Gratitude: A Thanksgiving of Images

Thanks to the MN Conference UCC for this Great Idea! For a beautiful way to get to "see" one another, share some joy, and build community, you might invite your whole congregation to share a single photo of what they are grateful for, right…

Community Prayer Tree

First Presbyterian Church in Winnebago, MN, is blessed with a large blue spruce in front of their building. On September 20, 2020, the congregation dedicated this large tree as a community prayer tree with the simple intent of providing a place…

Six New Things: Week of October 19

One Contemplative Prayer's time has come! Discover what it is and deepen your practice: Shalem Institute encourages "opening to the Divine" in their one-day retreat, A Drink of Love; Richard Rohr invites us to "rebuild the Foundation" When…

Six New Things: Week of October 12

One Leadership Development and Support: [Yours and Others] We can all use help finding grounding and maintaining balance. Melinda Emily Thomas introduces Sacred Balance: Aligning Body and Spirit through Yoga and the Benedictine Way (Broadleaf);…

Cultivating Hope

I am confident denominational leaders, clergy and lay leaders, speak of their longings for "when things get back to normal" or "when things are like they used to be", out of a desire to offer pastoral care and a sense of solidarity, but these…

Clergy Appreciation Month

This is not a locally- or in-house generated Great Idea, which we normally want to promote, but it seems like a good idea to share a Great Idea about supporting our clergy. Clergy & Congregational Coach Laura Stephens Reed offers words…

Six New Things: Week of October 5

One Indigenous Peoples' Day is October 12: change perspectives by engaging more honest narratives about Native Peoples' experiences with resources suggested by the UUA, including We Are Water Protectors (Roaring Brook), We Are Grateful (Charlesbridge)…