Unitarian Universalist Meeting of South Berkshire

July 1, 2007

“Unitarian Universalism On Parade”

Rev. Kathy Duhon

At our General Assembly each year Unitarian Universalism is on parade, for ourselves and for the rest of the world. Just about everything we are involved in is somehow brought forward during these few days. This year we met in marvelous, ecologically oriented Portland, Oregon, with 5697 people registered. Six of them were from this congregation – Gretchen and Bob and Ron and Sharon, Dotty and me. 2428 delegates represented 643 congregations, and we heard reports and speakers, went to workshops and worship, enjoyed entertainment and worked on governance, and had many opportunities to buy great stuff. I even gave a workshop, about our congregation’s 10^th anniversary, which was a sharing and teaching opportunity for how to celebrate congregational milestones – so your efforts were represented in Portland to Unitarian Universalists from all over the continent. Many brilliant ideas and pressing needs and creative offerings were given to us, and it can feel downright overwhelming. Since everyone is passionate about what they bring to G.A., it’s easy to go from one thing to the next with a new resolve each time to become involved in whatever you’re hearing about. We know we can’t do it all, but some of the ideas from GA will help inform our congregational life here.

We had three opportunities to join in worthy demonstrations, one for the Earth, one for Darfur, and one for the immigrants who had been rounded up for deportation from Portland the week before. I only made it to one of them – there were always too many possibilities for how to spend our time. At the Witness for Earth Community rally, a speaker asked, “There are only 165,000 Unitarian Universalists – can we be expected to change the world?” And the resounding answer was “Yes!”

We heard presentations about Darfur, which reminded me of something that I don’t know if I shared with you, but I should have, since you are quite involved in an action I took this Spring. Essentially, the Financial advisors at headquarters tried very hard to persuade Fidelity Investments, where we have our Unitarian Universalist pension funds, to divest from holdings in the Sudan, in protest of the genocide in Darfur, and they were not getting anywhere. So, they asked the ministers to call in their concerns. First I made an inquiry call, and the respondent tried to assure me that the fund, which you and I have invested my pension in, had so little holdings in Sudan that it was hard to even tell. Later, with more information from the UUA, I called again and said this was not good enough and I divested completely by switching to other funds, putting my retirement, the fund which you contribute to each year, into Calvert and the Fidelity Balanced Fund. We are not supporting the genocide in any way as a congregation.

Our financial folks reported on the actions that they and the UU ministers had taken with Fidelity, and the consequences. While Fidelity denied being at all influenced by the Darfur issue, soon after we all made our phone calls, Fidelity announced that they had sold 91 % of their Sudan portfolio. The theme of this General Assembly was “Choices That Matter” and we as Unitarian Universalists try very hard to make good choices that promote and enrich our entire Earth community.

At General Assembly we heard about the continuing efforts of Unitarian Universalists to work to restore and rebuild the hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast, which we in this congregation have done. We raised over $65,000 for the Gulf Coast Relief Fund at one of our meetings. We also supported a local project, as we do each year at General Assembly, and this year it was the Village Gardens, which include organic gardens in public housing projects in Portland, and much other work. The final collection for Village Gardens was made at our last worship service, so I don’t know the amount, but I assume it would have met their goal of being able to add a new public housing project garden with the funds.

Every year we vote on one major resolution that is called a “Statement of Conscience”. This year we passed “Moral Values for a Pluralistic Society”. The language and particulars of it were debated, but the overall idea that we should go forward working for our moral values in the larger society was not in contention, and it passed. Our ongoing advocacy will be informed by this one as it was by last year’s one about the “Threat of Global Warming”. And we will continue the study action issue from last year on “Peacemaking”, that will eventually become a Statement of Conscience.

We also worked on Actions of Immediate Witness – making 6 resolutions that speak to very current issues for which we want to take a stand. This year, we voted to work to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, to support immigrant families, to support comprehensive sexuality education at home and abroad, to stop U.S. Sponsored Torture, and to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, particularly with Transgender Inclusion and Protection. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but also the support of the Association. There’s one more Action of Immediate Witness that garnered a great deal of conversation which I want to share with you in a little more depth.

We passed the “Repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, which is against a military policy that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. While no one wanted discrimination, some UUs were concerned that this would expose people to more harassment and abuse if we did not first have a clear federal policy against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Others worried that race and class issues also needed to be dealt with, as well as militarism, and this resolution didn’t cover it all. On the other side, someone noted that barriers torn down at the military level very much affects the rest of society. The most poignant witness came from a Navy woman who had been in the briefing room at the Pentagon on September 11^th, when seven of her colleagues were killed. She knew that if she had been killed or injured severely, no one would have contacted her female partner, since she was not allowed to tell that part of her life. We will work on this and all the Actions of Immediate Witness as an association and through our congregations.

We also passed a few “responsive resolutions” that are relatively new and really became immediately over-used. (Last year there was one; this year six!) They were even quicker than the Actions of Immediate Witness and were in response to reports from our President, Bill Sinkford, and others, asking for us to go forward in our congregations in certain ways. There were too many suggestions, I thought. There is no end to what we think we need to work on!

This year we tried a process called “Open Space Technology” to brainstorm on the mission of the UUA from the bottom up, taking in the perspectives of the many. I only attended this a short time, whereas many went to several sessions, so I cannot report on it much – only that the UU Board is trying to be clear about their openness to listen directly to us for their direction.

We heard great speakers – I listened to David Korten talk about the Great Turning; Riane Eisler discuss her new book, The Real Wealth of Nation;, and Kathleen Norris talk about a vocabulary of faith. Some folks got to hear Robert Fulghum, whose lecture was so oversubscribed that they had to move hundreds of people out into the hallway. A huge draw was a panel on the Pentagon Papers, published originally by our own Beacon Press, and with Daniel Ellsberg and Amy Goodman. The biggest speaker event is always the Ware Lecture, and this year we heard from Professor Rashid Khalidi, who explained with an in-depth perspective what a mess we have contributed to in the Middle East. He is a historian of that region and worried about a new Cold War, between the United States and Iran.

I want to end with a few of my favorite quotes from the General Assembly, gathered here and there. The head of the Commission on Social Witness, Jan Carlsson-Bull, said, “I’m thinking with my mouth open, which is dangerous.” A young adult delegate, Petra Aldridge, who had a huge role in keeping us in right relationship, said that folks are always telling her that “the youth, or the young adults, are our future”, and she reminded us that they are our “present”. Our moderator, Gini Courter, said that we Unitarian Universalists “are beginning to learn to dream.” A youth prayed, “May this time bind us and set us free.” An African American minister, Hope Johnson, asked us to notice and give up our “otherings”. She claimed we would find “joy in staying bodaciously in the struggle for wholeness.”

So may it be.