The Rev. Sean Parker Dennison describes how he came to appreciate Ash Wednesday and Lent:

A few years ago, I learned a valuable lesson about ministry. We’d spent several months focusing on “positive” topics: joy, love, hope . . . It went well.

But then we decided to spend a month, as a congregation, focusing on “brokenness.” It was amazing–awesome, deep, vulnerable and a catalyst for so much conversation and later, action.

It made me realize that there is a reason days like Ash Wednesday came into being. ("Ministrare," February 25)

Logan Geen thinks making a commitment to do something rather than give something up is the best way to observe Lent ("The New Unitarian Universalist," February 25).

The Rev. Kit Ketcham, however, doesn't "do Lent" ("Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show," February 25). And the Rev. Cynthia Landrum says she is mystified by Lent and Ash Wednesday, which "is so much more foreign than a Passover seder" ("Rev. Cyn," February 26).

Presidential picks, historical curiosities, and more

UU bloggers are starting to pick candidates for the next UUA president. Chalicechick picks the Rev. Laurel Hallman ("The Chaliceblog," February 26). The Rev. Dan Harper prefers the Rev. Peter Morales ("Yet Another Unitarian Universalist," February 28). Click here for candidate profiles from UU World and links to the candidates' websites.

Meanwhile, Jeff W. hosts a conversation about whether the UUA president could be a layperson ("Transient and Permanent," March 1).

Lizard Eater thinks that Christine Robinson's UU World article "Imagineers of the Soul" is "Slamming Hands on the Steering Wheel good" ("The Journey," February 23). As a lay leader at her "dwindling small church," she is also intrigued by the model of large churches that plant satellite congregations ("The Journey," March 1; see uuworld.org, July 21, 2008).

The Rev. Dan Harper discovers that one of his Unitarian ministerial predecessors in New Bedford, Mass., was ousted for promoting basketball in 1922 ("Yet Another Unitarian Universalist," February 26). The Rev. Colin Bossen, meanwhile, stumbles across a reference to a 1964 FBI investigation of the Unitarian Society of Cleveland because the minister had circulated a petition calling for the abolition of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee ("The Latest Form of Infidelity," February 25).

The Rev. Andy Burnette is thinking about the implications of UU historian Conrad Wright's observation that "individualism thrives as one moves from a steady state into a period of growth; and that it becomes dysfunctional as limits to growth come into play" ("Just Wondering," February 23).

Ogre quotes an extended passage from a speech by the Rev. David Bumbaugh that argues that "our diversity rests in a powerfully homogeneous core of shared beliefs and attitudes" ("Sparks in the Dark," February 28).

Kari Kopnick wishes she were at the International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women (like Lizard Eater), but finds plenty to celebrate in her local congregation ("Chalice Spark," March 1).

After badly breaking his leg in a fall, Harrumpher can't get around very easily. But his church came to him: He says 16 members came to his house for a canvass dinner ("Harrumph!" March 1).

The Rev. Matt Tittle, who blogs at the Houston Chronicle's "Houston Belief" site, writes about how he felt "called" to the ministry—even though he doesn't believe in a personal God—provoking a fascinating dialogue with conservative Christians ("Keep the Faith," February 26).