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The Cross-Border Connection Canadian Unitarian Council |
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The Cross-Border Connection Canadian Unitarian Council |
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Is it a divorce? Is it the kids growing up and moving out, as one Canadian woman characterized the situation, or is the split between Canadian UUs and American UUs something more complex? Rev. Brian Kiely, a Canadian born and bred minister who now is minister in Edmonton, Alberta, gave his version of the Canadian side of the story.
The CUC was formed in 1961 about 10 minutes before the UUA was born at the same meeting. Someone said then, "We are very small and they are very big, and we'll get lost if we don't do something about it." They're still small. There are only about 5,000 Canadian UUs, some 3.4% of the total and about the same number as were there in 1969. They feel one reason for their lack of growth is that most of the material they receive from the UUA naturally is aimed at and specific to the situation in the U.S. The current situation began with a survey of services during the latest periodic renegotiation of the agreement between the UUA and the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) for delivery of services.
The Canadians want more Canadian content. As Kiely said, "We enjoy reading about Louisa Mae Alcott and Emerson and all those people, but their stories are not our stories. Our roots are with British Unitarianism, not American Unitarianism. We learn nothing of John Molson's struggles to establish the Unitarian faith in Canada, or of how the struggling Unitarian church split and found itself on opposite sides of the Lloydtown Rebellion of 1837." According to Kiely, they just want to tell their own stories. For many years, the CUC was a filing box in the bedroom of the secretary, but now it has grown to the point where it can begin to take over providing services to Canadian congregations.
The Rev. Kiely is the voice of reason. Other Canadians are more emotional, such as the Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed, the newly-elected head of the CUC, who is good-naturedly known for his "rant." The crux of the matter is a need to develop their own destiny and to giving voice to their own religious community rather than having it lost in the overwhelming presence of the American one.
Rev. Katie Stein Sather, the Canadian representative to the UUA Board of Trustees, reported on the discussions with the UUA, (The Board report can be found at: http://www.uua.org/TRUS/apr01ungar.html.) An agreement was signed on Friday, June 23, 2001, but it did not include the contentious issue of membership. It was the UUA that first suggested the Canadians withdraw because they would not be contributing to the program fund, but it turns out there are no provisions for that. So, it's suddenly not a divorce-or is it? The Canadians will be in their own districts. Settling ministers, etc. and youth programming (at least for the moment) will remain continental in scope.
Yet, in all this sweetness and light, there are voices of anger and hurt. Some people contend it is a divorce and a bad thing. Ted Lightfoot, President of the St. Lawrence District, is distressed. So is the Pacific Northwest District. In part, it's the uncertainty and the inability to begin healing his district until things are settled. According to Rev. Kiely, no one is interested in ripping apart those things that work, but Lightfoot thinks working structures will be dismantled to make clean boundaries. The two districts most involved seem to mourn the loss of the strong bonds they have forged across the border. Many churches have members living on both sides of the border, and it's not clear what will happen. Of course, with congregational polity being what it is, there is even less clarity or guarantee that the affected churches will go along.
Chris Walton of the UU World magazine asked if the UUA should be encouraged to act as an American organization. The UU World has encouraged its staff to think beyond borders and to consider that it serves more than just the U.S. Rev. Kiely said it is up to the UUA to decide if it is a national body.
Rev. Kiely was asked what he hoped for the CUC within Canadian culture. "This is a Canadian body. Both the Lutherans and the Ba'Hai experienced significant growth after separating. We hope this will happen to us, too."
Stay tuned. This story isn't over.Reported for the Web by Bob Hurst; photo by Bill Lewis
General Assembly 2001 · Program Grid
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