GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2005—FORT WORTH

The official theme for this year’s General Assembly was “Ministering to Families in Today’s World” but the general message for the assembled UUs at this year’s GA seems to have been the importance of making our voices heard more distinctly and with greater emphasis in the wider world. Liberal religious themes and moral principles need to be stated more clearly to compete with the clamorous voices from the religious right. President Bill Sinkford stressed this fact when he told delegates during the Opening Celebration that Unitarian Universalists are a community of deep faith and that our voices can help us bend the world towards Justice and Family values. In fact, the UUA has updated its message to speak more from the heart than from the brain and telemarketing experiments have been launched to present our message to a wider audience.

The Traditional Opening Ceremony on June 23 began with the lighting of the Chalice, welcome remarks by UUA President Bill Sinkford and Moderator Gini Courter, followed by the colorful Banner Parade. The All Souls Banner was carried by Heather Floyd and James Backmon.

In his speech Bill Sinkford stressed the need to let our voice be heard when he spoke about the growth of our denomination in Texas: “But even in the most conservative area in the country, Texas, UUs speak out on our values; the voice of liberal religion is desperately needed in conservative areas. If UUs can thrive in Texas, they can thrive anywhere!”

Jim Moskin, who supplied many notes about the Plenary Sessions, also wrote about a different call for UUs to stand and proclaim what we believe in a speech by the Rev. Dr. Patrick T. O’Neill of Wilmington, DE during the Service of the Living Tradition. Dr. O’Neill discussed two kinds of tradition, the kind that binds us to what has been passed down to us and the things that we actively do. Ministry must be of the latter sort; liberal religion has had too much retreat, he said, and now must become more actively engaged in the world so that our point of view will be taken into account.

Reporting from that same service, All Souls delegate Scott Will wrote that the Rev. Robert Hardies of All Souls, DC, responded to the Christian Fundamentalist imperative of being saved once by accepting Jesus Christ as one’s savior by suggesting that we as UUs go further than that. Rather than focusing on the idea that we do not need to be “saved,” he suggests that UUs are born again all the time. We are constantly open to being transformed by our lives, our contact with each other and the world. We are, “born again and again and again.”

Many workshops, speeches and discussions dealing with those themes were offered in Fort Worth as UUs from all over the US mingled and joined in voting for statements of our joint purposes. While delegates are free to sample anything that interests them from the smörgåsbord of lectures and seminars, the real work of the GA takes place during the daily Plenary Sessions, which all delegates must attend so that they can vote the conscience of their own congregations.

During Plenary II, for example, there was the vote on the Study Action Issues that had been sent to the congregations earlier in the year for consideration and comment. Five issues had been chosen for discussion at GA, all fitting in with the theme of “The Year of the Family”: 1) Women’s Rights Worldwide, including such issues as equal pay and reproductive rights. 2) Safety of All Children and Youths. 3) Peacemaking. 4) Affordable Housing and 5) Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society. The last item had been amended against the will of the proposing congregation but was strongly supported by the Youth Caucus which stated that “we must as liberal religion show that there are alternate views of morality that are not irreligious but are faith-based.” When the final vote was taken, there were many who voted for item 1, “Women’s Rights Worldwide”, but after a brief run-off election, the final choice was “Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society”.

Here is another comment taken from Scott Will’s report:

The study action issue that was chosen was “Moral Values in a Pluralistic Society,” which, to my mind, reiterates the theme of taking a stand and addressing the complexities of doing so, in not only a pluralistic denomination but also a pluralistic world. Just because it raises some hackles or is uncomfortable to discuss doesn’t mean that we, as a denomination, can’t have a public position that rivals the positions of other strong groups in clarity and force of conviction, even numbers.

Plenary III was concerned mostly with programs and activities applicable to young adults and youth such as the establishment of Youth Ministries in many congregations in hope that UU young adults will not drift away from the denomination as they leave school and college. It was noted that youths are seeking a radically alive, spiritually alive, justice-centered faith. Work is being done to increase our presence on college campuses to provide opportunities to explore our faith and its values. An Anchor Congregation program to recognize congregations that have extensive young-persons ministries has been established. Bridging ceremonies are being stressed and a number of special awards for young adults were awarded. A new Code of Ethics for youths was also presented. The work done by the Journey Towards Wholeness programs was also highlighted during the third Plenary.

