The Opening Ceremony of the 2000 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association kicked off at 7:00 PM with reverence and pageantry. The ceremony began with Moderator Denny Davidoff welcoming Marie Junaluska of the Cherokee Nation, in a ceremony of Native American Acknowledgement. It said, in part:
"We acknowledge the First Nations – the Chickasaw, the Shawnee and the Cherokee – who occupied these lands for countless generations before the arrival of Europeans. Realizing that we are on Indian land requires us to accept responsibility for a painful history and present injustice. It helps us to achieve respect for the multi-faceted cultures and spiritual perspectives of North American's Indigenous Peoples. This we do for ourselves, for future generations and for the earth."
The chalice was lit as the flame was passed, person to person, generation to generation. The chalice lighting words said, in part, "Far being the reach of memory, fire has been a symbol of memory and hope…fire makes us sacred wherever we are, (provides) a home no matter how far we are from our dwellings."
Bluegrass Music performed by Second Thoughts (John Rakestraw, Michael Ray, Jason Shelton, Pete Huttlinger, and Shelby Lewis) accompanied this year's celebrated Banner Parade - find your banner in the Banner Parade! RealVideo footage of the Banner Parade will be provided here - check back for a link.
The ceremony, which involved parts which sanctified the space, the time, and life, was written by the Rev. W. Frederick Wooden and featured principal speakers The Rev. Clark Olsen, The Rev. Olivia Holmes, Hope Johnson, and The Rev. Peter Morales.
Music for the evening was provided by The Mountain Quartet (Jane Warth, Ian Denham, Shelley Jackson Denham, and Tom Warth), and the a capella group Olympia's Daughters of Plainfield, New Jersey. A featured song was this year's General Assembly Hymn, "Fulfilling the Promise," with words and music by Shelley Jackson Denham:
Here we have gathered.
Fulfilling the promise, (the promise unbound by race of creed),
We gather to witness commitment to justice
through each word and thought and deed.
Hearts and spirits and minds wide open,
We pledge ourselves to diversity.
For this is the time, and this is the task we must now achieve:
Daring to hope, daring to love
We covenant now to live the faith in which we believe!Fulfilling the vision, (the vision of world community)
We gather to witness commitment to truth
and human worth and dignity.
Hearts and spirits and minds wide open,
We pledge ourselves to diversity.For this is the time, and this is the task we must now achieve,
Daring to hope, daring to love
We covenant now to live the faith in which we believe!"
A second hymn, "Love is the only creed we know," was performed by The Mountain Quartet, and said:
"To serve the world's our only law
To walk together in peace
To seek the truth in love
To help each other as we go
Love is the only creed we know."
Offering a Covenant for the Assembly, the leaders of the celebration said, "The sources of faith are not here, nor their distinct wisdom…this covenant is simply a reminder of what we expect of each other in our time together…A covenant is not what we believe in, but who we believe in. It is not the last word, but the first world, not a destination, but an invitation….It is how we hope to be in relationship with each other. It is how we hope to be a community.
"The work we are facing," said Olsen, Johnson, Holmes and Morales, "is holy work. And this is a holy place because of it. That we may be holy in its midst, we covenant together. I ask you now to meditate, even pray, a few moments… on these words:
- What does it mean to walk together in peace? It means generosity of heart, it means listening as much as talking. Can we pledge to say peace inwardly or offer some other gesture of regard for every one we meet?….
- Can we pledge modesty for our own magnificence, and forgive the absence of it in others? It means owning our own anger and sorrow…Can we pledge to know our own, and touch only gently that of others?
- What does it mean to seek the truth in love?…It means trust in the truth, even when we don't like where it leads. Can we pledge to follow the truth when it's hard?…it means receiving truth even from disturbing prophets.
- What does it mean to help one another. It means generosity of life. It means courtesy, especially when impassioned. It means patience, it means remembering that a moment of tenderness between strangers is as important as any resolutions."
Following the response, where the congregation sang again, "Love is the Only Creed We Know," Denny Davidoff called the Plenary to order. Davidoff, a favorite of the plenary audience, asked for adoption of the rules of procedure for the General Assembly. The rules were moved by Bob Martin, Chair of the General Assembly Planning Committee, and adopted.
Davidoff, joined by Trustee at Large Norma Poinsett and President John Buehrens, recognized and welcomed the following new congregations which had been voted into memebership with the Association over the past year:
Avalon Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
St. John's, NewfoundlandUU Fellowship of Clarksville
Clarksville, TNUnitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort
Beaufort, South CarolinaChalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Poway
Poway, CaliforniaRiver of Grass Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Sunrise, FloridaUnitarian Universalist Congregation of Rappahonock
White Stone, VirginiaNature Coast Unitarian Universalists
Citrus County, FloridaGaia Community
Kansas City, MissouriUnitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore
Oceanville, New JerseyCommunity Unitarian Universalists in Brighton, MI
Brighton, MichiganUnitarian Universalists of Transylvania County
Transylvania County, North CarolinaUnitarian Universalists of Homer
Homer, AlaskaMountain Light Unitarian Universalist Church
Ellijay, GeorgiaUnitarian Universalist Fellowship of New Bern
New Bern, North Carolina
The Members of the GA Planning Committee were introduced. They are Bob Martin, Chair, Diane Olson and Charlie King, Vice Chairs, Linda Freedman, Secretary, and Reid Swanson, Doug Strong, Marc Loustau, Ervin Barrios, Don McKinnon, Norma Poinsett, and Barbara Prairie, GA Administrator.
The Volunteer Committee was also introduced, and both committees received warm applause from the assembled audience.
Davidoff recessed the plenary until 8:30 A.M. on Friday, June 23rd, 2000, as the Mountain Quartet led the audience in singing Shelley Jackson Denham's song, "We Laugh, We Cry."
Transcript, Opening Celebration
