Hello good people. Happy summer.
The Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly met last month in Pittsburgh, PA. The General Assembly is the annual gathering of our denomination. GA serves an important governance function in our movement—representatives from congregations vote on the major decisions that affect the life of our denomination. But it is also the “gathering of the tribe,” a time to renew bonds of connection as well as to form new bonds. A lot happened a this GA and Arthur Ungar, one of this congregation’s delegates graciously agreed to offer the following summary from GA:
Report on General Assembly
There were several decisions made at the recent national gathering of UU’s that are summarized here.
The rewrite of the UUA Principles and Purposes contained in Article II of the UUA Bylaws was passed (86.3% in favor) with a few amendments. It will come back to next year’s GA for a final vote, requiring a 2/3 majority. During the year amendments may be submitted, either by the UUA Board or with the endorsement of 15 congregations.
There was extensive discussion of proposed changes – some 90 amendments were submitted. The Moderators and Board chose 15 to focus on. After much discussion, they prioritized them and only 8 were discussed and voted on. The text and the five approved amendments can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3572ws3v The amendments were hotly debated, but the votes were quite lopsided with at least 2/3 majorities.
The other major decision was on the Business Resolution “Complete Divestment from the Fossil Fuel Industry and Subsequent Reparations”. The Resolution had been proposed by Young Adults, who generally receive a lot of support. However, it was soundly defeated (68.3% no), although resolutions on divestment have been passed previously. An amendment to remove reparations from the Resolution failed. The UUA Board and Finance Committee were strongly opposed.
The new President, Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt, was elected in an uncontested election. The other candidate nominated by the President Nominating Committee had withdrawn long before the GA. The President is the head of the UUA administration, and is a paid position. The Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray was thanked for her six years of service as UUA President.
Three Actions of Immediate Witness were passed by large majorities:
- Rise Up to Stop Cop City – regarding the construction of a police and fire training facility in Atlanta GA.
- Organizing for Health Equity – supports many international, national and local initiatives so that everyone can attain their full potential for health and well-being. https://tinyurl.com/7vj53am6
- Protect the Dreamers, the Recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) with a Pathway to Permanent Residence – the UUA calls on Congress to expeditiously pass legislation to provide Dreamers with a pathway to permanent residence, and urges members to support them. https://tinyurl.com/4zze8sd6
There were 2593 delegates representing 715 congregations, 1317 of whom were onsite. That is a significantly smaller number than those who came to GA in Portland last year. The 2024 GA will be entirely online.
–Arthur Ungar
In the coming year we’ll have opportunities to learn more about and to engage with many of these issues, in particular with the Article II proposals.
We are in a time of change in so many ways, including engaging important questions about how we as Unitarian Universalists come together. This is exciting work and also challenging work, work we’ll all be doing together.
I look forward to seeing you in church.
Blessings,
Tom