Much of a busy Plenary IV was devoted to such “housekeeping” matters as procedures, presentation of UUA Board and Nominating Committee candidates, and financial reports. A major component, however, was the Report of the Commission on Appraisals, which dealt with the topic of “Engaging Our Theological Diversity”. Delegates were told that we must find unity in our theological diversity, to articulate what we hold in common. We must grow beyond the Seven Purposes and Principles statement that reflects our common beliefs by asking ourselves what we do believe. We need clarity about the under-girding values that underlie our beliefs in language that communicates effectively. UUs tend to practice overweening individualism at the expense of community. As a result many UUs do not join our congregations.

We have work to do in how we engage world religion. While we are pluralistic and open to wisdom from other religions, we often embrace the more exotic ideas and reject Judeo-Christian traditions and terminology but we must be careful of misappropriation or cultural shallowness in borrowing from other traditions. Some who come from other traditions come with wounds that affect how they and we handle those traditions. We must learn to heal those wounds so that a more holistic approach is possible.

The Report recommended that we include theological discussions at future GAs so that we learn to articulate who we are as religious people and that we can challenge youth to further their religious values and practice. To this end, youths, young adults and adults need to work together on these issues.

In his speech during that Plenary, President Bill Sinkford told delegates again that we need to become a respected voice for liberal religious values and that we must not cede the moral high ground to religious fundamentalists of any persuasion. “There must be an alternative and in these days, we are it!” We must reframe the issues so that we can better appeal to the middle ground and fight against a theology of fear, based on rules, on salvation and damnation. “Let us be a religious people who stand on the side of Love!”

In his GA report, Scott Will quoted Bill Sinkford’s remarks in greater detail:

Bill Sinkford reiterated the UUA stance of “standing on the side of love,” in the proactive sense that Martin Luther King, Jr. lived. We fight the divisive and destructive forces in the world not by being policemen, but by being forces of creation. When another tears down, we build. We overwhelm the pace of mankind-inspired entropy with the pace of service and creativity, growth and expansion. One specific way we can do this is by reclaiming a language of reverence, and articulating our mission without reservation and tentativeness.

Plenary V was primarily devoted to committee reports and bylaw changes and to details concerning the Religious Education credentialing changes instituted two years ago. A report by the Religious Education Credentialing Committee (RECC) was presented. There are three levels for credentialing religious educators: Associate, Credentialed and Master. Currently there are 27 individuals credentialed through the program of which one is an associate, nine are credentialed and seventeen were transitioned to the Master status from the former Religious Education Landscape Program. Forty-four others, including All Souls RE Director, Melaney Mashburn, are working towards credentialing. Melaney currently needs only a few more courses to complete the Masters-level credential. “It is an excellent way to professionalize the RE profession,” she said. The RECC is currently working to address issues of anti-racism/anti-oppression and accessibility.

During Plenary VI, Moderator Gini Courter gave her Report and thanked the assembled delegates and all the presenters of reports for their hard work during GA. She again encouraged all delegates to encourage their home congregations to welcome new members and visitors to their services to help the denomination grow. Finally six Actions of Immediate Witness were discussed, amended and voted on. All of them passed. They included topics such as torture, the farm worker’s boycott, ending extreme poverty, ending crimes against humanity in Darfur, expanding freedom of the airwaves and support for Dr. Sami Al-Arian.

One of the most popular lectures offered annually at the GA is the traditional Ware Lecture, this year, with a return to a topic on theology, presented by Dr. Elaine Pagels. Most All Souls delegates attend the Ware Lecture each year.

Jim Moskin provided the notes from which the following summary was distilled: Pagels spoke about “The Gospel of Thomas and Christian Tradition,” reminding us that the Gospel, found in 1945, begins with the line, “These are the sacred words that the living Jesus spoke.” The Gospel of Thomas was declared heretical in 343ad but according to Pagels, this happened after a power struggle between the followers of John who portrayed Jesus as the only Son of God and the followers of Thomas, who insisted that Jesus had taught that we are all children of God and can all have the same access to God directly, as Jesus did.

According to Pagels, the decision in 343ad to tilt towards the Gospel of John influenced and impoverished Christianity for centuries. (The speech was videotaped and can be accessed from the UUA website at http://uua.org/ga/ga05/.)

Jim’s GA report also included information about the Closing Celebration in which he participated as a member of the GA Choir, as he has done in previous years. He described it as “a rip-roaring event with people dancing in the aisles.” He also attended a lecture by Prof. Paul Woodruff on “Reverence Without Theology”. This seminar made several important points about Reverence: Reverence is an approach to the transcendent. Reverence is universal—honored in every culture. Reverence is a developed capacity for awe. When we are struck by awe, all that divides us becomes irrelevant. Reverence is an important god-free ethical value not tied to particular beliefs. Theology is a discussion of the attributes of God or deity. Talk about theology can lead to irreverence. It is dangerous for humans to think they speak with the voice of God.

