This is a historical archive of previous events. To see current events, please visit our new calender, and also the Complete UUA Listing of Events.

Previous Events Archive

BGLTQ-Related Events at UUA General Assembly, 2010 June 23-27, in Minneapolis, Minnesota

• Workshop Thursday, June 24, 4:30pm, "Supporting and Advocating for Queer Youth", led by Rev Jonalu Johnstone (Past President, Interweave Board) and Allyson Diane Hamm (Vice President, Interweave Board). Learn about successful queer youth programming, with an emphasis on ideas to take home!
• Interweave Booth, T-shirts, Information, Mementos
• Annual Interweave Banquet/Brunch
  • This year, Saturday morning brunch!
  • June 26, 10am-12noon.
  • Put it on your calendar!
• The BRUNCH will take place at the open air Sky Garden, Crowne Plaza Northstar, arranged by Sun Principe, new Interweave board member. We promise you both Inspiration and Camaraderie as we celebrate:
  • Mark DeWolfe Award for lifetime achievement in furthering GLBTQ causes, to be presented to Wayne King of All Souls UU, Colorado Springs. Wayne has provided dedicated leadership since 1969\u2019s Stonewall Rebellion and has been a UU for the last 15 years. Come learn about and help us celebrate his outstanding contributions!
  • Annual Sermon Contest winner \u2013 Rev. Darcey Laine of Ithaca, New York. Come hear her award-winning sermon, Deconstructing Gender.
  • Great food, Great company, including you, we hope!

Interweave Convo, 2009

Held at Pacific Unitarian Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, February 13-15, 2009.  Save the date!

The annual gathering of Interweave Continental includes:

• Worship services
• Workshops
• Annual Interweave Continental Member Meeting (see Interweave Continental Governance)
• Good food
• New friends
• Old friends
• Interweave Chapter leaders (current and prospective) can come early for a Leadership training session

BGLTQ-Related Events at UUA General Assembly, 2009 June 24-28, in Salt Lake City, Utah, US

We will post information as it is available (probably 2009 April).

Convo 2008 February 22-24 in Denver, Colorado, US

More details soon! The Planning Committee for Convo 2008 is putting together a web site.

The annual gathering of Interweave Continental includes:

• Leadership training for Interweave Chapter leaders (current and prospective)
• Worship services
• Workshops
• Annual Interweave Continental Member Meeting (see Interweave Continental Governance)
• Good food
• New friends
• Old frieneds

