What leads a clergy member to break the law? 

On Saturday April 20, climate activists from Extinction Rebellion Boston (XR) disrupted passenger boarding at Hanscom Airfield in Massachusetts, to protest a proposed expansion that would lead to a 300% increase in private jet traffic and related greenhouse gas emissions in the Boston area. State police eventually arrested 20 protesters, charging them with trespassing. Among them was Rev. Dr. Susanne Intriligator, minister of the Melrose Unitarian Universalist Church in Melrose, MA.

The Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray was a high school softball player when she first organized others to act on their moral outrage. A teacher had barred girls from playing third base, catcher or shortstop during gym class. Frederick-Gray enlisted the other girls in class to boycott phys ed softball until their demands were met.

“We were threatened by the gym teacher with failing gym,” she told Religion News Service in a recent video interview. She answered, “You can fail me, but I’m not going to stop until we can play wherever we want to play.” The girls...

A draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court will vote to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision guaranteeing federal protection for abortion rights in the United States, was published Monday night (May 2) by Politico.

The Supreme Court ...

A variety of religious traditions assembled Sunday evening to pray for one thing: peace in Ukraine.

The meeting at North Presbyterian Church was assembled by the Williamsville Interfaith Clergy Association and was led by two Ukrainian clerics, one Catholic and one Orthodox. Joining them were Presbyterians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'i, Sikh and Unitarian Universalists.

North Presbyterian Pastor Bill Hennessy said the array of clergy was deliberate.

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With 4,224 registrants from across the United States and world, the Unitarian Universalist Association’s second all-virtual General Assembly, held June 23–27, 2021, was both a joyous celebration and a solemn recognition of the widespread trauma of 2020, including the nearly million people around the world who died during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing murders of Black people and other people of color by police.

The theme for GA 2021 was “Circle ’Round for Justice, Healing, Courage.” The first General Assembly led by the UUA’s new co-moderators, Charles Du Mond and the...

(RNS) — For about two years, Rosa Gutierrez Lopez avoided deportation by taking sanctuary in Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, residing in the Bethesda, Maryland, church just nine miles from the White House.

Now, Gutierrez Lopez — who is living independently with her children after she was granted a stay of removal — is urging lawmakers to enact policies that offer a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants like herself.

Lately, she’s been back in church — but this time, at Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, D.C., where she has joined...

When Sacramento State University classes went online because of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, 19 year-old Nicole Oneto moved back in with her parents about an hour south of Fresno.

“I was brought back into this bubble again,” said Oneto about feeling isolated in her rural hometown of Woodlake. She lives on 10 acres and doesn’t share some of the worldviews as her neighbors.

So earlier this year, she decided to start logging into the Sunday church services at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento, where her grandparents attend.

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Ohio lawmakers faced fierce blowback last winter over a bill that would escalate criminal charges on fossil fuel protesters and threaten religious organizations or nonprofits that support such demonstrations with crushing fines. 

By then, the state Senate had already passed the proposal, known as SB-33. At House hearings that lasted until early 2020, however, some 171 opponents testified against the effort they said risked chilling free speech and preventing the faithful from exercising their spiritual duties at a moment when scientists credibly argue that new fossil fuel...

Massachusetts is known for its historic buildings and churches but some of these houses of worship are getting a very modern update as they turn to solar power.

In 2019, at least 64 houses of worship in the commonwealth had solar installations in operation, according to a report from Interfaith Power and Light. The numbers were up 14% from 2017 and only trailed behind California, which had 190 congregations, according to the...

Leaders recommend suspending worship gatherings and other large events; staff are working from home; UUA events in the next month have been moved online or canceled.

In ongoing efforts to promote public safety during the COVID-19 outbreak, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is requiring all staff in its Boston office to work from home until further notice. UUA events and meetings scheduled during March and early April have been canceled or moved online. The UUA is also encouraging congregations and groups to suspend in-person gatherings of more than twenty-five...