The 2023 Berry Street Essay was offered by the Rev. Cecilia Kingman and titled “My Little Pony Was Right”: Reflections of Fascisms Without and Within.” 

In this essay, Rev. Kingman reflects upon the rise of authoritarianism, right-wing ideology, and fascism both within Unitarian Universalism and in the wider world.

Offered annually during Professional Days before the UUA General Assembly, the UU Minister Association’s Berry Street Essay began in 1820 when the “Rev. William Ellery Channing, Minister of the Federal Street Church of Boston, invited all Massachusetts ministers known to be liberal to meet in the vestry of his church (whose entrance was on Berry Street).”

Since then, the Berry Street Conference has convened every year since 1820 (save for one, during World War II), making the Berry Street Essay the oldest lecture series in the US.