Skinner House Books will be publishing a collection of new Unitarian Universalist rituals. As part of their work to make an ethical anthology, Skinner House is establishing an open comment period until April 15. To learn more about the reasons for this and the invitation to comment, use the link embedded in this letter from Skinner House Books:
Invitation to comment period:
Dear EqUUal Access Community,
Subject: Open comment period for new collection of rituals from Skinner House Books
Top-Level Summary:
- Revs. Allison Palm and Heather Concannon have been working with Skinner House Books on a new collection of rituals.
- In consultation with the Skinner House Equity and Accountability panel, we are establishing an open comment period (until April 15) before proceeding further.
- We have posted our proposed plans and details for how to give input online.
- We are deeply grateful for any input you choose to share with us.
We are writing with regard to a call for submissions that we shared in August 2020 for a new collection of rituals edited by Revs. Allison Palm and Heather Concannon, to be published by Skinner House Books. This project is designed to offer new rituals that commemorate occasions that have not traditionally been ritualized in Unitarian Universalism, with the larger goal of improving the range, quality, and integrity of rituals as they are practiced by UUs in congregations, in homes, online, and in circles of support outside of congregations.
We received a wealth of beautiful rituals and made a very good start. Thanks so much to those of you who have offered your ritual creations.
In the time since we shared that call, we have been learning more about what it means to publish new rituals in our current UU context. We know that the gifts of rituals offered to our UU community, particularly by BIPOC, LTBTQIA+, disabled, and other marginalized peoples are too often taken and used in ways that do not have integrity and do not represent our highest values.
As a result of our learnings, we have decided to slow this project down. We have some tentative ideas about things we can do in the book to encourage respectful, authentic, accountable, and inclusive use of the rituals. But no final decisions have been made yet.
With this message, we are establishing an open comment period until April 15 to invite your input before proceeding further with this project. You can find details about the book and our proposed plans at https://www.uua.org/publications/skinnerhouse/rituals-comment-period, along with information about how to reach us should you choose to share your reactions and suggestions.
We know there are a lot of demands on your time and we are grateful if you choose to carve out some time to share your longings and your expertise with us. We hope to hear from you.
With thanks,
Mary Benard, Publications Director, Skinner House Books, mbenard@uua.org, https://calendly.com/mbenard-1
Revs. Allison Palm ( palmalli@gmail.com ) and Heather Concannon ( hconcannon@uua.org ), book editors
in consultation with the Skinner House Equity and Accountability Panel: Julica Hermann de la Fuente, Alex Kapitan, Rayla D. Mattson, Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen, Rev. Sunshine Wolfe