BGLTQ Events at UUA General Assembly 2007

General Assembly 2007 in Portland, Oregon, U.S., June 20-24 Links to event coverage have been added, where available.
Thursday June 21	08:30a.m. 10:00a.m.	Open Space Orientation during Plenary II (RealVideo|Windows Media), OCC Hall C ( map) "... It is essential that the voices of bisexual, lesbian, gay, transgender, queer and questioning Unitarian Universalists, as well as heterosexual allies, in attendance at General Assembly in Portland be part of the Open Space process..." -Invitation to Interweave members
	10:30a.m. 12:00p.m.	Open Space Domains (Open Space Technology - Early Days) Workshop #2060, OCC Room F151 ( map) Identify issues or topics that relate to the central question, "In today’s complex world, what is our mission as a faith community?" and schedule further discussion in designated meeting times and spaces.
	2:45p.m. 4:00p.m.	Bisexuality Curriculum for Adult Religious Education Workshop #2060, OCC Room F151 ( map) This workshop is to introduce the curriculum put together by Unitarian Universalists about bisexuality. This curriculum is a great way for congregations to work on becoming more welcoming as well as to learn more about issues facing members. Will They Come Back? Radical Spiritual Hospitality Workshop #2070, OCC Portland Ballroom 253 ( map) A transgender person, 6’4”, in high heels. An interfaith multiracial family. A person with hearing loss. What does radical spiritual hospitality mean? What would our congregations be like if all the people who would be UUs, could be UUs? What can we do? Open Space Workshop I "In today’s complex world, what is our mission as a faith community?" (Invitation)
	4:30p.m. 5:45p.m.	Beyond Categorical Thinking: Promoting Diverse Ministries Workshop #2085 OCC Room E143-E144 ( map) Ministerial Search is a daunting process. What if our best ministry match means we call a Latina minister? Someone who is bisexual? Someone on medication? What is ministry in our congregations like for these ministers? How do search committees balance the needs and biases and live our UU values?
	5:30p.m. 7:30p.m.	LGBT and Friends Meet & Greet (Appetizers, Coffee, Iced Tea, No Host Bar) Hobo's Restaurant & Bar, 120 NW 3rd, between Couch and Davis "The First Unitarian Church PRIDE Group extends some Rose City Hospitality during what we hope will be your Wonderful Time in our Fair City. Please join us and make some new friends. Hobo's is in one of Portland's Historic Buildings in our Old Town/China Town neighborhood. (2 MAX stops, 2 short blocks walk from Convention Center)" - event organizers Kevin Lawson and Peggy McComb
Friday June 23	1:00 p.m. 2:15 p.m.	Crossroads: A Discussion of Race and Sexual Identity Workshop #3030, OCC Portland Ballroom 251 ( map) People of Color and White Bisexual/Gay/Lesbian/Trans people face similar issues and quite different issues. This workshop is an opportunity to hear stories that speak to the issues that come up as well as to bear witness to the problems of racism within other communities
Saturday June 23	10:45a.m. 12:00p.m.	What’s It Really Like? Workshop #4014, OCC Room F152 ( map) UUs are considered open minded when it comes to bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender issues. But what is it really like for BLGT clergy in our association of congregations? Come hear the panel talk about their experiences. Stirring the Oatmeal: Serving All Families Workshop #4009, OCC Room E145 ( map) Rev. Hope Johnson asks, "What do you need to stir your oatmeal?" How can faith communities be the tools families need to sustain and nourish themselves? What do we do to keep families in congregations and what do we do that draws them away? Family Matters Task Force will facilitate discussion.
	1:00p.m. 2:15p.m.	Welcoming Congregation, Marriage Equality: The Journey Toward Equality Workshop #4041, OCC Room B116 ( map) How have we made a difference? What work is still left? With all the work we have done on Welcoming Congregation, Marriage Equality, and Living the Welcoming Congregation, what have we done well and what is next? We will hear stories of success and look to the future. 4026 Open Space Convergence II Create a 1-sentence mission statement for one of these seven words: "transform," "humility," "anti-racist," "honor," justice," "peace," and "equality."
	5:30p.m. 8:30p.m.	Interweave Continental Banquet Location: Holiday Inn Convention Center, which is five blocks from the Convention Center. Purchase tickets at the Interweave Continental boot in the exhibit hall. Try to do it early in GA, as we often sell out. Highlights will include the winning sermon of the Interweave Continental Sermon Contest and the presentation of the Mark DeWolfe Award.
GA 2007 Program Schedule (PDF, 128 pages) Oregon Convention Center (OCC)

Open Space Statements

1. To promote and support spiritual transformation of individuals and communities so as to serve justice.
2. To imagine and realize a just global earth community of all beings.
3. To bring unity out of the many with mindfulness and respect by actively promoting compassionate communication.
4. Endow liberal religious scholarship, enabling globally relevant spirit and justice centered lay and professional ministries.
5. UU’s proclaim a call for fearless commitment to love, truth-seeking, peace and justice.
6. Our commitment as a spiritual community is to provide pathways to personal transformation.
7. To promote UU values and engage the world to hasten the transformation to Earth community.
8. To move from domination to a new paradigm of partnership and sustainable Earth community.
9. Connecting to the sacred, weave multi-cultural/intergenerational partnership, transforming the earth community through love and justice.
10. To foster networks of spiritual growth among UU’s through congregational life and non-congregational organizations.
11. Build and grow antioppressive/ anti-racist faith community that embraces and is accountable to marginalized people.
12. Support, integrate, and retain youth and young adults to keep our congregations vibrant and growing.
13. Change our relationship with the Earth from one of exploitation to one of sustainability.
14. We promote, teach, and practice right relations as essential and fundamental to our faith.
15. Recognize that youth are the lifeblood to the continuing vitality of our faith and community.
16. Covenant to deepen our spiritual practice, explicitly connecting our faith with action.
17. Create a culture of peace and justice to support and sustain the web of life.
18. Our religious communities become truly intergenerational as faith development is recognized as a lifelong task.
19. As UU’s we must now lead the turn from our current Empire Culture to Earth Community.
20. Empowering us to act courageously, transforming the world into a just, peaceful, non-oppressive community.
21. Transforming the world through courageous love, cooperative action, and humble power.
22. To create an engaging, vibrant community of all ages that will grow and thrive to transform the self, the faith, and the world.
23. The denomination must support, empower, hear, and minister to and with its children and youth.
24. To enable congregations to live lives of meaning and purpose through experiencing the sacred, spiritual practice and service.
25. We will transform lives and communities by practicing listening and being open to what’s now.
26. Thoughtfully and openly connect all in interdependent community through transformative vision of peace, justice, compassion.
27. To effect change, we must affirm and recognize individuals of divergent experiences by listening respectfully.
28. Infuse congregations with a spirit of love, hope, and justice; transforming lives to form beloved community.
29. To create an inclusive and multicultural spiritual community that acts to transform lives through loving relationships.
30. To grow inclusive communities of faith which transform

