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Candidates Forum Presented By UU Urban Church Coalition
Of Chicago
 (Chicago,
IL, March 9, 2001) The UU Urban Church Coalition of Chicago (U3C2), presented
a candidates forum featuring candidates for President and Moderator of the
UUA, moderated by the Rev. William Murry, Dean of Meadville/Lombard Theological
School in Chicago.
The participants were the Rev. Diane Miller and the Rev. William Sinkford,
candidates for president, and Patsy Sherrill Madden and Diane Olson, candidates
for Moderator. Each candidate made an opening statement of not more than six
minutes. The two moderator candidates went first, and statements were followed
by questions submitted in advance by Urban Church Conference participants.
Following the question period, there were three minutes allocated for closing
statements.
Following a reading of the covenant all the candidates have signed, which
is available on the UUA's elections website, the opening statements commenced.
Moderator candidate Patsy Sherrill Madden said, in part: "I believe that
we need to tell our stories, to tell how we came to our faith communities…we
need to reach out to others, because it is in reaching out that we show what
our principles are, and how they help guide our lives…. I believe that we
have to continue our generosity of giving… be it with our money, or our time,
or our interest…we need to give. We need to live our religion. That sounds
like a hard one. But it includes taking home with us every Sunday morning,
our religion, our values, our ethics. Take them home, take them to the playground,
take them to school. Live our religion. We need to be what we believe, and
we need to be that every day."
 Moderator
candidate Diane Olson said, in part: "All my life, I have been committed to
respect differences between people, and to respect the values we hold. I am
running for moderator most particularly because of my experience as chair
of the GA Planning Committee…during the time I served as chair, it was a particularly
turbulent time as we strove to reach toward the Journey Toward Wholeness vision
for the future. …I grew tremendously from that experience. …I bring to you
those experiences in seeking to serve as Moderator. I want to help us create
more deeply connected and vibrant congregations, and ties between our congregations,
between our congregations and our districts, between our congregations and
the Association. I also want us to spread and grow and share our message with
the larger UU community. I want to encourage us to create relational covenants
in the work we do, wherever we do it. We can move forward by honoring our
commitment to our journey toward wholeness… we must embrace and understand
diversity. I am absolutely committed to our creating an anti-oppressive and
multi-racial and multi-cultural community. I am committed to examining how
we can change our board, our communities, to understanding the barriers that
often impede our work."
Presidential candidate Diane Miller said, in part: "I have found the campaigning
energizing, challenging, and motivating… I feel that I am both challenged
to and privileged to speak the truth in love. I think this is important for
us to do in this critical time in our history…to realize this tradition's
potential for good…to open minds, free hearts, and inspire generosity. This
is the moment for our congregations to make a difference…where injustice is
defeated by actions for justice and love. These are not propitious times for
liberal religion…we have to shake those worn out formulas that people expect
from organized churches and let our religion shine forth. For too long our
faith has been tightly furled…it is time to unfurl our promise.
"I bring the combination of experience in our congregations and at the UUA.
I have a proven record of effective leadership in our congregations and in
our association. There are challenges that can be predicted and named, but
we will also have unexpected circumstances…what we need in presidential leadership
is adaptive, resilient, responsive leadership. … I know the value of the ongoing
work of church life... and of dealing with the unexpected. I bring these things
to this experience…"
 Presidential
candidate William Sinkford said, in part: "I believe there is enough health
to call UUism into relationship with a hurting world outside its walls. This
is a vision, and we will have to work hard to achieve it. We need to talk
about how we would need to organize ourselves…to create a public ministry,
and public voice for our faith. We will not get there by wishing. We have
to train our ministers to work with the media, by offering internships in
community ministry, and justice making ministry. I believe central among them
is the effort we must make to be allies in the justice-making arena, not just
in the interfaith world. We must reach out and build relationships not alone,
but in honest coalition. If we are willing to claim this larger vision and
larger voice, UUism will grow. There are thousands and thousands of persons
who are actually UUs, who are looking for the larger voice, for a faith community
associated with justice.
