Articles & Accolades
Standing on the Side of Love
While serving the Houston congregation, I helped publicize the Unitarian Universalist support for equal rights for all loving couples.
The cover story of the December, 2008 edition of Out Smart featured local Houston protests over the decision of California voters to end marriages for same-sex couples. In their two-page centerfold on the story, the magazine highlighted my comments on the discriminatory positions of other religions.
(Click for a larger version of the article.)
Canvas
and Fundraising
"I have never been involved with a budget drive that was not successful," I told the Unitarian Universalist Association's Interconnections magazine in a article published Spring, 2007. "It depends on how willing the congregational leadership is to do things in new ways. I ask people to take risks, have courage, show some passion for the mission, and follow through. That always leads to greater generosity."
When interviewed, the congregation had completed a budget drive that raised about $790,000, well over the unspoken goal of $775,000. I believe in responsible stewardship and is active in helping Unitarian Universalists express their dedication to liberal spirituality through their financial support.
(Read the complete article on page 5 of Interconnections in PDF format)
International Church Leadership
I once was called, “a major architect of international relations in our movement," and I try to live up to that accolade. As president of the UU Partner Church Council, I traveled at my own expense to Transylvania, Hungary, the Philippines, and India to establish and strengthen global liberal church relationships. In 2003, I planned and led UUA President Bill Sinkford’s introduction to Unitarian heartlands in Transylvania.
With three successive Bishops of Transylvania. Pictured are János Erdö, Lajos Kovács, David Keyes, and Arpád Szabó.
I have been leading pilgrimages to Transylvania and Hungary for UUA church groups since 1996 on behalf of Project Harvest Hope, which works to strengthen the economies of the predominantly Unitarian region of Transylvania. Harvest Hope started and supports a model dairy farm which gives heifers to needy villagers. You can read a retrospective on the first ten years of this organization here.
In the 2004 Presidential Campaign
I served as religious outreach coordinator for the Kerry campaign,
working in Missouri and other swing states. I emerged as a primary media
spokesperson on religion for the campaign, and was featured in stories in major
newspapers and magazines including
Newsweek, the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch, and on CNN, ABC, NPR and the BBC.
Since the campaign I have preached and lectured about his experiences, and continue to work with religious leaders to create national organizations and networks to reach out to people of faith with persuasive progressive messages.
Meaningful Worship for Unitarian Universalist Congregations
The lead story in the Fall, 2006 Interconnections magazine featured my comments on the direct connection between quality worship and church growth.
"We were discussing the fact that many congregations are not growing. Our contention was that there are multiple causes for that, but the one thing that is central is quality of worship," I am quoted as saying.
The story went on to describe the "Excellence in Worship" project that other Atlanta-area ministers and I created.
The study results were presented in a packed room at General Assembly in 2006 and reprised for 2007.
I work with congregations to strengthen the parts of the worship service which both build community and deepen the individual spiritual experience for participants.
Read Interconnections on "Nourishing the Spirit: Meaningful Worship Requires Attention, Focus".
More Clippings
I enjoy publicity when it gets the word out about the church I am serving. Newspaper coverage of the uniqueness of interim ministry lets the community know that the church is on the move.
While serving the Redwood City Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the congregation's Redwood Reachout... printed an interview in November, 2001.
In addition, John Weston, Director of the UUA Settlement Office, comments on Rev. Keyes were highlighted by the All Souls, Unitarian News in May, 2001.
Books and Lectures
I have lectured and taught in seminaries in the United States and Romania, and in churches in the Philippines and India. But I most enjoy the rare opportunities to deliver lectures to congregations I serve on things they care about. I delivered this lecture on Freedom of the Pulpit and Freedom of the Pew to a full auditorium at the First Unitarian Church in Rochester, New York.
I
was honored as the
1996-97 Thomas Minns Lecturer in the program administered by a joint committee
of the First and Second Church of Boston and King's Chapel. Other Minns
lecturers have included A. Powell Davies, James Luther Adams, Fredrick May
Eliot, and F. Forrester Church.
My presentations focused on the denomination's partner churches with a theme of "Global Partnership: Mission and Identity for Congregations." Individual lectures were "The Local Congregation and the Global Church," "The Collection for Jerusalem: Money, Power, and Paternalism in Partner Church Programs," "Most Like an Arch: Historical Trajectory Toward Global Unitarianism," "Impact of Global Partnership on Local Congregations: Some Notable Examples," "Issues of Money and Power in the UUA Partner Church Program," and "Future Gifts of Mission and Identity."
The Fall, 1996 edition of the Pacific Starr, featured an article on the lecture series described in this poster.
In 1999, my book Most Like an Arch: Building Global Church Partnerships was published by the Center for Free Religion.
