From Your Minister
Dear Ones,
The summer is almost here! For all of us, this means various things, but one of the ones I’m most excited about is the next stages of our exploration of the proposed changes to Unitarian Universalism’s purposes, values, principles, and sources (called Article II).
As you know, over the past few months we’ve been exploring the proposed changes in worship services and covenant groups. We’ve particularly been focusing on how thinking and talking about the proposed new values affects how we understand Unitarian Universalism and how it’s now calling us to engage with both our internal spiritual journeys and the wider world.
As those of you who’ve been following this discussion know and as the image (see cover image) shows, the proposed values are:
- Love
- Justice
- Equity
- Transformation
- Pluralism
- Interdependence
- Generosity
We’ve also been using our new friend, Jet Pig, who is powered by Love, to help us remember what the proposed values are and have fun exploring them!
And now, we’re coming to the final stage of this exploration! During our national General Assembly of Unitarian Universalist congregations happening June 20 – 23, UUs from around the country will be discussing and taking a final vote on the proposal. If the proposed language is adopted, these values and the rest of the proposal will become part of the Unitarian Universalist Association bylaws. They will become some of the ways we discuss Unitarian Universalism and will help guide us in our ministries. You can read the full text of the proposal using the link below:
This is part of a process that Unitarian Universalists go through every 15 years as part of discerning how we understand our living religious tradition now and how we talk about who we are and what we are called to be and do. To produce this proposal, the Article II Study Commission met with thousands of UUs in groups and as individuals, collected feedback on surveys, and held many discussions. To develop the first draft, they engaged in 45 feedback sessions with 4,611 participants, videos reached 7,765 viewers, and their 29 surveys generated 10,925 responses. And then they incorporated the amendments made at General Assembly in June 2023. Amendments to the final language were due February 1, 2024. UUs are engaged in discussing these amendments in online forums and they will part of the vote at General Assembly. You can read more about the process and amendments using the link below:
https://discuss.uua.org/c/ga24/2024-a2-amendments/28
As we come to the end of this part of our engagement with this process, I’m delighted that UUS’s General Assembly delegates are excited to work with the congregation on the final stages of gathering input and discerning our votes on the proposal. Please stay tuned to your email for opportunities to engage with UUS’s GA delegates and me about Article II this month!
Whether or not the Article II proposal is adopted, the work we’ve done the past two years first to adopt the 8th principle because we realized that we needed to update the seven principles to guide our journeys, and then to explore the proposed values has been an important part of understanding Unitarian Universalism today and where it’s calling us today and tomorrow. Thank you for being part of this crucial work!
Love and Blessings,
Rev. Diana
