There are moments when history shifts — not with spectacle, but through the steady drumbeat of community, spirit, and liberation.
Our recent “We Are the Ones” Spring Retreat, held May 2–4, 2025, marked the largest in-person gathering yet for our emerging DRUUMM California Project. Held across sacred sites in Southern California — the Universal Mind Science Church, the UU Church in Anaheim, and the UU Church of Long Beach — it was a bold step forward.
We extend deep gratitude to our host congregations and to Rev. Lissa Gundlach for leading us in a powerful Sunday worship alongside Rev. Kevin Mann and Maestro Martin Espino. This retreat was more than a gathering. It was a milestone —the 9th DRUUMM California event and the most expansive to date. After years of retreats primarily in Northern California initiated by Rev. Joseph Santos-Lyons, our ministry is now rooted and rising across the state.
With a growing concentration of BIPOC Unitarian Universalists, and thanks to support from a Fund for Unitarian Universalism grant, the DRUUMM California Project is organizing quarterly regional programs and monthly virtual gatherings. We are building something sacred — a web of care, joy, and justice. When we come together, great things happen.
Visit druumm.org/california to find upcoming events, sign up for the listserv, and join our monthly Zoom meetings every first Monday at 6pm PT.
To connect further, contact Rev. Kevin Mann, Consulting Minister, at revkev@druumm.org.
We are not waiting for change — we are the ones.
