Six New Things – Week of June 26, 2023

We move into the height of summer empowering women and girls as they lead the way to sustainable environments, economies, theologies, and... everything!! ONE We're delighted to share a new recorded Summer Sermon: Welcome & Water. It's…

Mentoring Formation Leaders

Thanks to Carol Pinkham Oak for sharing these thoughtful tips on preparing mentors for faith formation engagement in Building Faith. In A Path of Support and Discovery: Mentoring for Formation Leaders, Carol Pinkham Oaks writes, 'New leaders…

Six New Things – Week of June 19, 2023

Happy Juneteenth! Meaningful remembrances, powerful stories, setting reimagined intentions, affirming identities, working toward reparations: it's all here to recognize the beauty and importance of every individual. ONE After reading the…

Sabbath Supplements

Thanks to Traci Smith, who credits Daneen Akers with sharing the link to MaryAnn McKibben Dana's Sabbath Supplements: a spin-off from her book, Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family's Experiment with Holy Time (Chalice; we've got a copy in our library…

Six New Things – Week of June 12, 2023

Summer's rest and renewal - elusive as they may be - can inspire and empower individual and communal transformations, molding us a little more fully into God's image and belovedness. ONE From the author of Julián Is a Mermaid, comes, A Bed…

Talking with Kids about Racial Injustice

Thanks to Twin Cities-based author, poet, puppeteer, and playwright, Ty Chapman, for his fantastic book, Sarah Rising (Beaming), and the Author's Notes (read them in full, here), reprinted by Beaming, for sharing this Great Idea. White people:…

Armchair Pilgrimage of Blessings

We've created this Great Idea based on a recent email from Wild Goose - The Iona Community's publishing house. Wild Goose shared an email full of pilgrimage resources which, when combined, could be a wonderful summer experience for any number…

Summer Formation Bingo

Thanks to Kelli Sieplinga Dunn for sharing this Great Idea in last month's Building Faith newsletter. Sieplinga Dunn writes, 'Summer can be a mixed bag for... someone who thrives on routine... Vacation [can be] simultaneously relaxing and…

Six New Things – Week of June 5, 2023

With Memorial Day in our rearview it must be SUMMER - a season to follow our imagination into PRIDE Month, courageous leaps of faith, and rest... P.S. We'll be taking a few Monday's off in the next few weeks, so if we miss a Monday/Six New…

Empowering Queer Youth of Faith

Thanks to Rev. Kim Nagy for writing up this great overview of Beloved Arise in the current Association of United Church Educators newsletter. This isn't so much a Great Idea as a resource write-up for youth ministry leaders and clergy. But…