2018 Plenary III
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
TO THE 2003 UUA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
By some weird twist of fate, today is the very day that,
twenty years ago, I came to work for the Association. I remember
being exhilarated and scared and overwhelmed. I remember what
I was wearing. I remember what I ate and who I talked to all
day long and about what. I remember that by the end of the
day I was quite sure that I was in over my head.
And I was, of course. Aren’t we all, from time to
time? I’m pretty sure everyone on the UUA staff has
felt that way sometimes. It’s a complicated thing we
do, you know, working for you.. A couple of years ago, Tom
Stites, who is our Director of Communications but who you
probably know as the editor of the UUWorld, told me a story
from his days as a cub reporter for the Kansas City Star.
Tom, age 20, was sent out to cover a gig that Count Basie
and his band were doing in a shopping center parking lot—back
in the days when shopping center parking lots had a lot more
élan than they do now. Perfect story for Tom who was
then and is now a jazz buff. So Tom sits through an evening
of fabulous music and then gets to interview Count Basie.
As the interview winds down, Tom thought it would be useful
to share an insight with Basie. “You know that guitarist
in the back? He’s terrific. I wonder why you don’t
amplify him so folks can hear him better?” Basie fixes
Tom with a beady look and says, “he’s doing rhythm,
my friend, the point is not for you to hear him; the point
is for the band to hear him.” No solos for those who
play rhythm. Just keep the band working together. Freddie
Green spent his whole career playing rhythm; he was an almost-invisible
star.
So that’s a bit what it’s like to be on the UUA
staff. Our job is to make you, the folks in our congregations,
look good and be effective at what you do: the job of religion.
Help you do even better what you already do well. Provide
services and help you through the exciting and the tender
and the rough patches.
It is my pleasure, each year, to tell you about some of the
work of the staff and this afternoon, in a minute, I’m
going to introduce you to three of our staff and let them
tell their own stories. But first, a few highlights about
some initiatives that are new this year.
It’s a tremendously exciting time for Unitarian Universalism
religious education. On June 2, in partnership with the Liberal
Religious Educators’ Association, we launched the Religious
Education Credentialing Program. This new program for lay
religious education professionals will provide a comprehensive
path for further professional development and will encourages
meaningful recognition of professional achievement. So thanks
to those of you who imagined and brought to fruition this
dream, and particularly to Beth Williams, our devoted Religious
Education Credentialing Director.
And another beginning in religious education: Our Lifespan
Faith Development staff group, along with an extraordinary
advisory committee has begun work on a new lifespan integrated
curriculum project that will be introduced over the next several
years, one that will provide moral and justice grounding for
people of all ages. Stay tuned.
Many of your congregations held a Mind the Gap Sunday this
year. More than a million dollars was raised: new work is
being done for our youth and our young adults. Many new campus
ministries have begun. There are 130 now as opposed to the
70 we had at this time last year. By this time next year we
believe the number will be 200. It’s been thrilling.
We are jump-starting the future of our faith. So will those
of you who worked on your congregation’s Mind the Gap
Sunday or contributed to Mind the Gap please stand and be
recognized.
I came into Unitarian Universalism during the women’s
movement and the feminist agenda has always been central to
my understanding of what makes the world a good and safe and
a creative place. A lot of what we achieved during that era
is under attack, “the war on women” some people
call it. So I want to note particularly that the Unitarian
Universalist Women’s Federation did a wonderful and
generous thing this year: they have endowed an internship
in our Washington Office that will fund the work of an intern,
each year, who will focus on justice issues for women, the
Clara Barton Internship for Women’s Issues. I’d
like to ask you to join me in thanking our sisters at the
UUWF for this creative and revolutionary decision, the latest
in a long series of creative and revolutionaries decisions
by Unitarian Universalist women.
And also new this year is our lay leadership office. Harlan
Limpert started off in theological school, was ordained, but
then went into business where he eventually became Director
for Human Resources for Target Stores. But his heart remained
with Unitarian Universalism and for all those years he was
an active layperson in his own church. This year Harlan returned
professionally to the place where his heart stayed. He is
our Lay Leadership Director, beginning work that is long overdue.
I’m going to ask Harlan now to tell you a bit about
his work. . . .
[Harlan’s presentation]
Those of you who were at General Assembly last year heard
a lot about our Beacon Press. You’re hearing more this
year. But there’s another publishing venture at the
Association that you may know less about: Skinner House Books,
which works hand-in-hand with Beacon to remind us, as their
joint badge says, “buying books is a spiritual practice.”
Patricia Frevert has been the head of our publications office
for almost 17 years and it is under her leadership (and with
her colleagues there) that Skinner House has tripled the number
of books it publishes, enhanced their visual quality, and
brought you numerous, terrific books published specifically
for Unitarian Universalists. Patricia . . .
[Patricia’s presentation]
If there’s one thing that we Unitarian Universalists
have done well, it’s to learn to be clear about justice
for bisexuals, gays, lesbians, and transgender people. Much
of the rest of our world has done less well, yesterday’s
Supreme Court decision notwithstanding. The Rev. Keith Kron
has been the head of our BGLT office for seven years, and
with Barb Greve and Simona Munson, reminds us that the world
has never needed our voice more, a voice that says that all
families and all people are sacred. Keith’s going to
tell you about the history of his office and the work that’s
being done there. Keith . . .
[Keith’s presentation]
Thank you, Keith and Patricia and Harlan.
There are more than 200 UUA staff who work on your behalf.
They stay, mostly, behind the scenes, playing rhythm as it
were. Invisible stars. They do transformative and hard work.
They create curricula, clean offices, work on our web site,
minister to our ministers and lay leaders, publish books and
magazines, help make the world a more just place, advocate
for Unitarian Universalist values, provide workshops and consultations,
travel to your congregation when you celebrate or are in trouble.
And their patron saint is, of course, Freddie Green, the almost-invisible
rhythm guitar player.
Here are some of their faces. With Count Basie and his band,
with Freddie Green in the background, making everything work.
[visuals of staff and music]
Frederick Buechner says that the ideal vocation is “the
place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep
hunger meet.” And that’s been my fortunate lot
professionally. I’ve got what is, for me, simply the
best job on the planet. And many of our staff feel the same
way. But their work is, as I say, hard in some says. You ask
a lot. They deliver a lot. Will you join me in thanking these
mostly invisible stars?
And thanks to you, too, for your devotion, your work in your
own congregations, for being the people who make the work
of the UUA staff real.
Kay Montgomery
Executive Vice President
Web Design by Julie Albanese
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