We extend a warm invitation to all members of DRUUMM and BIPOC friends to join our Fall Caucus, which will center on Multiracial and Families of Color within the Unitarian Universalist community. This gathering offers a unique opportunity to connect with fellow Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, fostering an environment of exploration, active listening, and integration of new insights into our individual and collective spiritual and religious journeys.
Our caucus will open with a panel discussion on faith and family with members: Natalie Fenimore, James Coomes, Elizabeth Nguyen, Aisha Hauser.
We are committed to deepening our grounding as Unitarian Universalists, and affirming our diverse and complex family systems that we come from. Our caucus will open with a panel of Religious Professionals of Color sharing their insights and experiences. Participants will have time to meet in small groups for deeper discussions, connections and learning with one another. Together, we'll reflect on the opportunities and challenges faced by multiracial families and families of color within Unitarian Universalism. We hope that these discussions will serve as a foundation to inform future DRUUMM programs and advocacy efforts, ensuring that our community is continually evolving and becoming more inclusive.
This caucus is exclusively for DRUUMM Members and will be conducted virtually via Zoom. We kindly request registration by October 31st, 2023. For those who identify as White and wish to engage, we encourage you to explore UU Allies for Racial Equity, who will be hosting parallel programs. You can find registration information at www.uuare.org.
Contact: Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons jsantoslyons@uuma.org
Guest Speaker Bios:
Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen is a Midwesterner at heart, lives in Malden, and is learning all the time about liberation, solidarity, courage, and cowardice. She is a Unitarian Universalist minister and a Migrant Justice Organizer with Community Justice Exchange and previously did faith-based justice work and youth organizing. She is passionate about progressive organizing in the Vietnamese American community, building power across prison walls and feeding people.
Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore was a religious educator and parish minister in congregations in Maryland and Virginia before assuming settled ministry at Shelter Rock in 2013. She is a past President of the Liberal Religious Educators Association, and was a member of the UUA Commission on Institutional Change. Currently, Rev. Dr. Fenimore is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association Board of Trustees.
James Coomes (he/him) is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist and has been a member of Neighborhood Church since 1996. He has been a member of the staff, served as an RE teacher and committee member, as a board member, as a member of multiple ministerial intern committees, and is a founding member of Neighborhood People of Color.
Aisha Hauser serves on the Lead Ministry Team for the Church of the Larger Fellowship. She is an accomplished religious educator, facilitator, author and advocate and served our faith as the President of the Liberal Religious Educators Association. While Aisha started her professional career in the field of social work after earning a MSW from Hunter College in NYC, she quickly became involved in the religious education program in the first Unitarian Universalist congregation she attended and there found her love of religious education.