The list of events, workshops and lectures attended by All Souls delegates is interesting and diverse. They include varied topics spanning the spectrum from electronic media, corporate dominance, pagan holidays and magic, UU Christianity, and multigenerational communities of faith, to family values, global warming, fascism, life span issues, reverence and small group ministry. This does not include worship services, musical performances or delegate dinners. It was a busy five days for everyone.

The delegate reports included in this article make mention of many other GA offerings attended by our 14 All Souls delegates. Some were first-time delegates, others had attended GAs for many years. Their reflections and reactions help the rest of us share in their experiences.

The All Souls delegation included the following members: Alex Collier (Delegation Co-Chair), Alison Will (Delegation Co-Chair), James Backmon, Heather Floyd, Greg Geiger, Mary-Ella Holst, Polly Leonard, Chuck Mackenzie, Melaney Mashburn, Marietta Melton, Inez Miller, Jim Moskin, Guy Quinlan, Martin Smith, and Scott Will. Three of our ministers also attended GA: Galen Guengerich, Dick Leonard, and Alison Miller.

Delegation co-chair Alexandra Collier set the stage and evoked the flavor in her report:

I have to admit, I was a little worried when I heard that General Assembly ’05 would be held in the heart of Texas at the end of June. I had heard stories about the horrible Texas heat from veterans who had attended GA the last time it was in Ft. Worth, 11 years ago, in 1994. Luckily, the many energizing and inspirational workshops, speakers, and plenaries at this year’s GA kept me captive in the air-conditioned splendor of the Ft. Worth Convention Center.

GA ’05 began with a fabulous opening ceremony (including a powerful performance by Pete Seeger) and ended with a rollicking closing celebration complete with an impromptu conga line! In between, there were fabulous and fabulously diverse worship services, terrific speakers, educational and informative workshops, opportunities for socializing and networking, and the—it only comes around once a year—opportunity to be with 3,671 other committed and enthusiastic Unitarian Universalists.

There were many wonderful moments at GA ’05, but the most wonderful and meaningful for me was watching my two friends, Rev. Alison Miller and Rev. Catherine Torpey, participate in Friday evening’s Service of the Living Tradition and receive preliminary ministerial fellowship from the UUA. The Rev. Dr. Patrick T. O’Neill, Senior Minister of the First Unitarian Church in Wilmington, Delaware gave the Service’s rousing sermon and called all of the new ministers (and their congregants) to action in the pursuit of justice for all. It was incredibly powerful to watch the new ministers walk into the auditorium to the traditional hymn, “Rank by Rank, Again We Stand” and be called to action by a passionate and committed veteran minister.

Finally, while I left GA ’05 with new experiences, perspectives, ideas, and a renewed enthusiasm for my Unitarian Universalist faith, it was my fellow All Souls delegates who made my week in Ft. Worth as much fun as it really was. We had a terrific and diverse group of All Souls delegates this year, including a record number of Young Adults!

I’m already counting the days till GA ’06 in St. Louis!

The reports from two first-time delegates particularly reflect the excitement of becoming part of such a large gathering of UUs and sharing the diversity. Heather Floyd, who was one of the All Souls banner carriers, wrote:

The two important things I got out of this, my first GA, were better getting to know the All Souls members who attended as delegates, and an overarching appreciation for the wider work of Unitarian Universalism as a denomination. Though the schedule could be a bit grueling, I managed to find time to sit and have great conversations with old friends and new ones—it seems that the most useful “work” I did at GA (besides voting in Plenary) took place in the exhibit hall, meeting & greeting UUs from all over the country. I really got a sense of the similarities and differences between All Souls and other congregations—large and small.

Getting a sense of what other congregations were working on—whether in a social justice or a congregational development sense—was interesting and instructive. Also, being able to hear great ministers and lay leaders speak about the direction of Unitarian Universalism in a broader sense helped to expand my view beyond our privileged congregation.

