The Minns Lectures Committee invites proposals for challenging, innovative lectures of depth and appeal to ministerial colleagues and lay audiences within the Unitarian Universalist community and beyond. According to Miss Minns's will, the lectures are to be "upon religion or religious subjects, to be given by Unitarian Ministers of good standing." The committee is interested in a wide variety of religious topics: history, theology, spirituality, and all other aspects of the religious life, with an emphasis on creativity and progressive thought.
In general, a lecture series consists of three to six lectures on a given topic, but the committee is flexible about the series format, having sponsored two three-lecture series in a given year and lectures given by six individuals.
The committee prefers to hold the lectures in Boston under the auspices of King's Chapel or the First Church, but it is open to holding them at any of the Unitarian Universalist divinity schools - Meadville/Lombard, Starr King, or Harvard - or at any other location if it has special significance to the topic and/or the lecturer.
Lectures are generally given in the spring, and proposals must be submitted by August 31 to be considered for the following spring. However, the committee welcomes proposals at any time and encourages prospective lecturers to apply for a future year if the August 31 deadline has passed.
Any lecture given under the auspices of the Minns Lectures Committee will be published on this website, and the lecturer is expected to supply the committee with the text of the lecture in MS Word format. Separate, print publication of the lectures is subject to negotiation with the committee.
Lecturers receive substantial remuneration, plus expenses.
To be considered for a lecture, submit a proposal and a writing sample in Word or PDF format to the Minns Lectures Committee, using the form below. The deadline for submissions is August 31 for a proposal to be considered for the following spring series. However, the committee welcomes proposals at any time and will consider them for future years. General inquiries can be directed to the program director.
All proposals must include the following:
Download complete, detailed proposal guidelines here.