Convo 2007 February 9-11, in Atlanta, Georgia, US

Here is what participants said about Convo 2007:

Major Highlights

• Interaction of different generations
• Safe space that allowed emotional sharing* Hearing personal stories
• Saturday flowed well
• Mandy Carter, our amazing keynote speaker
• Community
• Diversity
• Challenging conversations
• Small group interaction
• Games
• Stretching
• Hearing do-able things
• Starting music from OurSong
• Worship and learning new songs
• See Monkey (it’s a game; you had to be there!)
• Hospitality
• Food
• P-FLAG

 

What Was Missing or We Would Have Liked to Have Been Different?

• Music and dancing Saturday night
• High tea
• “Normal” from HBO, or something like that
• Small groups with different people
• More interaction with people from the church
• More singing in worship
• More games and fun
• Scheduled free time/socilization/networking
• More spiritual aspect
• More people
• Concurrent youth conference
• Attention to “Freedom to Marry” day
• More physical involvement interspersed with talking
• More emotional involvement

 

Something You Learned

• Intentional integration of generations leads to authentic integration
• Bonding with youth and young adults around games
• Maybe someday my home can be as safe as this place
• Wondering about weeping/bursting cultural barriers that suppress feelings
• The UUA survey of youth showed bisexual youth were more involved in leadership in the youth movement
• Importance of renewing the Welcoming Congregation
• Connection of small groups with touch groups
• P-FLAG and playing the media
• It’s still difficult for young people to come out
• The importance of connection and support for youth and young adults
• Take time to make friends
• Take time for self
• Our church needs a connection with national Interweave.

 

Small Group Ministry at Interweave Convo 2007

Rev. Jonalu Johnstone, President, Interweave Continental

How do you encourage and support deep connection among folks who come together for a weekend and may never see each other again? How do you draw newcomers into an established group that has met year after year? In short, how can you make a weekend workshop or conference better?

With small groups, of course.

For the last twenty-five years, Interweave Continental has held an annual Convo (short for “convocation”), inviting UU’s from all over the continent to come together to consider issues of concern for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. This year, as we reached out to bring in more young people, we added small groups to our schedule as a way to build connections and give attendees the chance to process their experiences. In this experiment, we were following General Assembly and some other groups I’ve participated in, including Small Church Conferences and Ministers’ Retreats in the Southwest District.

The process was designed to deepen people’s experience, to increase their connection with others, and to allow them an opportunity to process what they learned. Because we wanted to create a mix, especially across age groups, we randomized the groups, using colored dots on name tags. This meant that people weren’t in groups with the friends or partners they arrived with. Instead, they had to meet new people. Another way to group people, of course, is to assign them in advance. That’s the strategy we use at Ministers’ Retreats, creating groups whose members have a mix of time in ministry, type of ministry, and cluster.

For Convo’s small groups, board members served as our facilitators. Their job was to keep things moving, to watch to make sure everyone got an opportunity to talk and to listen, and to generally monitor the functioning of the group. I provided them with session plans, including opening and closing words, check-in suggestions and discussion questions. Ideally, facilitators should meet for an hour beforehand to discuss the plans and how to relate in the groups, and once during the weekend, perhaps over a meal, to process how the groups are going.

Groups had three meetings – an hour on Friday evening, a half hour on Saturday morning after a keynote speaker and workshop, and an hour late Saturday afternoon before dinner. In the first session, people introduced themselves and got to say something positive about what was happening on queer issues in their congregations, as well as talking about their hopes and concerns for the conference. The second session allowed reflection on a highlight of the morning, and questions about making Interweave more inclusive particularly of various age groups – a major theme for the weekend. The final session provided a time to reflect on the overall experience and how people would bring their learnings back to their congregations.

Participants wanted more! Next year, we may plan for an additional group Sunday morning, and perhaps more time on Saturday morning.

Many folks reported the small groups were the highlight of their weekend, even though they loved other parts too! On top of that, people went home with new friends they hope to see again next year.

 

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