"But if those people come, we need to have congregations that will receive
them…we need congregations that can avoid the conflicts that too often tear
those congregations apart. It is not enough to think that we can go to leadership
school once in our life…training needs to occur every two or three years,
because that's how often boards turn over. We need training in how to be a
healthy congregation. The outreach I am talking about is particularly important
for you who serve and work in urban congregations. … we have made three grants,
and have held three of these (Urban church) conferences, to help you learn
from one another ... and we need to do a better job of ministering to our
youth and young adults. We need to provide more bridges for our youth and
young adults, rather than cliffs to walk off of.
"I bring experience from the business world which will help yoke the association
staff to the vision we all claim. We can expand our voice and claim a larger
vision, or withhold our good news. I want to help us with the first half.
The second half will push toward irrelevancy, and I am not willing to go there."
Questions:
1. In your capacity will you continue the focus of anti-racism (training)
for the Journey Toward Wholeness? Will you address issues of economic, ethnic
and racial oppression?
Sinkford: I have a fundamental commitment to the Journey Toward Wholeness.
It is central to the soul of this faith, and we must continue on this path.
I believe UU congregations at their best are those that value human experience.
It is such a modest goal, friends. The role of the president in this work
is both as a prophetic voice and in a management role. There are changes
we need to make, but we must continue on this path… the discussion on class
is one that we need to have, but it is one that will tax us.
Miller: I offered a critique of Journey Toward Wholeness on the UUA [election]
website…about how it had offered fairly restrictive programs from headquarters
that have not taken into account the programs that have gone on in congregations.
We need to offer the big picture…I would like to see us be more effective
in the work. We would do that by bringing out the work that is already happening
in our congregations, and acknowledge that not all the work is being done
is being done by the Faith in Action department. Furthermore the Journey
Toward Wholensss program was noted as an overall program…we need to have
overall analysis of oppressions as a whole, to incorporate religious oppression
and class oppressions….
Olson: We need to look for additional funding for this work, explore creative
options, to invite people to engage in self exploration…this is not necessarily
comfortable work, but it is filled with wonderful rewards…we deserve the
wonderful rewards…I would do anything I could to forward it toward its successful
end.
Madden: I believe that the role of the moderator when it comes to this
issue is to make certain that all of the issues are placed on the table
before us…to hear all the voices…I am excited about the conversations around
class at our table today…because it occurred to me probably for the first
time consciously, that there are still little places in my brain that draw
me back to my beginnings, which was a lower class beginning…and there were
things that you couldn't do because you were where you were…I want us to
put these issues on the table, to understand where we are, what we are,
and what we can do, and utilize the many paths on this journey, so that
we get clarification with each other… this is important work and we need
to not leave out anyone in our process.
2. What do you see as the role of community ministry in our movement? Will
you help fund and provide for community ministry? Will you support the continuation
of this third track?
 Madden:
One of the ministers I am most fond of is a community minister. I see the
role of community ministry as a vital one in our movement. The community
minister is the person who is out front, out in the trenches, doing the
work, walking the walk, talking the talk. It is a very important position.
I will help fund, and raise funds, for community ministry… I don't know
enough about the track of community ministry, but I believe this work is
vital to the UUA. It has my support.
Olson: I would have to tell you that I knew little about community ministry
when we began our campaign process. Jody Shipley asked us a question, and
I scurried along to learn about this interesting ministerial role in our
Association. When I began exploring I found out that many of my ministerial
friends were community ministers. I have come to realize that for me, this
ministry is essential to grow, to present the actuality of our faith and
our work in the community. I think we should take every advantage possible
of those who are willing to do this work. I have already said on my website
that I am willing to support this work, because it enriches the broader
community, all of us, our religious communities. I would look to fund this
as much as possible…we might have to explore and prioritize how to spend
our funding…but this would be one of my priorities. I know that that the
[ministerial] tracks are being reconsidered, but the concept I absolutely
support.
