| P R E S S R E L E A S E P R E S S R E L E A S E P R E S S R E L E A S E | |
 Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations |
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| For Release: | June 25, 2001 |
| Contact: | John Hurley, Director of Information UUA Headquarters-Boston (617) 742-2100 x131 Email: jhurley@uua.org www.uua.org |
(Cleveland - June 25) The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) today concluded its annual five-day General Assembly held this year in Cleveland, Ohio. The high point of the assembly came on Saturday night when the Association elected the Rev. William Sinkford as its new president. Sinkford, the first African American president of the historically white denomination, succeeds the Rev. John Buehrens, who served eight years. Sinkford defeated the Rev. Diane Miller who, if she had been elected, would have become the Association's first woman president. Diane Olson was elected to succeed Denise Davidoff as moderator of the Association.
More than 4,400 Unitarian Universalists from across the continent attended this year's General Assembly. This surpasses the previous record of 4,100 set at last year's General Assembly in Nashville, TN.
In an act of public witness of their religious values, hundreds of Unitarian Universalists marched in a drenching rainstorm on Thursday night to protest the misappropriation of Native American terms and images by the Cleveland Indians baseball team. The Unitarian Universalists were witnessing in solidarity with the United Church of Christ which has its headquarters in Cleveland and has engaged in ongoing protest against the Chief Wahoo logo.
The assembled delegates from the more than 1,055 Unitarian Universalist congregations in North America voted to create a seat on the Association's board of trustees for a youth representative. In keeping with Unitarian Universalism's strong support of the separation of church and state, the delegates also voted to oppose President Bush's proposal for government funding of religion.
The annual Ware Lecture was delivered by the Rev. James A. Forbes, senior minister of New York's Riverside Church, who exhorted the audience to become "human race activists." The Rev. Richard Gilbert from Rochester, NY, delivered the sermon at Sunday's Service of the Living Tradition which honors the Association's professional ministry.
More than $23,000 was raised during the General Assembly for the Empty Shelves Project to buy books for public school libraries. The money will be donated to three Cleveland schools.
On June 22, just before the official opening of the General Assembly, the UUA and the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) signed an historic agreement stipulating that services previously delivered to Canadian Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist congregations by the UUA would as of July 1, 2002, be delivered by the CUC. In essence, the CUC now becomes a peer organization of the UUA.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal, creedless religion with Judeo-Christian roots; it traces its history in North America to the first Pilgrim and Puritan settlers, and has numbered among its members five U.S. presidents. The UUA, headquartered in Boston, MA, was formed in 1961 through the consolidation of the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association. More than 1,055 congregations in North America belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association.
The UUA website (www.uua.org) includes extensive coverage of the General Assembly and the election. For further information on Unitarian Universalism, please contact John Hurley, UUA director of information, by telephone (617-742-2100 x131) or email (jhurley@uua.org)
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