February 2024

UUA President Leads BLUU Worship This Sunday

With the complexities of relationship we all carry, and in a world not built for our thriving as Black people, finding love filled with more joy and ease than anything else can be surprising. But maybe love like that should always be a little bit surprising and hard to make sense of, lest it become too ordinary to fully appreciate. Join Rev. Mykal Slack and Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt as they reflect with BLUU community on love that is not in ordinary time.

About The Worship Leaders:

We’re elated that UUA president, Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, will co-lead BLUU worship this Sunday, Feb. 11, at 4 p.m. Eastern. Rev. Dr. Betancourt will co-lead worship with Rev. Mykal Slack, BLUU’s Community Minister for Worship and Spiritual Care.

The Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt is the tenth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Her twenty-year ministry has included serving as a parish minister, seminary professor, scholar and environmental ethicist, and public theologian. She is a proud BLUU Beloved.

Rev. Mykal Slack is a minister, facilitator, and writer who serves both as BLUU’s community minister for worship & spiritual care and on BLUU’s Organizing Collective Board of Directors. He is also a co-founder of the Transforming Hearts Collective, a group whose focus is on spiritual resilience of LGBTQ+ people and resourcing congregations for the work of radical welcome and culture shift.

Black Sacred Space:

BLUU’s online worship services are Black Sacred Space in their entirety – by and for Black people, with the words and voices of Black folks across the diaspora – and we hope that Black UUs and Black UU-adjacent folks (who share our values) from far and wide will join us!

For our non-Black siblings in faith, please DO share this invitation with Black folks in your life and community. Getting the word out about BLUU’s gatherings and other programming is one powerful way of lending your support, and we deeply appreciate it!

For all of our services, feel free to come into our BLUU Zoom Room as early as 15 minutes before the start of the service to get settled, say hello to the folks who are already gathering, and listen to the music softly playing as we all prepare for our time together.

Sign up for worship here: https://bit.ly/3wYfnjb.

The UUWF monthly zoom gathering is a space for UU women and gender nonconforming folks to check in with each other on their justice journeys. They invite all women and nonconforming people to join as they grow and learn from their wider community of activists, advocates, allies, and co-conspirators.

BLUU Annual meetings are for BLUU Beloveds to ask questions about BLUU’s work, connect with the Organizing Collective Board, and connect with other Beloveds. In order to attend the BLUU annual meeting next month, you must register as a BLUU Beloved beforehand.

We couldn’t have done it without you! It’s your support that helps us sustain our efforts.

Albie Johnson, Commissioned Lay Minister:

Fridays at 11a.m. – 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. – 12 noon CT

Rev. Mykal Slack, Community Minister:

Tuesdays at 2-4 p.m. ET/1-3pm ET

Pastoral care is a model of emotional and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. People who provide pastoral care offer support to people in their joys, sorrows, and uncertainties associated with specific life events occurring while part of the community in which pastoral caregivers serve. Spiritual care is a multi-faceted model of support in individuals’ search for meaning, purpose, wholeness, and connection in day-to-day life.