Miller: Community ministry is what we are about in the broad sense, but
I believe this refers to professional fellowshipped ministers, knowing that
this is a piece of what we're about as a movement. We have always had ministers
in the community…in the last several years, we have made it possible for
people doing that ministry to get credentials and to be counted as in active
service in our ministry. This is a major shift toward recognizing and counting
this role. In our next capital campaign which I would launch after the current
one is set, I would want to raise funds for community ministers, not to
pay salaries, but to raise money for internships and paid sabbaticals for
community ministries. The fellowship committee has decided to admit all
ministers to fellowship as ministers of UU faith, and the specialization
will come at a later point when [ministers] get final fellowship.
Sinkford: My fellowship is in community ministry, although I work at the
association. There are a number of substantial questions, and I do not believe
we as a faith community have developed together what the answers are to
be. The more traditional community ministries are ministries where there
are jobs and salaries. The harder questions are how to support the justice
making ministries…I am on record as supporting development of internship
programs to build capacity for community ministry …we can work with our
largest congregations to claim and support community ministry as part of
their ministries. One of the blessings of the president's role is that you
get a bully pulpit and you get listened to…I don't think we have developed
all the answers… I am most impressed though with the blessing that the large
number of ministers called to community ministry can bring to our movement…it
is at its heart very good extension work…and I would be open to the idea
of using extension funding to provide support for community ministry jobs.
3. How will the UUA national office encourage, promote and help implement
the development of multicultural congregations, especially in communities
that are more homogenous?
Sinkford: The association has, over the last ten years - tried to support
the development of multicultural congregations, any number of them. The
reality is that with very few exceptions, the result has not led to the
successful end of self-sustaining congregations. I can not tell you that
I am willing to support large-scale development of these congregations until
we have some sense that we know how to do this.
I will say, however, that more and more of our congregations are becoming
multicultural, but it is happening more in the church schools than in the
pews. So we have to ask ourselves what legacy we will leave to those children…what
are we called to do to minister to all of us who are already here? We have
some examples of success… the San Jose congregation's ministry to the Latino
and Latina community, the Church of the Open Door in this [Chicago] community…to
the extent that we have ministers equipped to do this ministry…we need to
make sure that adequate resources are open to those congregations and ministers,
so that we minimize the risk of failure.
Miller: I think our record bears stepping back and looking at. We have
a goal to have a congregation that is multiracial and multicultural …that
is not an effective way to build congregations. Within our movement it hasn't
had a good track record, and it hasn't in other denominations as well. Why
do I think we can do something different? We have already learned something
about pluralism, and that may help us express something different. We sometimes
don't recognize the diversity that is…All too often, we have assigned our
ministers of color starting out, to the new start ups, and they have been
asked to do this without additional kinds of support…the UUA needs to support
those efforts. We need to find congregations that support that effort. When
the whole congregation gets behind it, that's when it will work…
 Madden:
'The children shall lead them' is one of those quotes that came out of my
southern Baptist background. I believe we have a lot of multiculturalism
in our religious education, and it is our responsibility to look to the
future and see what is ahead for our children as well as our youth and young
adults. We need to understand what these churches will look like. Once we
get that understanding, we can go forward. That has to come from the churches
and the people…it is easy enough to say we shall do, harder, to do it. And
that's not the way to get a successful program off the floor. We have to
look at what we want, and what we want to become. We need to study it, look
at it, and go the way that will become important and vital to the communities
we will be serving.
Olson: I'm thinking about the five congregations in which I've been active
in the last 32 years, and it is only my last congregation that has any approximation
of multiculturalism. This is very difficult, and has been experienced when
we try to achieve a startup in a community…we need to find communities that
have the desire for that work to be successful…this is an instance where
congregational involvement is important, the willingness to grow and face
this work…I agree that it is unfortunate that our least experienced ministers
have been invited to do this work, and we must examine this process. But
the other question is how we can create out of our white and homogenous
denomination, a multicultural community…
4. What is going on with plans for a metropolitan strategy of church growth,
and what is your vision for urban church growth?
