Unity Congregations Going Green

*The first two Unity churches to receive EarthCare Certification from the AUCI EarthCare Ministry Team were honored by Rev. James Trapp at the Unity People's Convention in June. Congratulations to Rev. Sharon Clements (right) of Unity Centre of Practical Christianity from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, for being the first Unity church in the world to receive this certification! And congratulations to Rev. Alice Anderson (left) of Christ Church Unity in Orlando FL, for being the first Unity church in the United States to receive the certification!* (Field Xchange 7.1.09)

For for more info and/or assistance in involving your church or community in this exciting and innovative process, please contact the EarthCare Team at earthcare@unity.org.

(Above Photo from Field Xchange Newsletter 7.1.09)

Scholarships For Unity People's Convention 2010

I want to let all people affiliated with Unity in some capacity know about scholarships that will be offered for attending the Unity People's Convention in 2010.

"The Enlightened Leaders Program is a transformational leadership development program that enhances key leadership competencies through: deepening spiritual practice, developing other leaders, facilitating quality adaptive work, building teams, cultivating organizational integrity, introducing and leading constructive change, leadership from the heart, and more. All ministry leadership teams (includes your ministers, board, staff, LTs & key leaders) who are willing to commit and also meet the qualifications will be accepted into the program. Final application deadline is August 31, 2009, but if you apply by July 31, 2009 you will be entered into a pool of applicants who will receive one of three scholarships to the 2010 Unity People's Convention in beautiful San Diego, CA." (Field Xchange Newsletter, 6.25.09)

For more info see the Association of Unity Churches' website.

Spiritual Discernment Christian Leadership Conference at George Fox University

The George Fox University Congregational Discernment Project announces two dozen Authors and Experts Workshops on various aspects of spiritual discernment as the key to effective Christian leadership. The conference will be held this May 31-June 3 at George Fox University in Newberg, OR.

"Authentic leadership is seen as a function of truth rather than power, and this conference explores the theory and practice underlying that reality. . . This conference features leading authors and experts who will be sharing how discernment-oriented leadership works." (RNS)

Check out the conference details on GFU's website.

Vatican Investigates Catholic Women's Group

The Vatican has launched an investigation into the teachings and activities of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (a rather progressive Catholic women's organization that promotes social change, human rights, and justice throughout the world) because it has strayed from official doctrine on the church's teachings on the exclusively male status of the priesthood, the primacy of the Catholic Church over other Christian denominations, and the understanding of homosexuality.

Pink News and the Associated Press report on the story.