#common read

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The 2018-2019 UUA Common Read has been announced!

A Common Read invites participants to read and discuss the same book in a given period of time. It can build community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared experience, shared language, and a basis for deep, meaningful conversations. The 2018-2019 UUA Common Read is Justice on Earth: People of Faith Working at the Intersections of Race, Class, and the Environment, edited by Manish Mishra-Marzetti and Jennifer Nordstrom.

This highly anticipated anthology presents a powerful and penetrating look at environmental justice from some of the key thinkers and activists in Unitarian Universalism today. Fourteen activist ministers and lay leaders apply a keen intersectional analysis to the environmental crisis, revealing ways that systems of oppression intersect with and contribute to ecological devastation.

Stay tuned for more information about this year’s Common Read and how you and your UU community can participate. Check out: www.uua.org/books/read

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The 2026-2027 UU Common Read is Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies, edited by Rev. Dr Sofía Betancourt. The Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared platform for reflection, learning, and action. “Given everything our world faces today, having faith in love is no small thing" writes Rev. Betancourt in her preface to the collection and we hope this Common Read encourages you to consider and discuss what it means to put love at the center of our faith.

Visit uua.org/read to access this year's discussion guides and additional resources and to learn more about how and you and your community can participate.

In response to the Article II Study Commission and the final adopted language of Article II outlining our shared values, it is clear that the value most describe as central to their faith, to their living, and to the mission of their congregations is love itself. We are a people guided by, and centered in, our engagement with all that love requires.

Our pressing task now is to ask ourselves and each other how this understanding calls us forward, individually and collectively. We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.

In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism—from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins. May Love at the Center serve as an invitation to deepen your own understanding and practices of love.

Available wherever books are sold and from inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop.

[skinnerhousebooks]

The 2026-2027 UU Common Read is Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies, edited by Rev. Dr Sofía Betancourt. The Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared platform for reflection, learning, and action. “Given everything our world faces today, having faith in love is no small thing" writes Rev. Betancourt in her preface to the collection and we hope this Common Read encourages you to consider and discuss what it means to put love at the center of our faith.

Visit uua.org/read to access this year's discussion guides and additional resources and to learn more about how and you and your community can participate.

In response to the Article II Study Commission and the final adopted language of Article II outlining our shared values, it is clear that the value most describe as central to their faith, to their living, and to the mission of their congregations is love itself. We are a people guided by, and centered in, our engagement with all that love requires.

Our pressing task now is to ask ourselves and each other how this understanding calls us forward, individually and collectively. We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.

In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism—from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins. May Love at the Center serve as an invitation to deepen your own understanding and practices of love.

Available wherever books are sold and from inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop.

[skinnerhousebooks]

The 2026-2027 UU Common Read is Love at the Center: Unitarian Universalist Theologies, edited by Rev. Dr Sofía Betancourt. The Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared platform for reflection, learning, and action. “Given everything our world faces today, having faith in love is no small thing" writes Rev. Betancourt in her preface to the collection and we hope this Common Read encourages you to consider and discuss what it means to put love at the center of our faith.

Visit uua.org/read to access this year's discussion guides and additional resources and to learn more about how and you and your community can participate.

In response to the Article II Study Commission and the final adopted language of Article II outlining our shared values, it is clear that the value most describe as central to their faith, to their living, and to the mission of their congregations is love itself. We are a people guided by, and centered in, our engagement with all that love requires.

Our pressing task now is to ask ourselves and each other how this understanding calls us forward, individually and collectively. We may agree that love is central, but what does that mean to us and what does it require of us? It is in that spirit that we asked more than two dozen leaders in our movement the question of what it means to put love at the center of our faith.

In these pages, you’ll find personal testimony to love’s power, reminders of the centrality of love throughout the long histories of Universalism and Unitarianism, and theologies of love drawn from many different expressions of Unitarian Universalism—from the natural world to the justice rally, to a loved one’s deathbed, to the quiet moment before a worship service begins. May Love at the Center serve as an invitation to deepen your own understanding and practices of love.

Available wherever books are sold and from inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop.

[skinnerhousebooks]

The 2025–2026 UU Common Read is Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection by Deepa Iyer. The Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared platform for reflection and a shared focus for action. This year's selection invites Unitarian Universalists to become more authentic, connected, and effective as individuals and communities as we pursue transformative justice together.

We are living in a period of overlapping social, economic, and environmental crises, accompanied by failures in public systems and institutions. It's not surprising, then, that when we attempt to engage in social change efforts, many of us feel like we are on a seesaw, swinging from outrage to overwhelm. For those who are just beginning their social change journeys to those who are weary and disillusioned, how can we effectively anchor our commitments to equity, solidarity, and justice?

