2025 at a Glance

Theme: Living the Interdependence value with animals at the center

Throughout 2025, UUAM deepened its impact across the Unitarian Universalist movement while continuing to build a strong foundation for the future.

Highlights include:

• We delivered robust, accessible programming across the continent

• We broadened and deepened UUAM’s reach within Unitarian Universalism

• We launched new faith formation offerings for use in local congregations

• We strengthened chapters and interfaith partnerships

• We built organizational capacity to support long-term sustainability

Advancing UU Values Through Education

Education remained central to UUAM’s mission in 2025, grounding animal justice in Unitarian Universalist theology and lived practice.

New Curriculum Launched: Embracing Interdependence

• Adult small-group curriculum translating UU values into daily ethical and spiritual practice

• Supports spiritual grounding, reflection, and transformation around human–animal relationships

• Designed for congregational, chapter, and individual use

Looking Ahead in Faith Formation

• Children’s and youth religious education materials underway

• Developing resources for classrooms’ formal curriculum and the “implicit curriculum”

Through these offerings, UUAM continues to equip Unitarian Universalists with the theological language and spiritual tools needed to live the new Interdependence value with integrity.

Programming and Community Engagement

UUAM delivered a wide range of programming in 2025 to promote learning, reflection, and action.

Highlights from the Year:

• Two interfaith panels exploring faith-based perspectives on animal protection

• Writing for Animals; a webinar on advocacy and storytelling

• From Fork to Forest; examining climate, food systems, and ethics

• Virtual tour of Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary

• Online offering of Embracing Interdependence

• From Unthinkable to Inevitable; shifting congregational food policies

• Interview with acclaimed investigative journalist Gail Eisnitz

• A State of Bliss sermon by Rev. Gary Kowalski

To extend reach and accessibility, many of our programs were recorded and made available online. And we have much more planned for 2026! See our current offerings here.

Faith in Action

UUAM’s commitment to nurturing prophetic voices continued through the annual sermon contest.

2025 Sermon Contest Winner

Honoring the Interdependent Web: Finding Our Way Back to Kinship by Katie Williams

This sermon explores kincentrism as a theological alternative to dominion and stewardship, calling Unitarian Universalists toward responsibility, justice, and transformation in our relationships with other animals and the living world.

Spiritual Support and Pastoral Care

Throughout 2025, UUAM continued to provide compassionate spiritual care for individuals navigating grief, ethical discernment, and deepening relationships with animal companions.

• Monthly chaplain-led gatherings

• Support for those grieving or anticipating the loss of animal companions

• Spiritually grounded community care rooted in presence and compassion

This work reflects UUAM’s understanding that animal justice is not only a matter of ethics and policy, but also of love, loss, and spiritual connection.

Honoring Lives and Relationships

In 2025, UUAM expanded its online Honor and Memorial Wall, offering a sacred digital space to remember and celebrate the lives of animal companions. These shared images, stories, and tributes reflected the deep bonds between humans and other animals and served as a communal space for grief, gratitude, and remembrance.

This offering remains a visible expression of the love and relationship at the heart of UUAM’s work.

Communications and Thought Leadership

UUAM’s communications continued to engage complex, emerging issues at the intersection of faith, ethics, and animal justice.

A Sampling of Newsletter Features:

• Insect sentience and animal reciprocity

• De-extinction and cultivated meat

• Ecotherapy and creature teachers

• Domestic violence and companion animals

• Progress on bullfighting, animal testing, and fur farming

• Artificial intelligence and animal shelters

• International developments in animal law

• Regular columns on chapter news and updates, film reviews and wildlife features, board reflections, recipes, poetry, and photography

Strengthening Chapters and Local Impact

UUAM supported more than 40 established and emerging chapters in 2025, strengthening local leadership and community engagement.

• Monthly chapter leader meetings

• Financial support through our Chapter Grant program

• Consultation support as needed

Chapter Grant Highlight: Hillsborough, North Carolina

This interfaith symposium featuring Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Jewish, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist voices resulted in strong community turnout and engagement, sparked interest in and within UU congregations, and encouraged animal-friendly living across traditions. Funded primarily through a UUAM Chapter Grant, this event exemplified UUAM’s support of local communities working for animals in ways that foster spiritual depth and increase interfaith collaboration.

Building Capacity for the Future

In order to sustain and grow its impact, UUAM invested in organizational capacity during 2025.

• Engaged a professional social media consultant

• Added dedicated volunteer support for social media

• Hired a very part-time Executive Assistant

These steps have already had excellent outcomes, increasing our impact and strengthening coordination, communication, and long-term sustainability.

Looking Ahead to 2026

UUAM enters 2026 with clarity, momentum, and a deep sense of urgent purpose.

• New religious education materials for adults and children

• Worship and legislative resources

• Deeper engagement with UU ministers

• Expanded staff hours to increase our organizational capacity