The major theme I took from this year’s GA is a shift from predominantly external work for the denomination towards some inner reflection. Family & moral values were discussed widely, as well as what sort of process and PR might be needed to “spread the good news” of liberal religion to a wider, hungering audience. I think it is telling that the Study Action Issue chosen this year (out of five worthy candidates) is “Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society.” I think that UUs are realizing that unless we can clearly define what it is we stand for, in a broad ethical sense, and convey that to the general populace, we risk becoming obsolete, and the political conservatives and religious fundamentalists will continue to claim “Faith” and “God” exclusively for themselves and their own ends. I look forward to exploring this issue with fellow All Souls congregants in the coming years.

Chuck Mackenzie made the most of his first-time experience and his detailed report permits those of us who did not attend GA sample many of the events he attended. Here is his report:

As a first-time delegate, I attended the UUA General Assembly in Ft. Worth, Texas, June 23-27, 2005. I was one of about fourteen delegates representing our congregation.

PLENARY SESSIONS
Attending the plenary sessions was an interesting and enlightening experience for me. I was pleased to discover that the UUA leadership is in such good hands with committed, compassionate and well-educated people. Our president, Rev. William Sinkford, who was unanimously re-elected, impressed me with his eloquence and booming voice. I was happy to see that he has been active in the public policy debate, and has been covered by the media in New York and Boston. Moderator Gini Courter seemed to have quite a bit of experience, and handled the agenda with great charisma and finesse. It was good to see the Youth Caucus so involved in promoting and voting regarding the study-action choice and actions of immediate witness, and that youth are represented on the Board of Trustees. The Youth Caucus appeared to be more in number, more organized and more involved in the GA events than the Young Adult Caucus. Not surprisingly, many of the resolutions on public policy issues were passed by unanimous or nearly unanimous consent. Also, most of the candidates for elected offices were uncontested. Overall, the UUA attendees seemed to be fairly satisfied with the status quo of our congregations.

The greatest concern is that we are losing in the moral values debate with the Religious Right. This concern became especially evident when the GA chose “Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society as a Study Action Issue for 2005, over issues such as women’s rights, affordable housing, child safety, and peacemaking. There appeared to be a growing consensus, also, that we need to do more work to make our UU community more diverse racially, ethnically, and income-wise, and to make UUism a more attractive place for young adults to participate.

OPENING CELEBRATION
We are fortunate to have legendary conservationist and composer, Pete Seeger, in our “own backyard” in New York, as well as having him honoring our congregations with his music during the Opening Ceremony. Having known Pete only through Hudson River Sloop, Clearwater, and my law office, I was unaware how involved he is with the UUA.

EXHIBIT HALL
Like many other delegates, I spent hours in the exhibit hall learning about all of the social causes and gear being offered by groups within the UU community from across the Nation. Martin Smith and I staffed the Navigators USA booth, handing out brochures and educating GA visitors about our progressive alternative to traditional scouting.

We learned that another UU group is developing a co-ed version of the British Baden Powell Scouts in the U.S. The large number of Internet terminals in the hall was a great convenience for checking email and researching new information inspired by exhibits seen in the hall.

HEARINGS, LECTURES, AND WORKSHOPS
The sheer number of smaller sessions was also impressive, if not overwhelming. It was difficult to choose which ones to attend. I was concerned that a fair number of them overlapped with the Plenary Sessions.

Workshop 3048—“Global Warming: Become an Effective Environmental Advocate!”
This workshop was too short for the amount of data that could have been provided. Having been an environmental advocate for 25 years, I was familiar with most of the information provided. The session, however, was informative for the “unknowing.” The speaker, Tina Clarke, was eloquent and well informed. My concern was that another environmental seminar was scheduled at the same time, which I would have rather attended, in 20/20 hindsight, because it may have been more informative for me personally.

Lecture 4024—“Sharing Our Progressive Family Values with the World”
This was the most informative hearing/lecture/workshop I attended at GA. A GA central theme, as shown by the new Study/Action Issue chosen during the plenary sessions, seemed to be that we are losing the battle over family values against the fundamentalist Christian movement (which the media are attributing to the Bush re-election and Republican gains in Congress in 2004) and what are the most effective ways to turn the tide in the battle. This lecture appeared to address this central theme, and was well attended. The speakers all seemed to agree that the key to the success of the Religious Right in the values debate is their way of manipulating language’—words, terms, and phrases, stories, and images. The progressive/liberal values movement has been effectively portrayed by them as unpatriotic, for example. The first speaker, Helio Fred Garcia [a member of All Souls], drew some contrasts: liberal and progressive religion’s images of God as nurturer with unconditional love, and forgiving and spiritual healing qualities were compared to the conservative image of God as being a strict father, with tough love, and the idea of going to Hell if you violate God’s law.

