January 12, 2004
To: MDD Congregation Presidents and/or Representatives:

It’s time to acknowledge ourselves! Good health, and good congregational health, include a time to praise ourselves lavishly for our accomplishments. Beyond awards processes within congregations, the MDD Awards process is an additional opportunity to take note of accomplishments which are an inspiration to others in our region.

The Mountain Desert District of the Unitarian Universalist Society gives annual awards to individuals who have distinguished themselves in the region, in several categories. This letter is to explain the awards process and to invite you to make nominations for these awards.

Except for severely mitigating circumstances, it is expected that the award winners will attend the October MDD Annual Meeting to receive their awards. Therefore, it is imperative that contact information for nominees be included in the application packet. Nominees will be deemed ineligible if the MDD Awards Committee determines that the information is inadequate to contact the nominee in a reasonable amount of time.

Nominations for the October, 2004 awards must be received from congregations by March 1, 2004. The MDD Awards Committee will then cull them to no more than 3 per category. The MDD Board will delegate a review committee of three individuals to make the final decisions. Winners will be notified so that they can be sure to attend the MDD Annual Meeting.

Nominations are permitted to have supporting documentation such as letters of support, newspaper clippings, etc., recognizing that the size of the congregation will have some bearing on this. For sermon nominations, it is strongly urged that an audiotape plus a paper transcript of the sermon be included, recognizing that an audiotape may not always be available.

Enclosed are two flyers. As per the MDD bylaws, one flyer outlines the awards process for the October, 2004 MDD Annual Meeting in El Paso/Las Cruces. Since a democratic nominations process may take considerable time, and some congregations may wish to get started early, we have also enclosed for your convenience a second flyer outlining the awards process for 2005. Also enclosed is a Cover Letter in portable document format (PDF) for printing and distribution.

Each application should include a letter from a congregation President or representative, stating the nominee’s name, address, phone number, email address, and congregation; and making the case for why this candidate should be awarded this honor at the regional level. Supporting information such as newspaper clippings, letters of support from congregation members and others, etc. are permitted. For the sermon awards, an audiotape and/or a hard copy transcript of the sermon are also required.

Applications must be received by March 1, 2004 by:

The Awards open for Nominations are:

1. Unsung UU Award (MDD/UUA) - to a Unitarian Universalist lay person, not generally recognized, whose actions inspire, support and express Unitarian Universalism.

2. Unsung UU Youth Award (MDD/UUA) - to the Unitarian Universalist youth, not generally recognized, whose actions inspire, support and express Unitarian Universalism.

3. Angus H. McLean Award (MDD/UUA) - for excellence in the field of religious education.

4. Holmes-Weatherly Award (MDD/UUA) - for recognition of a person or group whose pursuit of social justice best exemplifies the founding spirit of the Unitarian Fellowship for Social Justice.

5. Clarence R. Skinner Award (MDD/UUA) - for the best sermon about the social implications of religion by either a minister or lay person.

6. O. Eugene Pickett Award (MDD/UUA) - to the congregation or fellowship which has made an outstanding contribution to the growth of Unitarian Universalism.

7. Robert D. Goff "Walk the Talk" Award (MDD) - to a Unitarian Universalist lay person for living a life which best exemplifies Unitarian Universalist principles.

8. Dale R. Arnink Award (MDD) - for the sermon which best explores the place or use of critical reason in examining religious experience within the Unitarian Universalist tradition.