The State of the UUA
In a poignant opening, Ivanka Kocmanova, president of the
Czech Unitarian Association, lit the chalice to celebrate the
sparks of encouragement that have kept the flame of hope
burning in Prague. Seven years ago, the Prague Unitarians
were forced out of their spiritual home and had the doors
locked against them. This past Sunday, Czech Unitarians
celebrated worship in their spiritual home for the first time in
7 years. (Click here for background story.)
In addition to welcoming the delegation from the Czech
Unitarian Church, UU moderator Denny Davidoff led the
assembly in welcoming Rev. Denes Farkas and Rev. Maria Papp of the Unitarian
Church of Romania, Rev. Harrison Kingsley of the Unitarian Christian Church of
Madras, India, Mr. Carleywell Lyngdoh of the Unitarian Union of N.E. India, and Rev. John Midgley representing the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Churches in
Great Britain, all of whom are members of the International Council of Unitarians and
Universalists (ICUU). The Assembly also welcomed Rev. Hatakayama and Rev. Kawabata of the Rissho Kosei-kai, Rev. Tsumara and Rev. Barish of the Shinto Tsubaki Grand Shrine, and Mr. Andrew Clark, the new General Secretary of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF).
UUA Secretary Wayne Arnason gave the credential report. A record 3824 people were registered as of Thursday, including representatives from Mexico and the Virgin Islands.
Rev. Barbara Child,
Chair of Commission
on Social Witness
(CSW), explained the
process and
procedures which would be followed with
regard to Study/Action
Issues and Statements
of Conscience, and
gave a new timeline for
the Action of Immediate Witness process.
The CSW and the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) jointly presented an award to YRUU member Sarah Davidson from Shoreview, Minnesota, for her essay on one of the resolutions to be voted on this General Assembly, "Responsible Consumption as a Moral Imperative." Davidson said that out of respect for those who will be here in the future, we should begin to practice responsible consumption as a moral imperative.
Davidoff began the morning's plenary, a four-hour presentation "The State of the
UUA," joined by Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery. A juggler on stage illustrated the everyday challenges faced by the UUA. Some
of the questions asked by the 300 or so people during the Midsize Church Conference
held in Atlanta this March were used to kick off this part of the presentation; other
questions were solicited from those participating in email groups on uua.org.
The assembly relished the questions and listened patiently to the answers, inspired by the words from our hymn, "We Laugh, We Cry" by Shelley Jackson Denham, which concludes, "even to question truly is an answer." Sometimes the juggler helped to illustrate the answers to the most difficult questions.
The tone for the day was set by the Rev. Susan Smith from Jackson, MI, who asked this question:
As someone who is always a bit paranoid about "what Boston is up to" and who dreads getting your mail, I would like to feel at the end of the reports that I know your motives and your visions and your honest assessment of the challenges including the cranks like me. I would like to know not how you are going to serve me and mine, but what opportunities you are providing for us to do the unique UU work of transforming the world in which we live.
I would like to know less about how the UUA is preserving its institutional self and more about how it is boldly adapting to inevitable change since this is the challenge that we face in the parish and the community as well. I want to buy in; and as they say in those UUA workshops, people give of themselves to visions not to programs. Thanks so much for asking.
Another question, "Why does the UUA Board exist?", was answered by Phyllis Daniel (Trustee, Pacific Southwest District), Rev. Calvin Dame (Trustee, Northeast District), and Tamara Payne-Alex (Trustee-at-large) with testimonials about their work.
"What do you do around the edges of all your meetings?" was answered in witty style by Gini Courter (Trustee, Heartland District), using metaphors of dogs and illustrating the numbers of meetings the board has.
Keith Orts, UU Congregation of the Ohio Valley, Wheeling, WV, asked, "At our Ohio
Meadville District Meeting there was much concern expressed by the small
congregations that they were unseen or misunderstood and unappreciated by the larger
organization. What kind of support, emotional or financial, might be appropriate?" In
contrast, the Rev. Will Saunders from Portsmouth, NH had asked a similar question about larger churches. And, Kay Montgomery pointed out, if we had waited long enough, we would have had another question on middle sized churches. Once more, the juggler illustrated the answer by performing for us on the stage.