David Loehr, author of America, Fascism & God, contended that the progressive faith movement needs to re-learn three themes: 1) patriotism and national pride, 2) faith and morality, and 3) personal responsibility (rather than all of that “rights” talk). As most liberal messengers are not trusted in mainstream America and the media, they must address and grasp these important themes. Loehr stated that America lost its religious “center” about 1965. Rosa Parks sparking the Civil Rights Movement in 1954 was the new salvation story for liberal whites, who were the first core organizers of the movement. In the 1960s, the victims of discrimination, blacks and women, began speaking for themselves and were finally listened to. Defining people as victims, however, since then, has been a poor strategy, in light of the controversial Politically Correct Movement. Loehr also pointed out that we should observe Europe and Japan, which have low church attendance, but have free college tuition, and a complete elderly safety net. He asserted that we need to emphasize peoples’ common attributes rather than petty differences, and that the liberal faith movement does not need spin, it needs fire.

Dr. George Lakoff, author of Reputation Management, topped things off with some concrete ideas to re-gain influence in the mainstream view of American moral values. He suggested that we make Actions of Immediate Witness public, so that they can be witnessed. As an example, Rev. Sinkford effectively stated during the debate over discrimination in the Boy Scouts, that homophobia is a sin, rather than homosexuality. He emphasized that we should continue to use religious language such as “sin” to reach mainstream America with our ideals. Another example is “all decent people believe that…[hatred is a sin].” Religious language should complement the language of morality, not replace it. Other examples: liberals should not use the word “abortion” in the Choice Debate. The word has a negative inference and sound. In contrast, we should embrace the word “life,” and take it back from the pro-life movement. Life is our value, not theirs! The U.S. has the highest infant mortality rate in the Western World—conservatives are killing babies, while liberals are promoting life by advocating more nutrition programs. Conservatives are killing babies with mercury being found in mother’s breast milk by opposing environmental protection measures.

The Choice debate should focus on a common goal of reducing unwanted pregnancies. Conservatives are causing an increase with abstinence programs and barring birth control. Example: 25,000 pregnancies are caused by rape in the US each year. If your daughter were raped by Willie Horton, would you want your daughter to have that baby? Instead of using the term “gay marriage,” the liberals should be saying “personal freedom” and “marriage equality.” What is good for the whole is what is best for society.

Marriage for more people is good because marriage strengthens relationships. Love and commitment are sacred in society. We stand on the side of love and commitment. Sexual orientation is natural. Lakoff also recommended that we challenge our conservative rivals toe to toe with more religious symbolism, wearing and displaying more chalices, such as on our lapels, necks, banners, and minister’s stoles. We also need to challenge our secular liberal partners, public officials and journalists, in using this new language and image strategy.

SERVICE OF THE LIVING TRADITION
This ceremony was extremely emotionally touching. New and retiring ministers were honored, including our own Alison Miller, who earned her degree and was chosen to lead a congregation in New Jersey. Needless to say, All Souls is proud of her achievement. The Rev. Dr. Patrick T. O’Neill’s sermon will leave a long-lasting impression. I liked his point that new ministers should preach with more “fire in the belly.”

BRIDGING CEREMONY
This part of GA was equally touching. This ceremony is crucial. Most UUs who leave UUism do so between the end of R.E. and the beginning of young adulthood, right around going off to college. Fewer come back after leaving.

The musical and poetic contributions of the youth and young adults were wonderful.

A comparatively large number of young adults who attended the GA were around the Bridging Ceremony years, 18-24, while there were few in the 25-35 age-range.

SUNDAY MORNING WORSHIP
This ceremony seemed to be more “Christian” than any UU service I have attended. Some said it was because we were in Texas, and that the general public was invited, and we wanted to make a good first impression on open-minded Christians in the area. There was notable emphasis on prayer and frequent references to God, and little if any public policy talk in the sermon.

YOUNG ADULT WORSHIP
This afternoon gathering was one of my most enjoyable during GA. Led by a drummer and a poet, both young adults, the group connected spiritually with chants and dancing and one-on-one conversation. The service should have been longer. There should have been a casual talk session afterward, similar to our “coffee hour.” This was one of the few young adult events that was well attended and well organized. One young adult attorney approached about starting a UU lawyers’ guild. She and I will be in touch about the idea.

