Dear Beloveds and Friends of DRUUMM,
As DRUUMM President-Elect, I am writing to seek your support for our 2025 DRUUMM Public Worship & Fundraiser. It will be held on Thursday, May 15th, 2025 at 8:00pm Eastern. Our guest preacher is the Rev. Joan Javier-Duval and our liturgist is Rev. Christina Shu. Our Worship is open to all while prioritizing space for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. We particularly encourage multiracial families and White antiracist allies to attend.
DRUUMM’s Public Worship is our signature opportunity as a Black, Indigenous and People of Color ministry to engage the wider world of Unitarian Universalism and build community together..
We are entering into an anxious time with real threats to the safety and livelihood of many of our beloveds. Your witness and solidarity are greatly needed to help us thrive into the future. Our vision is that every UU knows about DRUUMM and is able to share our resources and programs with those in need. Offerings this year will support our new ministerial internship and our regional gatherings that create space for our members and BIPOC friends to come together. We are reaching out to ask if you would visibly support DRUUMM in one or more ways:
- Publicly endorse our May 15th, 2025 event on behalf of your congregation or UU organization, and share an invitation to attend with your constituency. We will provide additional publicity information by mid-February..
- Pledge at a level meaningful to your congregation for our fundraiser to help us raise our goal of $50,000. Last year this was in the range of $250 to $5,000. Already several congregations have offered to make a meaningful gift from their congregational budget, or share part of their Sunday offering plate at some point by December 2025.
We kindly request that interested Sponsors complete our 2025 Sponsorship Form by April 15th, 2025, which can be found at this link: bit.ly/druumm-2025.
About our preacher Rev. Joan Javier Duval
Rev. Joan Javier-Duval is the settled minister at the Unitarian Church of Montpelier, having served since 2015. Her prior roles include ministry in Philadelphia and chaplaincy in Illinois. Passionate about social justice, she’s engaged in diverse community and political organizing, influencing her Unitarian Universalist ministry deeply rooted in progressive values. Rev. Joan believes in the power of our Unitarian Universalist communities to connect us deeply to one another and to the interdependent web of existence. Her personal theology is influenced by her Roman Catholic roots, historic Unitarianism and Universalism, contemporary Unitarian Universalism, progressive Christianity, and engaged Buddhism.
Thank you for your consideration and continued solidarity. If you have any questions, please contact Noemi de Guzman our Administrator at [email protected].
With gratitude,
Rev. Carol Thomas Cissel
DRUUMM Vice President
Washington, DC
