Unitarian Universalist theology has caught fire in the past 50 years. In the decades since merger, Unitarian Universalism has been maturing spiritually. We've been fanning the flames of our faith. We've been growing in theological literacy, dialogue, and depth. We acknowledge that everyone is a bona fide theologian. Our brand of progressive theology is sorely needed in the 21st century. As a life-affirming, liberating, and loving religion, Unitarian Universalism stands ready to heal the spirit while reforming society."Theology is the sweet, earnest, bumbling attempt by human beings to take serious things like hope, death, iniquity, and transformation seriously. Fortunately, we have in Tom Owen-Towle an extraordinarily able interpreter on that journey. In this lovely book, Tom offers us guidelines for our lives and that is a gift in and of itself."--The Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz, President and CEO, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

Theology Ablaze: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Unitarian Universalism

Religion & Spirituality

Owen-Towle, Tom

Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts

Flaming Chalice Press

"Owen-Towle's text is a prayer to push away the fear we often associate with the end of life."--from the Foreword by Rev. Nancy McDonald LaddPlainly, I'm neither a scientific investigator nor a professional thanatologist. I'm a pastor, and my advice is straightforward: whatever the manner or date of our extinction might be, it behooves us to reflect deeply and prime diligently for our death, while we're still awake and kicking. May we refrain from taking a spiritual bypass and face our own end as boldly and creatively as possible. Doing so will deliver unspeakable gifts both to ourselves and to our loved ones."Making Peace with Our Own Death may become one of the most important things we will ever do."--from the opening chapter "Reflecting Upon Death Amidst a Pandemic"

Making Peace with Our Own Death

Owen-Towle, Rev. Tom

Religious Studies

Our very being is God’s gift to us. Caring for our self is our best way of saying “Thank You!” We possess minds, bodies, spirits, hearts, souls, and consciences, and each of these six distinct realms of the self must be tended daily in one manner or another. Nurturing the whole self is the most important job we have as earthlings. Each zone of self-care is addressed in a separate chapter, followed by relevant quotes and questions for personal reflection and group discussion.

Self: Caring for Our Best Gift

Jenn Henderson is proud of the church-centered life she’s created for her family. She prays each morning, attends worship every Sunday, and confidently takes up the struggle to defend traditional marriage when she learns marriage licenses are being issued to gays and lesbians in nearby San Francisco. But the certainty that she is living right falters after her teenage son, Josh, swallows a bottle of sleeping pills. Her fear deepens when she discovers that Josh struggles with same-sex attraction. If she's living right, how can Josh be gay?
Desperate for a cure, Jenn and her husband send Josh to a Christian conversion therapy camp recommended by their trusted pastor. Jenn is unwavering in her faith that Josh can be transformed by the grace of God. But as the story unfolds, her husband, son, and daughters seem to be questioning her deepest values, threatening irreparable damage to the tight-knit Henderson family. 
Author Laila Ibrahim tackles a subject directly out of the headlines in Living Right, an intimate story about a mother’s struggle to reconcile her religious beliefs with her son's sexual orientation. Living Right strips away the politics of gay rights to reveal what’s really at stake in this ongoing conflict: family. As with her debut novel, Yellow Crocus, Ibrahim's second novel explores an intimate and sensitive topic with insight and compassion.

Living Right

Literature & Fiction

Ibrahim, Laila

Genre Fiction

Moments after her birth to the mistress of a sprawling Virginia plantation, Lisbeth Wainwright is entrusted to Mattie, an enslaved wet nurse. From then on, Mattie serves as Lisbeth's stand-in mother, nursing her, singing her to sleep, and soothing her in the night. And yet mothering Lisbeth tears Mattie away from her own baby, Samuel, who lives in the slave quarters. Growing up under Mattie's tender care, Lisbeth adopts her traditions of prayer, singing, eating black-eyed peas, and hunting for yellow crocuses in the spring. As the years pass, Lisbeth is drawn back into the white world, earning a growing awareness of the inequality of her and Mattie's stations. She struggles to reconcile her love for Mattie with her parents' expectations for her future, intent on keeping the best of both worlds-until a terrible betrayal forces her to choose once and for all. Yellow Crocus is a compelling novel of love, loss, and redemption set during one of the most sinister chapters of American history.

Yellow Crocus: A Novel