Fond greetings from your newly elected UUMeN president! This past UUA General Assembly (GA) in Cleveland was indeed a watershed event for us as an organization, and it was special honor for me to take over the reins of UUMeN from my colleague, mentor and friend, Tom Owen-Towle, who has been communicating in this space for the past two years. Tom’s prolific writing and courageous leadership have animated UUMeN since its founding in 1993, and while he’s no longer a formal fixture on the Steering Council, he will be very nearby, supportive as ever.

Thanks in no small measure to Tom’s efforts, we are on the rise and on the map. For those of you not able to join in our activity at GA, please check out the juicy accountings of it elsewhere in this issue, and know that we made a quantum leap. All Steering Council members—retiring, continuing and incoming—were present in Cleveland, our booth in the exhibit area was double its previous size and visibility, our offering of pertinent materials was also double, and our income and new memberships increased exponentially over past GAs.

We have a message and a mission that is important to the prosperous future of Unitarian Universalism and to the productive presence of men in our culture and congregations. To help illuminate those goals, I wish to spend some of my column time this year highlighting the eight statements included in our UUMeN Objectives, as presented in our By-laws. I’ll offer them in pairs.

First up are these two noble challenges:

Create a continental organization to support intellectual, emotional, relational, educational, recreational, political, and spiritual growth of UU men.

Assist local UU congregations, clusters, and districts in fostering a broad range of brothering communities that provide opportunities for personal growth in a trustworthy atmosphere.

There may be no more important task for us than to help you support the men in your congregation in an environment that is safe for growth, as mentioned in both these statements. Such safety is the fundamental value that undergirds all our objectives. Yet, what do we know about the climate surrounding most male endeavors since time immemorial? The envelopes around men are usually anything but safe, often by design.

And here I would distinguish mere physical or comfortable safety (important as that is!) from the kind of safety that truly enables growth. As evolving, increasingly conscious men, we want to feel safe enough to take risks that encourage growth, growth in all the realms described above.

Plus, we often don’t get to choose how and when we will be challenged to grow. It can come from a difficult or painful experience. There is just no substitute for having a safe place in which to explore the meaning of those growthful, if uninvited moments. We need "brothering communities" wherein we can outlet our feelings, bond with others, investigate what intrigues us, deepen our understanding, etc.

That kind of inner and outer strengthening is happening right now in men’s groups across our continent, but unfortunately related to only a relatively few UU congregations. Those of us who have known the value of such safety and camaraderie are passionate about inviting others to join in and receive the benefits of this kind of growth. It is, in fact, an immediate way we can act locally to promote peace globally.

But it’s not always easy to plant the seeds of intention that create and sustain thriving men’s groups. And this is where UUMeN comes in, because we’ve learned a few things about this realm and can be what our name suggests: a network for guys to interact and learn together. If you don’t know our materials already, please consider connecting with us, or encouraging those around you to do so. We take our goals and objectives seriously and want to make a difference in the life of our UU brothers and their congregations.

Blessings on your hands, your heads and your hearts!