Dear UUHA Members,

We hope 2022 has held plenty of moments of joy for you and your family; perhaps getting to gather again for the holidays as we emerge from the long pandemic and the isolation it brought to many of us, perhaps enjoying new traditions and making new memories together. We hold lightly, in community, any pain that has touched your life. 

This year, the UUHA will have published two volumes of our long-running journal, Religious Humanism, a two-part exploration of “How We Live our Humanism.” (The latest issue is finalized and will be emailed to members very shortly!) The essays contained in these editions (the second of which is being released as we write) are thoughtful and moving ruminations about how UU and Humanist values guide the lives of our contributors — and also what they can do in the wider world. We hope they bring inspiration and ideas to you and your communities.

The UUHA sponsored the 2022 HumanLight event on December 17th and hosted a breakout room at the end of the event to discuss the science and importance of Dark Sky efforts across the country and world. We had a great turnout and the attendees were eager to lobby on behalf of Dark Sky efforts. The UUHA will be sponsoring this effort in 2023, and we hope you’ll join us!

This upcoming year is shaping up to be a busy year for UUHA! We are working on an exciting series of programming featuring some leading voices in Humanism both within and adjacent to Unitarian Universalism. We have proposals in development for General Assembly (to which we hope to return in person) and the Secular Student Alliance conference. We’re also going to be holding elections to fill our open board seats and sponsoring Humanist book projects.

We want you to be involved in all of the exciting efforts underway. Especially in the face of challenges to human rights in the name of “religious freedom,” Humanism offers a bright path for the future. The UUHA continues to uphold the rich and vital tradition of Humanist thought in Unitarian Universalism, and also to be a bridge to the wider humanist and secular world of organizations who share our values and aspirations. As we end 2022, will you consider an increased commitment to inclusive, expansive, Humanist work?

If you haven’t yet renewed your membership, you can do that today. If you have, would you invest in the future of Humanism with an additional donation to support UUHA in the coming year? 

We wish you and yours a peaceful rest of the year and a warm start to 2023.

Leika Lewis-Cornwell and James Witker,

On behalf of the Board of the Unitarian Universalist Humanist Association