Media roundup: ‘Law & Order: SVU’ features UU child dedication

Media roundup: ‘Law & Order: SVU’ features UU child dedication

A weekly guide to stories about Unitarian Universalists from other media sources.

Rachel Walden

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Beacon Press grows amid troubled publishing industry

Historic Unitarian Universalist Association publisher Beacon Press is increasing its staff size and diversity at a time when the publishing industry at large is stalling. Beacon director Helene Atwan notes that adding the remote staffers would not have been possible without the technology afforded by the new UUA headquarters buildings. (The Boston Globe - 5.5.15)

Association is known for its shareholder activism

UUA treasurer and chief financial officer, Tim Brennan, advises that being present and speaking up at annual meetings is an essential step to effective shareholder activism. He says giving the company advance notice also helps ensure you will have an opportunity to speak. (The Wall Street Journal - 5.3.15)

‘Law & Order: SVU’ UU child dedication

In pop culture news, the latest episode of Law & Order: SVU, “Perverted Justice,” featured character Sgt. Olivia Benson having her soon-to-be-adopted child dedicated at a UU church. See a picture here.

UU congregations renovate, celebrate, reflect

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Somerset Hills in Somerville, N.J., delayed their building dedication until the installation of a new elevator was complete. Guided by UU values, it was important to the congregation to hold the celebration only once people of all physical abilities were able to participate. (myCentralJersey.com - 5.4.15)

After relocating to a new building in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church has become a new sustainable energy provider in the community. The congregation finished the installation of a 20-kilowatt solar array in time for Earth Day. (Oak Ridge Today - 5.5.15)

Members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bowling Green, Ky., are developing grassland near their church using local plants and following a natural growing method. This project is part of their ministry of care in the congregation and in the community. (Bowling Green Daily News - 5.1.15)

As the Rev. Andrew Clive Millard prepares to celebrate the flower communion in his congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula in Newport News, Va., he notes the ritual’s historic roots in World War II Europe and its modern symbolism highlighting the different contributions we each bring to the world. (Daily Press - 5.3.15)

UUA President the Rev. Peter Morales recently helped celebrate the installation of the Rev. Gretchen E. Weis at Murray Unitarian Universalist Church in Attleboro, Mass. The installation was also a celebration of the congregation’s 140-year history as a liberal religious presence in the community. (The Sun Chronicle - 5.4.15)

Members of the largely white Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Springfield, Ill., have been meeting with black members of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church to engage in the complicated issues of race relations. They recently rang bells to signify the work that still needs to be done on the issue of race, 150 years after the death of Abraham Lincoln. (here & Now - 5.4.15)

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