Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire (UUMSB)

Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire (UUMSB) Justice, love, and compassion in spiritual community. We strive to promote justice, acceptance, and compassion in the world.

We come together from diverse traditions as a welcoming, religious community with shared values, seeking spiritual growth, lifelong religious education, and fellowship.

06/13/2026

I am moved and so grateful for the courageous public witness of Unitarian Universalists and many others jointly organizing the resistance around Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ, a private for profit immigrant detention center where those detained have been on strike since May 22 to protest their inhumane and unjust conditions.

The Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, senior co-minister of the UU Congregation at Montclair, NJ shared with UU World, “We are watching GEO Group perpetuate incredible harm, not only on the people who are inside but [also] on the protesters outside.” Jill Beckman-Gaynes, co-lead of the Montclair UU congregation’s Immigration Action Team, affirms that her Unitarian Universalist values call her to do what she can to support the resistance at Delaney Hall:

“My faith calls me to walk toward the fires,” she said. “I can’t not be involved. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, this awful chapter of our history will be over. I want to be able to show my grandchildren that I tried my best to do something about it.”

I send my gratitude, love, and care to all who are witnessing for justice for our neighbors and their families in this heartbreaking time. Read the full story from UU World at the link in the comments below.

06/13/2026

Right now, a letter we signed as one of 25 faith institutions, along with hundreds of faith leaders from 30 traditions, is being hand-delivered to all 100 U.S. Senate offices. We're opposing the so-called "Save Our Bacon" provisions of the Farm Bill that would strip states of the right to set their own animal welfare standards and could preempt as many as 600 established state and local laws across the country covering animal welfare, food safety, and disease control.

Established laws at stake include those created through direct democracy, which passed with overwhelming voter majorities: California's Prop. 12 and Massachusetts' Question 3, two landmark ballot proposals that require farmed animals to have enough room to turn around, lie down, and extend their limbs.

Our faith has a name for silencing the people’s informed moral judgment and causing unnecessary suffering for profit: injustice.

This is a deeply important moral issue, sitting at the intersection of animal welfare, food ethics, and democratic accountability. Help ensure that NO iteration of “Save Our Bacon” is part of any Farm Bill. Please share this post with your network, then contact your senators to demand that no version of SOB be included in any Farm Bill.

06/05/2026

Congress must redress and contest our increasingly inhumane, brutal, and expanding Immigration Detention System

The disregard for basic humanity must stop.
The casual violence and brutality must end.

Write Your Lawmaker: bit.ly/Redress_Imm_Detention
UU FaithAction NJ Side With Love

06/05/2026

Clergy and faith leader signatories needed! Please share this post!

In consultation with a Jewish and Muslim colleague, our Executive Director wrote an interfaith letter urging the U.S. Senate to reject Section 12006 of the House Farm Bill. We need over 200 signatures to make an impact, and right now we have about 190 legitimate signatories. If you are a faith leader, please sign! And everyone, please ask clergy and faith leaders in your network to do the same.

Section 12006 has the cutesy name "Save our Bacon," but it is quite serious: it would nullify animal welfare laws enacted directly by voters in California and Massachusetts (saying, for example, that mother pigs must be housed in pens large enough that they are able to turn around, as opposed to industry standard "gestation crates" for months on end); it would give Congress the authority to preempt more than 600 state and local laws concerning food safety and animal welfare and other matters; and it would permanently strip states of the ability to regulate how meat sold within their borders is produced.

Faith traditions ranging from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, and many others share a deep concern for the unnecessary suffering of animals and for the integrity of democratic processes. The letter has signatories from a wide range of faith traditions in 34 states.

Please share this post with clergy and faith leaders you know; here's where they sign: https://tinyurl.com/individual-SOB , and here's the full text of the letter itself: https://tinyurl.com/interfaith-SOB

If you are a faith leader, please sign! And everyone, please ask clergy and faith leaders in your network to do the same. We only need a handful more signatures before this is ready to go. Please share this post! Thank you!

06/01/2026

It has never been easy to be a person of progressive faith, especially in a time when Christian Nationalist ideas are so pervasive and religious practice can be manipulated in service to power and greed. Even in these painful times, let us remain steadfast in our Unitarian Universalist identity, confident in our knowing that our covenantal faith and practices, grounded in shared values, offer so much of what is needed to minister to this beautiful and struggling world.

As a people of a freely chosen faith centered on love, what spiritual teachings keep us grounded in the work? What comforts us in times of struggle? What moves us to make room for others’ perspectives and experiences in our own understandings of life? Treasure those resources. Celebrate them for the spiritual development that they offer. Above all else, share them with each other, for we become more than we were when we journey together.

06/01/2026

UUs are very good at holding complexity.

We can affirm many ways to move through the world, connect to the sacred, or sing a beloved hymn… and still hold firm to the precise dishwasher loading diagram everyone should follow when using the congregation’s kitchen. 😄

That’s the beauty of our shared UU community life: we may not have perfect agreement, but we can be our best imperfect selves practicing how to live together with care, intention, and respect for one another.

06/01/2026

It's my honor to announce that the recipients of the 2026 Volunteer Service Award are Minnesota Unitarian Universalists, for their tremendous dedication and faithful commitment to justice in organizing UUs from around the country to join in training, worship, and historic anti-ICE protests last January. We are grateful for their activism, community care, and resistance ministry.

The Volunteer Service Award will be given to Minnesota UUs during General Assembly, as part of the General Session on Tuesday, June 16. Please join us in celebrating at GA. Learn more and register at the link in the comments below.

06/01/2026

This year’s Ware Lecture at General Assembly will feature The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde — Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., and a nationally recognized voice for compassion, justice, and human dignity.

From speaking out in defense of immigrants and trans children to joining multifaith clergy resisting violence and fear, Bishop Budde’s ministry continues to speak powerfully to this moment. We are honored to welcome her as the 2026 Ware Lecturer.

Join us Saturday, June 20 at 8:00 p.m. EDT as UUs gather online and in person for one of the signature events of GA 2026.

The Ware Lecture is available exclusively to registered GA attendees and is not open to the public.

Read more in UU World and register for GA 2026 at the link in the comments.

06/01/2026

When we all have the freedom to vote, regardless of our race or background, we can build an economy that works for everyone, ensure our neighborhoods are safe, and guarantee our children have a better future.

Tell your Representative and Senators to support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025: https://bit.ly/JLVRAA-119th

06/01/2026

They joined thousands of marchers in Selma and Montgomery for the day of protest.

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