Sunday, May 1, 2005

UU Bloggers Throw a Picnic!

by Philocrites

Unitarian Universalist bloggers gather in Milton, Mass. Amazing! On a rainy day in late April, ten Unitarian Universalist bloggers -- and fourteen friends, spouses, and kids -- gathered for the much-anticipated Liberal Religions Bloggers & Readers Picnic. The photo (taken by Mrs Philocrites using PeaceBang's camera) shows nine of the bloggers in an obligatory group shot. Note the coffee hour nametags, cups, and the Olde New England parish hall environs. Why, it's as if Coffee Hour was more than just a UU blogging hub!

(During the tour of our host congregation's beautiful sanctuary, I remarked that the two dozen of us made up a larger congregation than 10 percent of UU congregations. After I got home, I wondered how wildly I had exaggerated: Lo and behold, 82 of the UUA's member congregations reported two dozen or fewer members, which is just under 9% of the congregations that reported membership figures this past year. Of course, I was counting the six kids, too, but 5% of UU congregations reported 18 or fewer members. The Rev. Arthur Reublinger's $2.1 million bequest last week to support small congregations in New Hampshire and Vermont clearly comes at a good time.)

Represented at the festivities: The Chalice Blog; Debitage; Paul Wilczynski's Observations; PeaceBang; Pericles; Philocrites; Prophet Motive; The Socinian; Transparent Eye; and Unity.

Consider this post an open forum about the picnic. Was it fun? Awkward? Surprising? The best thing ever? And how about that potato salad?

One thing that emerged from our after-lunch discussion: Many people wanted an easy way to share tips and ask about blogging tools and techniques, so we'll set up some UU blogging-specific forums here at Coffee Hour where people can ask questions and share answers related to Blogger, Movable Type, TypePad, and WordPress, which are the dominant blogging platforms among UUs at the moment. The forums will be beginner-friendly but will also allow people to share tips for adding more advanced features.

I'm looking forward to the next UU blogger get-together at the UUA General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas. We haven't set a time or place yet, but I know at least a half dozen bloggers who plan to be there -- and it would be wonderful to hear from people who would like to meet with other UU bloggers at G.A.

Posted by Philocrites, May 1, 2005 08:25 AM
Comments:

Philocrites says:

May 1, 2005 08:39 AM | Permalink for this comment

Whose ears were burning during our picnic? I remember fond mentions of Boy in the Bands, Left Coast Unitarian, Ministrare, My Irony, Peregrinato, Transient and Permanent, UU Enforcer, and I'm sure we must have mentioned several others, too.

Notably, we did not light a chalice, take a collection (although Fausto sure brought a lot of yummy hamburgers), sing a hymn, or organize any committees. Someone -- it may have been me -- noticed that "Singing the Living the Tradition" (aka the Gray Hymnal) was on the left in every pew, while "Hymns of the Spirit" (the Red Hymnal) was on the right. Coincidence? I think not.

James Field says:

May 2, 2005 12:21 PM | Permalink for this comment

I guess I just have to go to GA. Because a West Coast picnic just wouldn't add up to very many people.

Dan Harper says:

May 4, 2005 10:47 PM | Permalink for this comment

I can dig it, James.... Phil of "Phil's Little Blog on the Prairie" and I had our own li'l Midwest bloggers gathering a couple of days ago when Phil was in Chicagoland for a meeting -- the two of us probably constituted the vast majority of UU bloggers from the Midwest. (C'mon, Midwestern UUs -- let's get some more midwestern UU blogs going!)

Needless to say, one topic of conversation was how freakin' radical, hip, and cool the Midwestern Unitarians and Universalists were, and are. Phil and I both remain incredibly impressed by the religious education materials produced by the Midwestern Unitarian Conference back in the late 1800's. And of course I like to brag about how our little church in Geneva Illinois ordained and called a woman minister in 1894. And Phil likes to brag about how his district is the first UU group to actually set a goal of producing lifelong UUs -- which is about as cool as it gets.