2018 Winter Conference in Tampa

January 29-31, 2018
Tampa, FL

We hope you will join us for a gathering that will renew your spirit as well as giving you lots of opportunities for catching up with those you know well and getting to know those you don’t. We will gather in beautiful western Florida near the Gulf of Mexico at the Franciscan Retreat Center in Tampa.

We will arrive on Monday, January 29, with registration beginning at 3:00. After a social hour and then dinner at 6:00, there will be a time of Welcome and Deep Listening in small groups, followed by Opening Worship and time for more socializing.

On Tuesday  we will have our Keynote Presentation: “Ministry and the Broken Hearted: Healing Moral Injury” by Rebecca Parker

The Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker served as president of Starr King School for the Ministry from 1990 to 2014. Currently she is Theologian in Residence and Minister of Adult Spiritual Formation at All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC. Here is what she says about her plans for her Keynote, which will surely speak to us all, whether we are ministers by profession or whether we minister as partners of ministers:

“Ministry has always engaged us in caring for souls at a deep level. How might we think anew about the care of souls in light of new research and attention to ‘moral injury’? ‘Moral injury’ is a concept first introduced by Jonathan Shay in his ground-breaking book, Achilles in Vietnam, which compassionately discusses the deep wounding to the human soul when a person participates in or witnesses events that profoundly contradict their conscience. Now recognized by the U.S. military as a hidden wound of war, moral injury contributes to the high rate of veteran suicides. Moral injury occurs in other areas of life as well, and healthcare professionals are turning to religious and spiritual traditions for wisdom on what we have long understood about the human soul – how the heart of a person can be broken and how it can be healed. How might our own theological understandings shift as we seek to respond?”

There will be time for questions and answers following Rebecca Parker’s presentation.

Tuesday will also feature three important conversations:
• Conversation with Rebecca Parker on “Spiritual Grounding for Dangerous Times”
• Conversation with Melissa Carvill-Ziemer, Acting Executive Director of the UU Ministers Association, on “The Future of the UUMA”
• Conversation with several Candidates for UU Ministry on “The Future of UU Ministry”

After dinner on Tuesday, we will hear Wayne Arnason’s Odyssey.

On Wednesday morning we will have our Memorial Worship Service followed by our Business Meeting.  After lunch, we will say our good-byes and maybe say hello to the Gulf of Mexico before leaving the area.

Conference fees cover the program, six meals, refreshments, general expenses and two nights in a sleeping room (except for commuters). You will receive a confirmation after we receive your check and completed registration form. We expect to send out the final schedule and any late-breaking information by e-blast on UURMaPA-Announce in early December. Please complete the Registration Form and send it with your check to Lois Wesener by December 15, 2017, at the latest. Space is limited, so don’t delay! See the registration form for instructions about how to make out your check and where to send it. Lois’s phone number is there too in case you have questions.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to a wonderful gathering in Tampa!

Your UURMaPA Winter Conference Planning Team:
Barbara Child, revbchild@aol.com — Publicity
Marni Harmony, revharmony@gmail.com – UURMaPA Bd, Liaison to UUA & UUMA
Ginger Luke, gingerluke.lovely@gmail.com – UURMaPA Bd, Conference Team Chair
Judy Welles, jcwelles@gmail.com – UURMaPA President
Lois Wesener, loisw99@hotmail.com — Registrar
Sara Zimmerman, revsaraz@gmail.com — Refreshments