This is the entry point for Social Change Now, Deepa Iyer's heartfelt offering to individuals and groups seeking to initiate or deepen their actions in service to social change values. Relying on two decades of work supporting social movements, Iyer introduces the social change ecosystem framework, which includes a map of ten roles, from builder to storyteller to disrupter to experimenter, as well as practices to identify values and strengthen our social change ecosystems.

Social Change Now goes well beyond presenting ideas and frameworks. It's also a practical guide that contains descriptions and many real-world examples, reflection prompts with room to write responses, and accessible tips that can immediately be put into action. It is a resource that will accompany individuals and organizations not only in times of crisis, but throughout their lifelong social change journeys to build connected communities and equitable systems in our world.

Visit uua.org/read to learn more about how and you and your community can participate. Available wherever books are sold.

[skinnerhousebooks]

The 2025–2026 UU Common Read is Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection by Deepa Iyer. The Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared platform for reflection and a shared focus for action. This year's selection invites Unitarian Universalists to become more authentic, connected, and effective as individuals and communities as we pursue transformative justice together.

We are living in a period of overlapping social, economic, and environmental crises, accompanied by failures in public systems and institutions. It's not surprising, then, that when we attempt to engage in social change efforts, many of us feel like we are on a seesaw, swinging from outrage to overwhelm. For those who are just beginning their social change journeys to those who are weary and disillusioned, how can we effectively anchor our commitments to equity, solidarity, and justice?

This is the entry point for Social Change Now, Deepa Iyer's heartfelt offering to individuals and groups seeking to initiate or deepen their actions in service to social change values. Relying on two decades of work supporting social movements, Iyer introduces the social change ecosystem framework, which includes a map of ten roles, from builder to storyteller to disrupter to experimenter, as well as practices to identify values and strengthen our social change ecosystems.

Social Change Now goes well beyond presenting ideas and frameworks. It's also a practical guide that contains descriptions and many real-world examples, reflection prompts with room to write responses, and accessible tips that can immediately be put into action. It is a resource that will accompany individuals and organizations not only in times of crisis, but throughout their lifelong social change journeys to build connected communities and equitable systems in our world.

Visit uua.org/read to learn more about how and you and your community can participate. Available wherever books are sold.

[skinnerhousebooks]

The 2024–2025 UU Common Read is Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families, edited by Peggy Gillespie. The Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared platform for reflection and a shared focus for action. Authentic Selves invites us to explore the nature of living authentically and the ways connections among us help us thrive.

Groundbreaking in its depictions of joy and community, this important book celebrates trans and nonbinary people and their families in stunning photographs and their own words. With a foreword by transgender activist Jazz Jennings and her mom and fellow activist, Jeanette Jennings, Authentic Selves was developed in collaboration with PFLAG National and Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund.

So often trans and nonbinary people’s stories are told only through the lens of their struggles and challenges, including their political battles for legal rights, but trans and nonbinary people live rich and fulfilling lives full of joy and community too. Authentic Selves is a sweeping compilation of life stories and portraits of trans and nonbinary people, as well as their partners, parents, children, siblings, and chosen family members.

These compelling stories provide a glimpse into the real lives, both the challenges and the triumphs, of these remarkable people and their families—people like Senator Sarah McBride, disability justice advocate Parker Glick, drag entertainer TAYLOR ALXNDR, September 11th first responder Jozeppi Angelo Morelli, model Lana Patel, youth activist Elliott Bertrand, and so many others—all of whom are working to create a more just, diverse, and compassionate world.

An introduction and the discussion guides are now available! Visit uua.org/read for more information on how your community can participate.

[skinnerhousebooks]

The 2024–2025 UU Common Read is Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families, edited by Peggy Gillespie. The Common Read builds community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared platform for reflection and a shared focus for action. Authentic Selves invites us to explore the nature of living authentically and the ways connections among us help us thrive.

Groundbreaking in its depictions of joy and community, this important book celebrates trans and nonbinary people and their families in stunning photographs and their own words. With a foreword by transgender activist Jazz Jennings and her mom and fellow activist, Jeanette Jennings, Authentic Selves was developed in collaboration with PFLAG National and Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund.

So often trans and nonbinary people’s stories are told only through the lens of their struggles and challenges, including their political battles for legal rights, but trans and nonbinary people live rich and fulfilling lives full of joy and community too. Authentic Selves is a sweeping compilation of life stories and portraits of trans and nonbinary people, as well as their partners, parents, children, siblings, and chosen family members.

These compelling stories provide a glimpse into the real lives, both the challenges and the triumphs, of these remarkable people and their families—people like Senator Sarah McBride, disability justice advocate Parker Glick, drag entertainer TAYLOR ALXNDR, September 11th first responder Jozeppi Angelo Morelli, model Lana Patel, youth activist Elliott Bertrand, and so many others—all of whom are working to create a more just, diverse, and compassionate world.

An introduction and the discussion guides are now available! Visit uua.org/read for more information on how your community can participate.