by Rev. Mary Gear
There’s some tension in the Unitarian Universalist Association right now and this is becoming more so as we approach next week’s General Assembly, the annual gathering of UU’s from around the world. In addition to the usual excellent worship, workshops, social action, and social gatherings, there are contested races for UUA Board positions and a planned protest by UU’s concerned about the direction of the UUA. It’s a challenging time.
For those interested in knowing more about this, I offer two resources. First, I put together some information about what is happening and how we arrived here. You can access that information here. I’ll modify and add to this as things change.
If you want a shorter version of what is happening and how we got here, I suggest this article by the Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Landrum, a guest blogger for Rev. Dennis McCarty. This is a factual summary of events so far with links to more information.
It does not concern me that we might have different ideas about the issues or the path forward. I am concerned that we do so in covenant, the covenants that we have as a congregation and as an association of congregations (the UUA). We do not tell people what to think; we don’t have a creed for membership. We do recognize our interconnection and make covenants-agreements- about how we will be together. You can find the OUUC covenant here. As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association, OUUC covenants with other congregations to affirm and promote the seven principles.
We are at a time to discern who we are as a faith tradition and what our living tradition calls us to be. I hope you will stay in the conversation.
As always, if you have questions about these issues or want to talk more, please do reach out to me or Sara Lewis.
Blessings on your week.
Rev. Mary