WARE LECTURE
Elaine Pagels was sensational. I personally am deeply interested in the subject of the Gnostic gospels from a historical and intellectual standpoint. Having read her book years before, her lecture re-invigorated my thoughts and interest in the topic. Thomas’ image of Jesus, coupled with his rivalry with John and their respective contradictory gospels are intriguing to say the least. A wonderful choice for Ware lecturer, especially since we were in Texas, it was fine to have a Christian theme. One elder humanist criticized the choice, saying he feared the UUA was moving back toward Christianity. I do not think such fear is rational, merely due to the choice of Pagels as lecturer. Past Ware lecturers include Revs. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesse Jackson, and Kennedy presidential aide and biographer Ted Sorenson.

IDEAS FOR A BETTER GA AND UUA
As a whole, the GA was well organized. In my view:

• The message board should be closer to the plenary session hall.
• The Internet computers should be outside the exhibit hall in a central location and accessible throughout the entire GA session time, rather than just during the exhibiting hours.
• There should be fewer hearings, lectures, and workshops that overlap with the plenary sessions.
• GA should be promoted more effectively to youth and young adults. Virtually no youth, and only a few young adults, attended GA from All Souls, which was a shame.
• Congregations should find ways to make bridging ceremonies and youth and young adult events more popular among our younger members. If more UU youth from across the country, including All Souls, would have been at GA and witnessed the Bridging Ceremony, I believe that the attrition rate of young adults from congregations would drop, and the retention rate would surge. After all, young adults are the key to a successful future of UUA leadership.

Martin Smith, for whom this was not his first GA, but the first as a delegate, also spent much of his time promoting the Navigators program in the Exhibit Hall. He writes:

OVERVIEW:
I enjoyed myself at GA this year. I have never been to Texas before and even though I only got to see a little, I enjoyed it immensely. I plan on going back sometime again for an actual trip. GA itself was filled with wholesome goodness. I spent a third of my time manning the Navigators USA table to help spread the word of our organization, a third of my time in Plenary helping plan the future of the UU organization, and a third of my time eating, going to a couple of workshops and a couple of Young Adult activities. It was a busy 4 days for me but I would not have given anything up.

PLENARY:
It was neat seeing UU people be somewhat organized on the whole; you don’t get to see that too often. The banner parade was fun to see—all the different fellowships in attendance. I saw a couple of banners for fellowships I have been to in the past. The debates on the different topics were enlightening and informative. Getting to vote is always an empowering activity. And I was proud to vote for the pluralism in politics [Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society SAI]. I also enjoyed seeing the young churches and their ability to grow rapidly and to help other fellowships learn by their example. The Beaver Church in Washington was a great example. Once they built a building to have their fellowship meet in, they started increasing rapidly due to people knowing where they were and the publicity of the actual construction. If you build it they will come!

SERVICE OF THE LIVING TRADITION:
This is sort of a graduation for ministers and leaders and a thanking for the ones moving into retirement. The sermon was by the Rev. Dr. Patrick T. O’Neill and he gave a great sermon. Almost a fire-and-brimstone type of service without the dogma—quite exciting and a great way to get the new ministers fired up and ready to take on new challenges. He spoke on the importance of our words and what we teach and on our being spokespersons for our beliefs and not to forget that. We should be in the public eye and not be afraid, and to “Come out of Walden,” to not be complacent and to help change the world again for the better.

THE WARE LECTURE:
This lecture was on the Gnostic biblical texts and Dr. Pagels spent her time mainly going over the book of Thomas. While intriguing, I think I need to read her books to get a better understanding of what she was going over. This lecture was my least favorite, but then I was also tired and having a hard time staying awake. (There had to have been a time when I was tired—GA does that to you.)

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE:
I really enjoyed the KUUMBA players. It was very exciting to see a traditional story acted out in modern ways. The sermon by the Rev. Robert Hardies was good also, about Fire and changing ourselves for the better.

WORKSHOPS:
#4067 The Dana McLean Greeley Address
and UN60 Celebration Lecture by John Crosby
This was a great workshop. John Crosby is a marriage counselor and a conflict resolution adviser. He has written extensively on conflict resolution and is an advocate for thinking outside the box. He speaks of two types of conflict resolution: one which is the normal way of solving problems and then, one which tries something new that hasn’t been done before. The second one may not always work but the first one has been known to fail more times than it has worked. He used an example from his marriage counseling sessions with his clients. He has several different clients who were always fighting with each other and had a hard time stopping, and it was always about little things. So his solution was for them to plan a fight. Pick a day and time and who will instigate it and see what happens. Then the next time have the other person instigate it. But plan every fight. There were three different things that happened:

1) The clients thought it was stupid and decided not to follow his idea, but when they had their next meeting (usually a month later), they would say, “We thought your idea was silly and we decided not to follow it.” John would follow with, “Well, have you had many fights since the last time we spoke?” They would reply, “No.”