Miller: This is using the model that started the urban ministry in Boston,
that Joseph Tuckerman was involved with…there are now 32 churches in Boston
which are involved with this project…I hope that we will take this up to
a whole new level in coming years. The idea is to put together a metropolitan
area and build the linkages, and then decide what ministry could be added
to this area that we could work to create.
Sinkford: I drafted this section of the UUA's strategic plan. The concept
is quite simple. We have been working hard at stimulating movement for the
last ten years…the reality is that UUism has grown at about one percent
a year over the last eighteen years…we call together the ministers and leaders
in a metro area, and then call all into covenant with a growth plan. We
have focused too much of our energy on local pockets of UUism and moving
local pockets into extension ministry. The imagination [around a metro strategy]
can be quite broad…in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, the conversation is quite
broad…in the Boston area, a metro growth strategy would almost certainly
involve ministry to young adults, in the Washington DC area, it would probably
involve justice-making.
(Madden and Olson did not comment on this question).
5. Please describe the idea you have for making UUism more visible nationally.
Miller: The role of the president can be to leverage the stories of our
size in the public media. When we realized that we were approaching the
point that half of our ministers were women, we worked with Gus Niebuhr
[of the New York Times, and] that gave us a front page story of a mother-daughter
ordination story… When any other reporter pulls up Unitarian Universalist
in a search engine, we get that story. This happened with the Boston Globe
recently…our entire staff can do [this outreach] more effectively…I hope
you can do it locally as well. The president has a leadership role to articulate
what this is about. We all have a role in talking about UUism making a difference
in their lives.
Sinkford: I think there are a variety of things we can do to plan a larger
and more effective role for our association. One is having the president
speak out where there is a public voice. We need to add some staff to speak
out promptly and clearly. I am in favor of training a cadre of our ministers
and our lay folk who would prepare themselves in content and skills, so
that they can speak as well as the president. Our most effective voice ultimately
will take place at the local and congregational levels. You need to be able
to speak out for UUism rather than this going to the continental or national
headquarters. This will challenge us…when you are called on by the media,
you have to be ready and willing to speak. Beyond that, I am in favor of
doing some further testing of an advertising presence for UUism. We all
felt good about the NPR ads; I see no reason that we should not test the
efficacy of further work in this area.
Olson: One of the charges to the moderator is that the moderator is charged
with promoting the well-being of the association…I see the possibility of
speaking up and speaking out to the greater world, as often as possible.
I think this has been expanded in our current position, and I want to continue
this tradition. I think we can not lose this opportunity to be our own best
publicists.
Madden: In St. Louis, the first question you're asked is what school you
went to. The second question is what church you go to. We have to be more
vocal. I was president of the area council in St. Louis and got a call from
a judge who said, 'I need someone to give a prayer for the new citizens
of this country that will not offend more than half of those people.' I
did that. Step up, step out, be involved, be visible. I believe that we
have to not hide our light under a bushel, but let our light shine.
6. As a panelist of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Sub-Committee on Candidacy
[for Ministry] (RSSC), I have concerns that many members of our congregations
are unfamiliar with the issues facing our ministerial aspirants in the process
of their formation from seminary to the MFC. What would you do to raise
the awareness of UUs about those ministerial education issues?
Miller: I believe we will look back on this program, which was started
by the department of ministry and the MFC, and see it as the most important
thing we have done as an association to support and strengthen our ministry.
Ministry is a very challenging piece of work, and people need to have an
opportunity to work with people and communities as they are being formed.
70% of candidates for ministry are not in UU theological schools… they need
to have an opportunity for success when they come to the RSSC.
Sinkford: The question had to do with congregational awareness… most of
the folks coming to our congregations today come from an unchurched background.
