How religions have shaped the greatest city in the world, the Empire City The new UTS website was launched at the beginning of April, and the response to the new design and features has been terrific.  The fresh new look of the website heralds further developments in engaging our stakeholders, our alumni, and an ever wider audience. The Communications Team is endorsing online courses to be part of an energized  communications campaign which re-positions UTS in the emerging 21st century landscape of theological and religious education; exploring new ways to add value, be relevant...

Wherever there is the front line then you will find UTS alumnae and alumni. UTS Alumni are active in 65+ countries. This has happened in just 40 years. UTS was founded in 1975 and the first graduating class was 1977. Donate $40 per month in honor of UTS this year, and ensure UTS’ growth and development for the next 40 years and help it establish a firmer economic base. Ask yourself and ask another UTS alumna or alumnus how valuable UTS has been. You will be reminded how UTS has been integral for personal formation as a foundation for mission, service, and life. Please...

In 2005 Scenic Hudson, the non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the Hudson River and the Hudson River Valley, challenged local villages and hamlets along the river to conduct a riverfront Spring cleanup each year.  The newly created Barrytown Nature Club, composed of Barrytown residents and UTS staff and students took up the task on an April weekend picking up trash and enjoying the outdoors. Scenic Hudson provided plastic bags, gloves, and baseball type caps with their name emblazoned on the front. “I have always been proud of, and pleased with the...

Born, raised and educated in upstate New York, Eric Bobrycki ( UTS ’84) has been working since 1979 as an educator and youth developer. Eric has focused on promoting the unity of all faiths. The work for world peace is paramount to Eric and personal growth – that which transforms the individual – has been his focus. It is his belief that as a consciousness is raised, i.e., as awareness of one’s true identity is realized, then one is empowered and rightly positioned to effect peaceful change in the world. It was through his daughter, Tesia Bobrycki, that Eric first...

This curriculum was the result of many years of continuous effort. I never planned it from the beginning. There was the immediate need to create a lesson each Sunday. A teacher can receive many inspirations, but if the lessons aren’t recorded, they can be lost forever. I wanted to create a bank of material that could be used again and again. Over time the numbers of lesson plans became so large, that I realized I had the beginnings of a curriculum. Download Sunday School Curriculum When I look back, I can see the circumstances were ideal for the work to develop. I was...

If you’ve ever driven through the Red Hook hamlet of Barrytown, there’s a chance that you’ve come across a mysterious, sprawling estate surrounding a brick edifice bearing the name “Saint Joseph’s Normal Institute” in stone above its massive doors. And if you’re not in the know, you might have wondered what these seemingly desolate grounds were. There are typically cars in the parking lots but not always people, despite the brick building’s hundreds of windows, behind which, you begin to suspect, maybe someone is watching you. Yet nothing but the call and response of birds can be heard...

KINGSTON – Religion in itself is hard to understand and often harder to explain, even for those of the same belief. Now imagine the challenge of trying to explain a religion to people whose most intense experience with that faith has been an almost daily diet of images centered on murder, destruction and the madness associated with suicide bombings. That was the setting on Sunday, April 17 at Congregation Emanuel Temple in Kingston, NY for three Muslim speakers and a Jewish moderator before a crowd of approximately 125 avid listeners and participants.  Add to that a two-hour...

The roots of the Blessed Marriage Project (BMP) began in 2013, and it is an independently funded, grassroots initiative. It was conceived by two families, and formally launched the following year, with a generous donation of $100,000 to cover annual expenses. They saw the need for marriage education and marriage enrichment among the couples in the Unification Movement. The BMP Advisory Board asked John Williams (UTS’90) to lead the project and John then asked fellow UTS classmate Josie Hauer (UTS’90) to assist him in setting up the program. Since then Kate Pugnoli (UTS’84) has joined...