After several conversations with Unitarian Universalist leaders throughout Season 5 of the podcast, our hosts are ready to think through some of the big themes and threads that emerged, and to offer up their own answers to the question, "What is the Central Task for Humanity at this Moment in History?"

Some of the questions that come up for them include: How do we move our focus from individual to community, and how do we expand our understanding of community beyond humans? What are the first steps toward building the better world that we dream of? And, what does it take for us as humans to take action in the face of crisis?

About our hosts:
Rev. Peggy Clarke began her ministry at Community Church of New York the summer of 2019. She came to us after serving as solo minister at the First Unitarian Society of Westchester in Hastings on Hudson for eight years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies and Peace Studies and a Masters in Historical Theology from Boston College.

Her doctoral work was in American Religious History. Rev. Clarke has served on the board of the UUA’s climate justice initiative Commit2Respond, the UU Environmental Justice Collaboratory and as chair of the UU Food Justice Ministry. She was one of the denomination's Observer Delegates at the 2015 United Nations Climate Summit in Paris, represented our denomination at Standing Rock and most recently at the Mexican American border, calling attention to the crisis of separated families. In 2021, she served as UU Delegate at the United Nation’s Climate Summit in Glasgow.

The Reverend Doctor Sarah Lenzi was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist Ministry in 2012. Before turning full time to ministry, Rev. Lenzi, who holds a BA from Williams College and an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School, completed her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work, published as “The Stations of the Cross: The Placelessness of Medieval Christian Piety” focuses on ritual practice and the integration of imagination, memory, the physical, the visual and the aural in creating transcendent experience. Rev. Lenzi brings her academic study of ritual to her worship leadership.

Rev. Lenzi’s ministry focuses on the value of the worship experience as a means of community building and encouraging personal growth along the spiritual journey. She hopes that participation in the communities she serves will help individuals to realize their capacity for love and compassion, to strengthen their sense of justice and power, and to affirm their own and others' beauty and worth.

In this episode of the Hope and Heresy podcast, Rev. Peggy and Rev. Sarah are joined by Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, Ninth President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) and Carey McDonald, Executive Vice President at the UUA, to discuss the question at the heart this season of the podcast: What is the Central Task for Humanity at this Moment in History? In this episode, we phrased the question a bit differently, asking, "If you could wave a magic wand and fix or change one thing about the world, what would it be?"

Our hosts and guests discuss the impacts of intergenerational trauma, the transformative potentials of imagination and justice-centered love, and the power of relationships built around shared values to motivate us to keep showing up and fighting in an environment of oppression

About this week's guests:
Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray is the ninth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. She was elected in June 2017 to a six-year term after serving congregations in Arizona, Ohio, and Tennessee. After leading the Unitarian Universalist response to Arizona’s anti-immigrant laws in 2010, she became lead organizer for the Arizona Immigration Ministry, among her other activism. She now lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Rev. Brian Frederick-Gray, and their son, Henry.

Carey McDonald is the UUA's Executive Vice President, helping to lead the organization in fulfilling its mission and overseeing staff operations. He previously served as the UUA's Outreach Director and as the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, and is a former lay member of the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee and the Skinner House Books Board. Prior to joining the UUA, Carey worked in educational policy with the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Department of Education. Carey is a seventh generation Unitarian Universalist and a member of First Parish in Malden, MA and the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, Ohio. He was active in Columbus as a youth leader in the Ohio Meadville District Youth Adult Committee and with Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM). Carey holds a bachelors in Economics from Pomona College in Claremont, CA, and a masters in Organizational Leadership from Wheelock College in Boston, MA (now a part of Boston University). He lives Malden, MA with his family.

In this episode of the Hope and Heresy podcast, Rev. Peggy and Rev. Sarah are joined by Rev. Meg Riley and Charles Du Mond, Co-Moderators of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), to discuss the question at the heart this season of the podcast: What is the Central Task for Humanity at this Moment in History? In this episode, we phrased the question a bit differently, asking, "If you could wave a magic wand and fix or change one thing about the world, what would it be?"

Our hosts and guests discuss the power of approaching with curiosity and saying "yes," the importance of uplifting marginalized voices in our communities, the necessity of reforming our policing system, and more.

About this week's guests:

Rev. Meg Riley, a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, was raised in congregations in Charleston, West Virginia, and Akron, Ohio. After serving for 38 years as a religious professional in a variety of capacities, Rev. Riley retired in the summer of 2020. She now serves, with Charles DuMond, as co-moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association. She lives in Minneapolis, nestled in with her family, animals, gardens, deep friendships, and a vibrant activist community. She is also the editor of Testimony: The Transformative Power of Unitarian Universalism.

A lay leader who came to Unitarian Universalism from the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Charles Du Mond, for many years, described himself as a Quaker who belonged to a UU Church. Now, he is simply a Unitarian Universalist.

He joined the UUs of San Mateo in 1993. He has served on its Board of Trustees, holding all the leadership positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Financial Secretary. He taught religious education (RE), including every Our Whole Lives (OWL) level from kindergarten to high school, facilitated the Beloved Conversations curriculum three times, led a capital campaign, participated in a Ministerial Search Committee, and developed and led Sunday Services.

Beyond his local congregation, he served on the UUA Pacific Central District Board, District Presidents’ Association / Regional Leaders Group, the Board of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), the Board of the Starr King School for the Ministry, and the advisory board for UU United Nations Office.

Du Mond has a PhD in Statistics which he uses to design, analyze, report, and present the results of clinical trials to regulatory agencies. He lives in San Mateo, CA. He has been married to Barbara for 40 years. They have two adult children, Jennifer and Emily, and one grandchild, Rio.