They don't know how to do church, and how to do church UU-style. We need
to do a better job of teaching our folks what the covenant is between minister
and congregation, and that neglect has resulted in failures of ministries
which could have flourished. I am committed to providing that training to
our congregations.
(Madden and Olson did not comment on this question).
Closing statements: Candidate for moderator Diane Olson said, in part: "I
have been a community builder all my life as far back as I can remember. It
is such a part of my orientation in life [that] I practice it all the time…I
want to continue that work which has become a passionate grounding for me.
I want us to work collaboratively, so that we reduce the barriers that keep
us apart from one another. I want us to speak our own truths with courage…to
listen deeply, almost sacredly, to those who are speaking to us, so that we
can cross the barriers that are unseen. I want us to stay at the table when
we disagree, and stay there till we can reach resolution that we can all accept.
I believe this is the discipline our faith demands of us.
"I want to build stronger associational ties. I believe that we can do our
most serious work most effectively… I want us to become connected…to an awareness
of our own responsibility to spread the word about this faith, about our enriching
experiences. Although people many know nothing about UUism, they want to know
more. We have creative and joyful work ahead of us."
Candidate for moderator Patsy Sherrill Madden said, in part: "As moderator
it would be my objective to lead with collaborative, principle-based leadership.
I want to establish a team relationship with the president, I want to establish
a collegial relationship with the board. I want to enter into partnership
with the people who come to General Assembly, and a partnership with UUs individually
to sustain our faith. I want to create an environment to sustain our faith
and listen, so that we shall be heard. I want us to walk through this world
together holding hands… To call others together to work for social justice.
I want others to be aware of the wonder, and the awe, and the satisfaction
of working for this faith community.
"I hope that when one door closes, one door opens. I hope you give faith
a fighting chance. And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, that
you dance. This is my dance, what I do for the UUA and this faith community,
and I want to continue that dance. This is how I want to serve."
Candidate for president William Sinkford said, in part: "As I travel across
the continent, I get to hear stories from UUs: 'I never thought I would find
a congregation that shared my liberal religious values.' 'I never thought
I would find a congregation where my partner and I could have a ceremony of
union and be loved for who we are.' I never thought I'd find a congregation.'…
These are stories of salvation, UU style. I believe that we have such good
news that we can claim, and I know that that good news is so needed outside
the sanctuary walls where we can stay safe. My call to the presidency is to
help us offer our good news… to offer it, be wiling to bring it in the public
discourse, knowing that we will make mistakes, but survive them, and in some
cases, it will be transformative. That is what I am called to do as your president.
I believe we need to treat this election process like religious discernment…you
are asked to chart the course of UUism for the next four or eight years. Make
no mistake: for myself, I believe there is a great difference between optimism
and hope… Hope knows we co-create our future. I invite you to do this with
me."
 Candidate
for president Diane Miller said, in part: "I offer myself for this campaign
and this position as a religious leader. This is what I've done with my life,
and in so many settings, that I have some strong convictions about what we
must do to be effective. There are some striking differences. My focus in
this campaign is on strong healthy congregations and growth. And how we get
there is how our differences emerge. I believe the role of the UUA is to strengthen
our congregations and this movement…not to spend money on para-programs, but
to fund the congregations and leadership in different regions that will lead
to growth.
"What we need to recognize is that our principles must be embodied in our
congregations. Our movement faces risks of decline…It is something that we
all have a role in doing. I invite you into this larger purpose, to create
this vision, and speak widely, on how this vision makes a different in your
life. Let's celebrate the small miracles that occur each week in our congregations.
The president of the association along with each of you, must communicate
our values to a society that is increasingly wary of organized religion, but
together, we can share our values to a world in need of its blessings…"
Moderator William Murry thanked the audience for their attention and participation,
and the forum ended at 6:45 PM.
Read more about the UUA elections at http://www.uua.org/elections
Reported and photographed for the web by Deborah
Weiner; formatted for the web by Julie Albanese.
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