Frederic G. Melcher Book Award
This year’s Melcher Book Award goes to Here If You Need Me, a poignant memoir by Unitarian Universalist minister Kate Braestrup. One of Time magazine’s "top ten" non-fiction books for 2007, Here If You Need Me chronicles the unlikely path that led Braestrup to her calling as a Unitarian Universalist chaplain of the Maine Warden Service, serving those injured and lost in the wilds of Maine.
Ten years ago, Kate Braestrup, her husband, Drew, and their four young children were enjoying a morning like any other. Then Drew, a Maine state trooper, left for work and everything changed. On the very roads that he patrolled each day, an oncoming driver lost control, and Kate lost her husband.
Stunned and grieving, Kate decided to pursue what had been her husband’s dream and become a minister. And soon she found a most unusual calling: serving as chaplain for search-and-rescue missions in the Maine woods, giving comfort to people whose loved ones are missing—and to the wardens who sometimes have to deal with dreadful outcomes. Whether with parents whose six-year-old daughter has vanished into the woods, with wardens as they search for a snowmobiler trapped under the ice, or with a man whose sister left an infant seat and a suicide note in her car by the side of the road, Braestrup provides solace, understanding, and spiritual guidance when they’re needed most.
Here If You Need Me recounts Kate Braestrup’s remarkable journey from grief to faith to happiness. Dramatic, funny, deeply moving, and simply unforgettable—it is a story about finding God by helping others and offers proof of the miracles that happen every day when a heart is grateful and life and love are restored.
Click here to read “Chaplain in the Wilderness” from uuworld.org.
Click here to read more about this year’s Melcher Award presentation.
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Dear Friends,
We're having an RE Sale on a few items! There are stickers, certificates and books to help our Religious Educators with their programs. Parents might find some items of interest as well.
And don't forget that you can preorder all these upcoming Skinner House titles:
Come Sing a Song with Me: A Songbook for All Ages from the UU Musician's Network
Welcome: A Unitarian Universalist Primer
,edited by Patricia Frevert
Uncommon Community: One Congregation’s Work with Prisoners by John Speer
A Child’s Book of Blessings and Prayers, collected by Eliza Blanchard
Going Out Dancing: Poems by Ric Masten
Click here to see our newest books and CDs from other publishers. These are updated frequently, so be sure to check this list often (“New Items” in the menu on the left — includes new titles from the UUA, too)!
Also, we are proud to announce that The UUA Bookstore has collaborated with Rev. Patti Franz, minister for the CLF Prison Ministry Program, to send books to prisoners. Friends of prisoners can now send select titles to people in prison for just the cost of shipping. For more information on how to participate, please contact us at bookstore@uua.org. To learn more about the Prison Ministry Program click here.
Rose Hanig
Bookstore Manager |
The UUA meditation manual for 2008.
Ah, it’s true.
When our ancestors spoke of heaven,
they were speaking of this moment.
When they went on about nirvana
they imagined a time like this.
When they sang of paradise,
it was this morning they imagined.
—from “Heaven’s Gate”
Mark Belletini is the senior parish minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, Ohio. He has thirty years of experience in parish ministry and was the chair of the commission that produced the UUA hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition.
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Young adulthood is a time of many sexuality-related decisions and transitions: developing relationships, making commitments, establishing sexual orientation and other identities and (often) starting families. This new expansion to the Our Whole Lives series helps participants navigate young adulthood with accurate information, increased self-knowledge, enhanced safety and strengthened interpersonal skills.
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UUA Bookstore is part of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