2) The clients would decide to follow to a tee what he stated and start up a fight on a given day and time and who would instigate it, etc. When they came back to the next session he would ask them how it went. They said they would get into the arguments but would only fight when they planned it. And he would ask, “How is it going now?” They said they fight less and don’t have as many problems.

3) The clients would plan the fight but when it came to actually go through with it, they couldn’t. They either couldn’t think of something to have an argument about or they just did not feel it right. But then, they had the same reaction as the first two. They would not fight as much if at all, compared to before.

John spoke about how Peace is similar. You need to think outside the box and find new ways of solving things, not saying the new ways would work. But the old ways definitely don’t work most of the time and history has proven that in most cases, they make things worse.

After the lecture there was cake and conversation in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the UN.

Young Adult Caucus 2—“Anti-Racism”:
This workshop was a place for young adults to deal with issues of racism and how it affects in our every day lives and gave us a free place to talk about these issues. Some people had stories on how they have been affected by racism directly and one person had stories about how it doesn’t affect her directly but feels sometimes that this history of race seems to weigh so heavy in everything that we do, that it ends up breeding more racism even if you try not to be racist. The most important thing I got from this is that racism, no matter how slight or small, seems to permeate every faction it effects—some people more directly; and even for people who feel it doesn’t affect them, it does.

The Commission on Appraisals—“Engaging our Theological Diversity”:
This was when the committee spoke about the findings of their research. This was very interesting to me. There were many great findings. One of my favorite quotes from the day was dealing with how do UU fellowships describe themselves to people who have no idea what UUism is. Well in their opinion, the best answer would be, “We are people not of Shared Belief but of Shared Values.” And this put the main idea of the whole thing in perspective. They went through a lot of their research in how UUs are generally on the fringes of communities and feel they don’t belong anywhere else. Which makes UUism interesting because it is a community for people who feel they don’t have a community. We test high on Risk and Creativity compared to people of other religions. And also only a small percentage of people who consider themselves UU on the census actually go to and are members of UU fellowships, but this goes back to the idea that we are accepting and are a community for those who don’t have a community.

They ended the workshop by talking, asking the audience to help them get some ideas on what they should work on for the next four years. And there were several ideas, some including working on this for another year, but several people addressed the issues of keeping young people in UU society, addressing the problems we have with keeping young adults, etc. We teach diversity but we do not seem to teach what makes UUism so great, so Young Adults end up finding a [non-UU] church that they like based upon all the knowledge they learned from the UU RE programs.

Greg Geiger limited his reporting to the sessions he felt he could most profitably share with the congregation although he appended a list of all the events he had attended. But his choice of highlighted events is certainly different and informative:

I committed to four lunchtime meetings with what is called a Small Group Ministry. Basically, a group of 6-8 people covenant to meet for an agreed-upon period of time to discuss various social, spiritual or emotional concerns. In the case of GA, it was a chance to get to know UUs from all over the country. Within congregations, it’s a chance to bond more deeply with your fellow parishioners, especially those that you may not normally have the opportunity to interact with. I found it extremely effective at creating a safe-space to open up to new people. I think this practice would go a long way toward widening All Souls’ internal circles. The sense I got was that it would be most successful if a Church minister helped organize the circles and supported the circle leaders.

All Souls, DC, spoke at length during one of their workshops on how they successfully grew a shrinking congregation back from over 300 to approximately 700 in under 3 years. There were several reasons behind their success, including strong leadership, both lay and ordained. Two components seemed different than our story at All Souls. The first was their choice to require a 6-week UU History and All Souls, DC, history course prior to church membership. Despite the apparent daunting nature of this requirement, their membership has still doubled in a few years. The value: identity. New members felt like they had a cohort coming in. There was a group of people they got to know fairly well through the course and automatically felt connected to the community. They also had a clear sense of why they were there, and what the religion stood for. Our ministers preach fairly frequently about the value of self-awareness, our lack of an effective elevator-speech and the perennially searching nature of the movement as a whole. Starting potential new members out with more than a short video may help to address all of these facets.

