Delegates Report on Salt Lake City General Assembly

By Holly and Bob Zeeb

My first General Assembly left me breathless, stimulated, and inspired. I had a first-time experience of being among 3000 UU’s of every stripe: many ethnic groups, ages, sexual orientations and identities, with whom I sang, worshipped, studied, and conversed. All wearing our badges, signifying delegate status and congregational affiliation, we greeted one another like old friends and exchanged information and ideas in an atmosphere more warm and welcoming than I could have imagined. Here are some highlights.

Four brilliant sermons, three by women and all beautifully crafted, powerful and moving in different ways: living in the moment with ALS, living between the two worlds of Hinduism and UUism, UUism and race, and ethical eating. (All the sermons are on the UU website.)

The Social Justice track--“A People So Bold, “ one of four choices for concentration. Its theme was “What is a prophetic congregation and how can we create it?” The speakers themselves were bold and exciting. To oversimplify, “Prophetic work”, a new concept for me, should be UU practice. And for social justice work to be prophetic (more than ‘volunteering’ or ‘political action’) it must be based on theological principles and celebrated as central to the congregation’s covenanted mission.

Small Group Ministry workshop. What does it means to be a real ministry of the church, a bridge between individual spiritual practice and congregational worship? How do you keep a program vital and growing? Why is the service component important? What is the essential distinction between a support group and small group ministry and how do you preserve that distinction? There were testimonials and exchanges on these and other questions.

Workshops on Ethical Eating, An exploration of the new Study Action issue, which encompasses environmental degradation, food surpluses and starvation, the exploitation of low-paid workers, health and disease, lack of adequate access to healthy food in some communities, lack of knowledge about nutrition. How can the food production system be changed to be equitable, just, and healthy?

Universalism, the missing “U” in UU! Did you know that the Universalist profession of faith in 1803 is the basis for the current UU principles? And that Universalism led the integration of social justice and religion from the beginning and has a strong tradition of nonviolent resistance based on theology? Universalism, from the beginning, criticized elevating individualism above community. The speaker, Rev. Richard Gilbert, stated that the lack of a commitment to the communal is “a barrier to the prophetic imperative.”

All this and more! To hear how others are coping with congregational issues similar and dissimilar to ours, to learn how creatively some have solved these problems, to be inspired by the boldness and innovation of UU’s in many other parts of the country—these experiences were enlivening, heartening, and expanding to me. I hope some of you will seek out this opportunity next year.

Holly Zeeb

For me also, this was an extraordinary GA and I am not a newcomer (I have been to the last five. In addition to the sermons, the music, and the special addresses, this GA Plenary Sessions, the large meetings of all the delegates (over three thousand), was marked by hotly contested votes and special occasions.

The election of Peter Morales as the new president of the UUA. Peter is the man we saw in the videos of Golden Colorado’s, membership program. His main campaign issue is making our UU congregations more diverse.

The by-laws amendment to alter our fifth principle was fiercely debated, the vote close. It did not pass. The proposed change altered our current wording slightly, but to some it was crucial, a rejection of humanism and a threat to our creedal openness. To others it was a useful clarification. The proposed change might have been slight, but the fact that it was so vigorously contested says a lot about where we are at this moment in time. The differences between our humanists and our theists are intensifying.

The proposed Statement of Conscience about Peace Making was tabled until next year. The delegates could not resolve the contradictions in the language of the statement. (There were a variety of concerns ranging from discomfort with the use of the term just war, to failures to acknowledge the appropriateness of armed conflict, to a failure to distinguish between nonviolence from pacifism.)

Theology Track: Holly Hynes, Tom Bean and I all attended the theology tract for UU University. The speaker challenged the notion of creedal freedom as the primary, for some the only, definition of our faith tradition. We need more than that, he said. And he said it with a combination of power and theological sophistication. He made an impassioned plea for not ceding God language to Christian literalists. The three of us found it learned, thoughtful, exhilarating, and provocative.

Many from FUSN were very visible or were honored at this GA. Ned Liebensperger perform his usual duties as counsel to the moderator; Dan Brody reported on UUA finances and was re-elected financial advisor; Anne Bancroft participated in services. Cherryl Lloyd received their final credentials as a UU minister, our intern minister, both our intern minister, Catherine Senghas; and a former youth member of fusn, Jeremy Nichols, were awarded their initial fellowship.

Affirmation and Humility are the words that capture my experience at GA this year. I felt proud to be a UU, impressed by the combination of thoughtful reflection, genuine respect, love and authenticity that our faith holds dear and demands from all of us. At the same time I was humbled by the sophistication, the power of the UU voices I heard. The care, the generosity the commitment to social and personal change was inspiring.

Bob Zeeb