Carrie Stewart of Austin, TX, asked:
I would be interested in hearing about the Journey Toward Wholeness program. I would also appreciate an explanation of how the various UUA departments covering anti-oppression work, work together, and who is responsible for what. I've been following this since Calgary, and still don't have a clear picture.
Davidoff spoke of her own commitment to the Journey Toward Wholeness program, and asked three people who have been involved in the work of anti-racism to speak personally on this work from their perspectives. They were the Rev. Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley, Marge Link, and the Rev. Robert Senghas. Following their presentations, Davidoff invited individual feedback from the assembly. A member of the Youth Caucus expressed hope for the future; an older member who 
described himself as "A simple man of 90" urged those in the Assembly to get out and mingle with people who are different. Another commented that she had heard a 12-year-old recently ask, "Why is there a holocaust museum in Washington, DC, but not a slavery museum?" – a comment about linked oppressions and the need to address them all.
After a musical interlude, which featured Ray Fellman and Susan Swaney singing the "Rage aria" from the operetta "Fire in My Bones" by Deborah Phelps and Mary Ann Macklin. Following the moving presentation, Kay Montgomery invited three members of the UUA Staff to share "who they are, what they do, and what sustains them." Qiyamah Rahman, District Executive for the Thomas Jefferson District, described how she "came out of the religious closet" to become a UU in front of her more traditional family in Atlanta. John Hurley, Director of Information, spoke about how he was honored to be able to tell reporters about the
UUA's social justice work of which we can all be proud. Malia Crawford, Extension
Ministry Administrator, was grateful for the "training ground" she feels the UUA
provides her: she plans to become a minister.
A question from Ken Kurtz of Santa Fe, NM, about moving UUA headquarters out of Boston prompted a response in the form of a Budget Report from Gini Courter, chair of the UUA Finance Committee.
Katie Stein Sather, minister in Newfoundland, Canada, asked a question about the current state of negotiations between the Canadian Unitarian Council and the UUA, which was answered by Davidoff and Kim Turner, CUC President. A question from Barb Brown of MO, regarding how upcoming UUA elections will be handled with the advent of electronic communication, was responded to by Electronic Communications Committee member Margy Levine Young and Debbie Weiner, Director of the Office of Electronic Communication. The two took those in the assembly on a fast-paced tour of uua.org.
In response to a question asked by Don Skinner about how UUs can better witness their faith, the Revs.
Barbara
Wells and
Jaco B. ten
Hove co-ministers of the Paint Branch Unitarian Church in
Adelphi,
MD demonstrated their new curriculum "Articulating
(Y)OUR Faith". Wells and ten Hove described how the UUA 1st and 7th
principles are foundations for the others, a concept Wells
illustrated with an inverted U containing all 7 UUA principles. An entertaining and informative presentation with six youth and young adult members followed, in which they played "freeze tag" to illustrate how to articulate UUism to others.
Rev. Meg Riley, Director of the UUA's Washington DC office,
described her dream that one day Jesse Helms will lean
over to an aide and ask "Where does the YRUU stand on
this issue?" She continued by addressing some of the questions she is often asked, including "How are we
perceived?" and "what has the UUA done to advance public witness?" and answered the latter by showing a news clip from C-Span of the Millenium March on Washington, with UUA President John Buehrens delivering a
stirring and powerful speech on the Washington Mall.
As the tape froze on Buehrens' face at the march, Buehrens took to the podium in the Nashville Convention Center, greeted by a standing
ovation. Click here for complete transcript.
The plenary concluded with Buehrens asking Shelley Jackson Denham to join him on the stage to conduct "We Laugh, We Cry," and all the participants of the plenary joined Buehrens, Davidoff and Montgomery on stage – an illustration of the "juggling act" that goes on in the Associatioin as congregations are served, each day.
