So, Faithify, the Unitarian Universalist crowdfunding platform, launched at General Assembly, with some fanfare and with a raft of inaugural projects. And http://t.co/KjPlZtqyvK launches pic.twitter.com/CdF5wKwsQs — Scott Wells (@bitb) June 25, 2014 This is how it works in a nutshell: entities put forward fundable projects, and the general (Unitarian Universalist) public votes with its dollars.… Continue reading No thoughts about Faithify for now, except…
Category: Cooperation
Serious conference tech
My day job (Sunlight Foundation) colleague, Jeremy Carbaugh, has written a thrilling blog post about the technology Sunlight uses to run our annual big event/unconference, TransparencyCamp, a.k.a. TCamp. Along with masterful planning and execution, engaged group process and careful attention to design, TCamp is a sight to behold. I’m quite proud of it, and wanted… Continue reading Serious conference tech
Distributed activity: filling in Singing the Living Tradition at Hymnary.org
If you look at the Singing the Living Tradition page at the über-useful Hymnody.org site, you’d think it has two hymns in it. I think the hymn-interested Unitarian Universalist community should fix that. So first, does any one have a clean spreadsheet or list of all the first lines? If not, can we build one?… Continue reading Distributed activity: filling in Singing the Living Tradition at Hymnary.org
The “lost generation” is no joke (and may be its own savior)
If you have not seen the April Fools Day issue of the spoof publication, The Beacon, go ahead and take a look at it now. And jump ahead to page eight which reprises the old complaint from Generation X that they — no, we — are ignored by a graphic juggernauts younger and older than… Continue reading The “lost generation” is no joke (and may be its own savior)
Can small-church Unitarian Universalist ministers oblige?
A few days I commented on Twitter about some UUA statistics and that led British Unitarian minister Stephen Lingwood to look for himself. I’m copying our Twitter discussion with his permission. @bitb Interesting to see how many 50ish-member churches there are. From over here it’s easier to get the impression they’re all 500+ in UUA… Continue reading Can small-church Unitarian Universalist ministers oblige?
Working to help the hungry: thoughts public and private
I live in Washington, D.C., and I care deeply about my city. In particular, I hate when it becomes an eponym for political misdeeds or a focus of scorn. Remember: the 600,000-plus people of the District of Columbia don’t even get voting representation in Congress. And the Congress reserves for itself the power of our… Continue reading Working to help the hungry: thoughts public and private
The real crowdfunding problem
I work with grants in my daily work: giving and getting them, the planning and execution. I was on the board of a now-defunct Unitarian Universalist mission organization. I know a few things about modern administration and organization and the history of our polity, some learned the hard way. Like many others, I’ve also seen… Continue reading The real crowdfunding problem
A yellow light for the UUA crowdfunding site
On the last day of the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly, outgoing moderator Gini Courter announced a new crowdfunding program: joint project of the Clara Barton and Massachesetts Bay districts, to raise money for Unitarian Universalist projects, in the spirit of Kickstarter and similar projects. In as much as there’s been buzz about this, it’s been… Continue reading A yellow light for the UUA crowdfunding site
Sharing costs for church projects: the subscription
The talk about the new, emerging Unitarian Universalist crowdfunding project will lead to a series of posts here. Let me start with a pic from my “pirate edition” copy of Hosea Ballou’s Treatise on Atonement. Why this 202-year-old book? (From my library; have I never written substantively aboutit?) Because in was crowdfunded, by the subcription… Continue reading Sharing costs for church projects: the subscription
Would love to see the “Labour Church Hymn Book”
The “Labour Church Hymn Book” is cited. It’s small: indeed only 32 pages and perhaps alone in the shared history of church hymnody and organized labor. It’s well-cited (and here and here and here.) Even a UU tie-in! But I can’t find a copy!