Greetings, !

Image Caption: Do you ever feel like the cat in the image above? Sometimes you just want to be alone and grumpy but the world decides what you really need is a lesson in tolerance! 

NAUA summarizes our values, which emerged during the Renaissance and flourished during the Enlightenment, as FREEDOM, REASON, and TOLERANCE, and considers them fundamental for any society to demonstrate respect for the worth and dignity of every person.
Let's reflect on our values prior to the fall Summit.

TOLERANCE: Every person, regardless of their specific ideologies and identities, should have equal standing and equal access to the benefits and protections of society.

“It is not for me to judge another man's life. I must judge, I must choose, I must spurn, purely for myself. For myself, alone.”
Herman Hesse, Siddhartha

"Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.”
Albert Einstein

“Everyone on Earth, they'd tell us, was carrying around an unseen history, and that alone deserved some tolerance.”
Michelle Obama, Becoming

“Love is wise; hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other, we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don't like. We can only live together in that way. But if we are to live together, and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.”
Bertrand Russell

Note: If you've written a poem, designed a work of art, or taken a photograph that might be a good fit for this focus on Tolerance, please consider emailing it to jmkrettek@gmail.com. If we aren't able to use it here, we may request your permission to share it on our Facebook page or via other communications. Thanks!

This course will consist of four programs in August given on Tuesday-Wednesday (depending on time zone) for four consecutive weeks. The course will trace the development of liberal religious ideas beginning in India in the early 1800’s to liberative religion as reflected by Imaoka Shin’ichro’s “Free Religion” concept in Japan. The course will be taught by Professor George Williams. Professor Williams is a retired historian of religions, having spent a lifetime studying religions that liberate. He has written and made videos about the Hindu Renaissance, religion in modern Japan, and religion in Hawaii. He is President of the International Association for Religious Freedom. He has two honorary doctorates, one from the Starr King School for the Ministry and another from the United Protestant Theological School of Cluj [Kolozsvar], Romania. He currently lives in Hawaii and is a kupuna (elder) of Kanenuiakea, a thousand-year-old indigenous Hawaiian faith.

Each lecture will be given twice per day so that members in all time zones around the world can participate in at least one session at a convenient time.

Find the most convenient time in your time zone and check the date. Everyone in US and Canada will  be on Day 1. Those in Europe may be on Day 1 or Day 2 depending on the time selected.

The Zoom link and password are the same for all programs:

Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86943657920

The passcode is 043765.

For questions, contact Stephen Polmar, NAUA International Alliances Committee: alliance@naunitarians.org

While we aren't printing the names of new members for privacy reasons, we will share (anonymously) some of the comments they offered when joining NAUA:

[I'm looking forward to] "collegial relationships, continuing learning."

"I like this organization because [it's] open minded [with an] open heart."

"Supportive of the mission & vision of the organization. I am a classical Unitarian, interested in the historiography & intellectual scholarship of the movement, and looking to join like-minded people & make a public stand on behalf of my beliefs."

Welcome! Welcome! Here's to Freedom, Reason and Tolerance!

In preparation for our Summit Workshop, How Are We Doing One Year Later, the Member Services Committee (MSC) has begun to gather their thoughts about what we should focus our energy on going forward. Naturally we are hopeful that we will soon be able to launch the MSC webpage, and that the number of Regional Groups will continue to grow. But we have also begun exploring other areas of focus such as programs, discussions, or activities for children and adults that guide or assist people in ethical, moral, and civic responsibility. We are living in troubled times in so many ways; not just locally or politically, but also globally. In addition, being a good steward of the earth often gets lost in the day-to-day chaos of our lives. Resultant stress levels are rising. Thus, we have begun to ask, how can NAUA be relevant to these times? What can we do to be helpful, useful, or provide support or guidance to our members?   

These are some of the questions that we will be asking you in the Breakout groups during the MSC Summit Workshop on Friday, Oct. 3 (10AM PT).  If you have thoughts about any of this, and would like to share them now, we would gladly listen. Please send them to memberservices@naunitarians.org.

[Also, please contact us if you are interested in developing a Regional Group in your area.]

Your Are Invited to the 2025 NAUA Summit!

Our August gathering is scheduled for Wednesday, August 6th, from 4:00 - 5:30 PM PDT / 7:00 - 8:30 PM EDT. We’ll be discussing the NAUA Vision Statement: “Empowering Liberal Religion to Survive and Thrive." While not required, if you're interested in getting a sense of what Rev. Dr. Todd Eklof (founder of NAUA) presented as his vision, click on his Academy presentation from October 2024 titled “Where Do We Go From Here?” Click here:

NAUA and the Future of Liberal Religion

The NAUA Conversation / Discussion CIRCLE has no limits on participation and is open to all NAUA members and friends. Join in creating a vibrant, supportive space for dialogue and reflection.

The zoom link is: https://tinyurl.com/naua-circle

For questions or to register for reminders, email us at circles@naunitarians.org. The CIRCLE will be facilitated by a member of the NAUA Board of Trustees. We hope to see you there!

Download iCalendar entry for this event
Add event to Google Calendar

Note: The Forum Circle, which is led by Mark Reimers and requires a reservation, is taking a break over the summer. Twice monthly meetings will resume in the fall. 

Climate Consciousness is a way of being, perceiving and responding that is shaped by spiritual insight and ethical commitment.  This service will provide a brief overview of the key elements and spiritual practices of Climate Consciousness revealed by spiritual teachers such as Richard Rohr, Matthew Fox, Thomas Berry, Thich Nhat Hanh, Dali Lama, Aldo Leopold and Rumi. 

Zoom access at https://tinyurl.com/NAUAService