Revitalizing UU Women's Groups

Wild Ideas For Unitarian Universalist Women

During interviews with over fifty women, the following innovative program ideas were offered:

An Evening with Female Ministers: This popular program has been repeated several times at the First Universalist Church in Minneapolis. A number of female UU ordained ministers from Minnesota are invited to attend a Friday evening program and to contribute by speaking for a few minutes on the designated theme. Appetizers and desserts are provided potluck style. Originally, this event acknowledged the female ministers’ need for professional sisterhood. The women’s organization served them a meal while they visited with each other.

Aphrodite (Goddess of Love) Day: White Bear Lake of Minneapolis has found this activity to be very popular. They begin late in the afternoon at a hotel where they have rented a room and share potluck food and stories. A hot tub is available and someone reads tarot cards. Similarly, two women from the church offer an evening at their home through their annual church auction. The evening includes dinner, time in a hot tub, and dessert.

Garden Party: This is a popular program that has been used several times by the Minnesota Valley Fellowship in Bloomington. A private home is used and a degree of levity is gained by asking women to come wearing old fashioned hats and gloves. Food is provided potluck style.

Women in the Military: The Minnesota Valley Fellowship in Bloomington held a program featuring a panel of women who had, at one time or another, been in the military in some capacity. Each woman spoke for a few minutes about her experience and then questions were taken.

Women and Money: Provide programming that educates women about money: how to think about it differently (retraining women to think in terms of abundance rather than poverty), sharing in the family’s wealth, philanthropy, and how to structure budget and savings for the women’s group so that programs and projects of the women’s organization are independent of the church’s finances.

Love Your Body Day: This was suggested on the web site of the National Organization for Women. It is designed to combat the effects of propaganda about the idyllic female body type. It has not been tried by any known UU women’s group but sounded like a worthy program.

Valentine’s Dance (annual): This could be co-sponored by Interweave and the women’s group.

Women’s Coffeehouse: Women may wish to perform (music, comedy, readings, etc.) for other women in a relaxed social setting.

Honoring Feminist Men: A special day to honor men for their support of women’s journey for equality and independence.

In addition to the more unusual ideas described above, here are some common but popular UU women’s programs:

Annual Christmas or Holiday Tea (see Appendix B)
Annual Mother Daughter Banquet (see Appendix C)
Annual Weekend Retreat for women of the church (see Section 3)
Daytimers’ Group meeting for coffee and snack or lunch, and social hour or program
Earth-based rituals such as house blessings, cronings, and solstice services (see Section 4)
Fundraising (some one-time, some annual, and some ongoing)
Hobby Groups (sewing, scrapbooks, cooking)
Labyrinth Walks (see Section 5)
Local Service Project Groups (serving women’s shelters, helping women recently released from prison, collecting food, cutting out winter scarves, etc.)
Menopause, a series led by a psychologist
Mother Daughter Book Club (see Appendix H)
Mother Daughter “Learn About Your Body Day” led by Planned Parenthood
Mother Son Field Trips
Political Discussion Group
Rummage Sale (see Appendix D)
Ritual Group
Solstice Services: winter and summer (see A Celebration of Winter Solstice)
Support Group
Tai Chi, Chi Gung, and Yoga
Writers’ Group
Women’s Sunday

Note: Despite the importance UU women place on social action and the fact that most UU women’s groups have members who are actively engaged in social action, most UU women’s groups choose not to sponsor this work directly, on a regular basis. The women interviewed for this manual indicated that women’s groups should exist primarily to nurture women so that they can go into the world to help make the changes that they want to make. See Appendix F, Ten Good Reasons for Feminist Social Action in Your UU Congregation.