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- By ICUUW Staff
The Unitarian Church Jowai has a beautiful choir. ICUUW Board member Elgiva Shullai’s sister sings in the soprano section and one of her nieces is an alto.
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- By Tina Huesing, ICUUW President, Germany/USA
Dear members and friends,
Our organization is networked with other women’s organizations. We were in touch with the women in the Philippines earlier in the year and sent greetings to their meeting. We had our annual meeting in June, UNOSZ, the women’s organization in Romania, just had its annual meeting, and MUNOSZ, the Hungarian women’s organization, will have their annual meeting later this month. Seng Kynthei, the women’s wing of the Unitarians in Northeast India, celebrates the anniversary of the founding of Unitarianism in their region, and in preparation led Sunday services and organized other praise and worship, sermons and music. There is so much to explore and discover.
These connections are made one woman at a time. Women connect with women because they are curious about each other. And they learn from each other, inspire each other, and help each other. We explore commonalities and cultural differences in how we live our lives, how we live our faith, and how we each are active in making the world a better place for us and everyone else. It is good to be in the company of women.
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- By Karen Kortsch, USA
Our Marketing Director, Gretchen Ohmann, and I traveled to Baltimore to attend the UUA General Assembly as exhibitors for ICUUW. Our organization rented a booth in the exhibit hall, and with the help of several of our dedicated volunteers, spread the word about what ICUUW is doing to make life better for women and girls around the world.
Thanks to Beth, Julie, Vicki, and Geri for being our ambassadors. We made a lot of new contacts and had many people sign up for our newsletter. Many thanks to Gretchen, who designed our banner and other promotional materials along with setting up a raffle and doing the publicity around that. We made the most of our time at GA as there will not be another in-person assembly until 2027.
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- By Tina Huesing, Germany/USA
ICUUW member Siro Wildah Kwamboka, a women's ministry leader in Nairobi, Kenya, is working in her local community on a food sustainability project. She shared a presentation and a video with us that we shared with the larger UU community at our stand in the exhibit hall of the UUA General Assembly in Baltimore. Siro and her minister Justine Magara also provided us with beautiful objects from Kenya that we raffled off. (ICUUW Raffle at GA)
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- By Tina Huesing, Germany/USA
Over forty members from eleven countries took time to attend our annual meeting in June. That was a great showing for a business meeting. Thank you to each and every one of you who attended and with your attendance expressed your interest in our organization. Annual business meetings are just dry business with reports and elections, aren’t they? Well, this one wasn’t!
First, we heard from Reverend Rosemary Newberry who shared with us why she became a sustaining member in our organization. She attended our fourth convocation last year and realized “how much immense good was being done” by us through our members. And even though she currently doesn’t have the time to become an active volunteer, she supports us with a monthly donation so we can continue the good work we are doing. Reverend Rosemary summarized it well when she said our organization needs members with time to do the work, talent to do it well, and money to work on our goal of connecting women to advance women’s leadership and self-determination.
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- By Geri Kennedy, USA
Geri shares her goals for our organization. She writes:
I am honored to be re-elected to the ICUUWomen’s Board as Treasurer and am starting my seventh year. During that time, it has been a pleasure to watch as the organization has grown with more connections worldwide.
My main goals for this term are to establish a solid Finance Committee and to mentor a future Treasurer. The committee would support the Treasurer in oversight, investment and fundraising opportunities, budgeting and exploring better ways to accomplish our goals. It would meet monthly at the most, but most likely quarterly. Members do not have to be accountants or financial analysts, but just be interested in the long term success of ICUUWomen. Let me know if you are interested or have questions. (
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- By Vicki Roberts Gassler, USA
As the global pandemic cut off most avenues for socialization, our former Executive Director, Zsófia Sztranyiczki, had the wonderful idea of establishing a regular Zoom call, where women around the world associated with ICUUW could meet informally and – just chat. Initially we got together every week, but as restrictions eased we went to a schedule we’ve kept until now. Every second and fourth Tuesday of the month sees us looking at those little squares of happy faces for an hour or so of relaxed discussion.
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- By Gail Sandlin
In recent years, the mounting threat of plastic pollution has galvanized international attention. Oceans, rivers, and landscapes across the globe are littered with plastic debris, and microplastics have been detected everywhere from the deepest ocean trenches to the most remote mountain peaks. Recognizing the urgent need for coordinated global action, world leaders, scientists, and activists have pushed for a comprehensive solution that transcends national borders and addresses the root causes of the crisis.
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- By Bruce Knotts
Bruce Knotts was able to attend the Helsinki +50 Conference in Finland. For his explanation and impressions, read more.
I was invited together with another lucky person to attend the Helsinki +50 Conference in Finland by Ahti Tolvanen. I have known Ahti for many years. He’s a UU, and I first met him at a UU conference in Thunder Bay in Canada. Ahti is a duel national Canadian and a citizen of Finland.
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- By Mária Zsuzánna Bartha, Hungary
On Saturday, August 30th, Székelyszentmihály hosted this year's conference and general meeting of the Unitarian Women’s Association of Romania (UNOSZ). Over 250 women were present in the church.
Following the flag procession and festive church service, the morning was made memorable by welcoming speeches, the presentation of the traveling banner, and a colorful program put on by the locals.
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- By Elgiva Shullai, India
Unitarians in Northeast India celebrated the upcoming 138th Birth Anniversary of our faith, which was founded by U Babu Hajom Kissor Singh, a true son of the soil, on the 18th of September 1887.
The events included a thorough house cleaning, welcoming our congregation home for prayers and blessings. On several Sundays preceding the big day, church services are led by Sunday school children and women, followed by a memorial service on the first Sunday of September. Then the young people celebrate, and finally the Unitarian Union celebrates all over the districts of Khasi, Jaintia and Karbi Anglong, at their Unitarian Churches. We also have our annual exams for Sunday School children and many other events. The anniversary day is celebrated with praise and worship, sermons and music. We welcome all our relatives, friends and guests from other faith groups. On the 18th all Congregations have a big feast, torchlight procession, praise and worship sessions, followed in many congregations by variety shows and entertainment. It is altogether a much awaited celebration of joy, renewal and gratitude.
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- By Tina Huesing, Germany/USA
We had our annual meeting in June and elected four officers immediately afterwards. The Board was pleased to re-elect Geri Kennedy as our treasurer. Geri will work with a Finance committee. Women do numbers and finance just as well as men, right? Maybe even better? Interested in being part of this? Learn how a budget is created and kept? Reach out to Geri at
Our executive Board is as international as it can be: our American treasurer is joined by Vice President Elgiva Shullai from Northeast India. Elgiva served on the Board before and re-joined after a hiatus. She is a leader in her congregation and beyond, brings lots of experience and will strengthen the ties we have with the many women in the Khasi Hills and beyond. Our secretary this year is Reverend Zsuzsa Bartha from Hungary. Zsuzsa is the president of MUNOSZ, the Unitarian women’s organization in Hungary, and serves on the Board of IARLW, the International Association of Liberal Religious Women (IALRW). It is good to be in sisterhood with other women’s organizations around the globe. Next to the women from the United States, India and Hungary, Tina Huesing, a German temporarily living in the United States, was re-elected as president for another year. Tina is leading our organizational changes as we live into the new strategic plan and get ready for a new executive director.