About the author: quoting from the book's back cover, "A born Universalist, Richard S. Gilbert brings forty years of experience in parish ministry to the task of relating the church to the world. He has served Unitarian Universalist churches in Cleveland, Ohio, Ithaca, New York and Rochester, New York. He is currently the parish minister at First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York. About the book: quoting from the back of the book, Rev. Frederick Muir, Minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, said of this work, "Gilbert describes the four roles any congregation can take toward society--social service, witness, education, action--and then walks us through each by providing a thorough and powerful review of the historical, theological, and sociological roots of a UU prophetic imperative."