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Three UU ministers show the power of women’s voices
Speaking at an abortion-rights rally at the Vermont State House, Rev. Joan Javier-Duval of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Montpelier said, “In my view, it is bad theology to claim a concern for the sanctity of life on the one hand while ignoring children dying at the border, trans women murdered on the streets, the continued defunding of public education, and fossil-fuel-induced ecological catastrophe on the other,” she said. (Rutland Herald, 5.27.19)
At a similar rally in Louisville, Kentucky, the Rev. Dawn Cooley, a member of the UUA’s Southern Region Congregational Life staff, said, “The brutality is found in the outrageous idea that a woman should be expected to know she is pregnant before she has even missed her period. . . . One of us can be dismissed, two of us can be ignored. . . . But together, we are a movement, and we are unstoppable.” (Louisville Courier-Journal, 5.21.19)
After 390 years and 31 male ministers, the First Church of Salem, Massachusetts has voted to call a woman as its next minister. The Rev. Elizabeth Ide, who did not learn until the end of the process that a woman had never led the congregation, said, “It’s a great opportunity for us. . . to invest and make more abundant what leadership is, what we think leadership is and making sure leadership opportunities are available to everyone.” (The Salem News, 5.21.19)
Pajamas and pilgrimages capture attention, raise awareness
Alex Kohn, a high school junior, hung 135 pairs of children’s pajamas on a clothesline outside of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia, Maryland, before a talk he and three friends gave there about immigration last October. Now, his church has partnered with Howard County Indivisible to hang 1000 pairs of pajamas on the National Mall. “No child should have to go to bed without their parents to tuck them in. . . . How can anyone justify separating families and putting kids into detention camps not knowing where their parents are?” Kohn asked. (The Baltimore Sun, 5.24.19)
Retired physics teacher Mark Ailes and his traveling companions will bicycle from the Midwest to Washington, DC, to raise awareness and lobby their representatives about climate change. Ailes and two of the other participants learned about the Citizens’ Climate Lobby through a presentation at the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church in Naperville, Illinois, where they are members. Speaking about climate change, Ailes said, “It’s a monumental problem. . . . It’s hard to visualize what you can do and what effect it will have." (Daily Herald, 5.23.19)