The second component is nurturing rich and diverse musical expressions. They placed a heavy emphasis on empowering their talented musicians to perform an array of musical styles. Services ranged from the sublime to the enlightened to the joyous. During most of the services at GA, I got the chance to see some of these performances in action and was astonished at how powerful they were—Italian chanting, jazz, folk, drumming. The Closing Celebration had 3000 Unitarians dancing on their feet and smiling about it. Personally, from conversations with the college-aged students, from my campus ministry at NYU, that don’t come back to All Souls NYC—the lack of a diverse musical program is either the number 1 or the number 2 reason.

James Backmon brought back his insights and impressions from different aspects of GA. For one, he helped former All Souls assistant minister Rev. Jan Carlsson-Bull with her election campaign to the Commission on Social Witness, on which she has been active for several years. He also performed in one of the GA musical presentations that had been favorably written up by several other delegates. Here is his report:

Friday morning I participated in the Pete Seeger and Friends Concert. I sang with the newly formed group, We Four. There were four other performers on the program: Kim and Reggie Harris, Emma’s Revolution (Pat Humphries and Sandy O), Geoff Kaufman, and last, but no means least, the inspiring Pete Seeger. This was a most memorable experience.

I had collaborated with Pete several years ago with the New Amsterdam Boys choir in a number of events. It was great to work with him again. His voice was stronger than ever.

For the opening ceremony, I was asked by Alison Will to be the banner carrier along with Heather Floyd. This was yet another exciting moment at GA. I was amazed at how long it took to get the entire various congregations lined up for the procession…. As I was weaving through the hall carrying our banner, I heard various shouts from members of All Souls. I also saw familiar faces from our congregation, as well as from several others, old friends and new ones whom I had just met the day before.

I spent some time helping our former assistant minister Rev. Jan Carlson-Bull with her election campaign. It was good to see Jan busy as ever, doing important work. She was running to be reelected as commissioner to the UUA’s Commission on Social Witness. I thought her promotional fan that read “Jan Fan” was very clever. It was a great honor to be able to talk to her potential supporters. I spoke about Jan and testified to what a great human being she is and how great it was to have had her serve for several years as one of the ministers here at All Souls.

Apart from plenaries filled with work of governance and more music than I was expecting, most of my time at GA was spent interacting with the members of the Diverse & Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries (DRUUMM) community. I was introduced to DRUUMM by its president, Janice Marie Johnson of The Community Church of New York. It is my hope that All Souls Church will become more involved with DRUUMM. And although DRUUMM is a people-of-color organization, its work actually touches all who are interested in truly embracing diversity.

DRUUMM’S workshops at GA were very well attended. Two panel discussions that addressed the ethics of trans-racial and trans-continental adoption, offered much food for thought. Our workshop on creating communities of color within our faith community was also well attended.

Within DRUUMM there is the African Descent Identity Caucus (ADIC), of which I serve as elected chair. In essence, I am a believer in social justice work. Most importantly, I believe in doing it no matter how hard and complicated it gets. I believe it is work that we cannot do without as a UU congregation.

It was great to connect at GA with those All Souls members and friends who were involved with this important work: Inez Miller, Rev. Alison Miller, and Marietta Melton. I encourage you to speak to one of us about our experiences and consider joining DRUUMM or our white allies as we work together in leadership to build the beloved community.

GA was great!!! I was delighted and honored to serve as a delegate and to participate in large and small aspects of our work on the local, district, and continental denominational levels. I hope to see you at GA 2006, in St Louis.

Scott Will and his wife Alison were both delegates to the GA. In addition to the quotes from his report already used above, here are some of his other impressions from the convention:

A main thread that seemed to run through several of the week’s events—intentionally or not—involved calling us (UUs in general) out on our game of wishy-washy self-definition as a denomination. We were asked, sometimes gently and others not, to acknowledge our own power and conviction, to stop sitting on our hands, not just the way we already have, in social justice work and intellectual rigor, but as a religious movement full of fire and love and clear values and purpose.

The music throughout, led mostly by the passionate and dynamic Jeannie Gagné [along with Rev. Jason Shelton] and largely drawn from a new hymnal supplement, steered us in a fresh direction in worship music, emphasizing love, joy, fire and the unabashed recognition of powerful forces at work, whatever we may call them and however we may define them. Alongside the inspiring words of several speakers, the music brought the hall to its feet several times over the week. It again reminded us that just because we are religiously liberal and tend to emphasize reason and open-mindedness, that we can’t let go and be a little mushy and color outside the lines every now and then.

Delegate co-chair Alison Will added in her report:

I had a great time at my third General Assembly. The workshops I attended included