63^rd UUA General Assembly (GA) 

Love Unites, Stories Ignite

Virtual Only, June 20-23, 2024

General Assembly (GA) is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Participants worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. In a world filled with division and challenges, the theme for this year’s General Assembly is a powerful reminder of the core principles that unite us as Unitarian Universalists. “Love Unites, Stories Ignite” celebrates the profound impact of love as a binding force that transcends boundaries and fosters connections within our faith community and beyond. Our faith has always been rooted in the power of storytelling, and this year we’ll explore how our stories can ignite change, inspire compassion, and help us build a more just and equitable world. Through storytelling, we share our experiences, our dreams, our struggles, and our triumphs. It is through these stories that we can find common ground, deepening our understanding of one another and the world around us. Anyone could attend; congregations must certify annually to have voting delegates. CVUUS completed this process and selected delegates Tom Morgan, Brett Millier and Poppy Rees. More at https://www.uua.org/ga. Watch an exciting intro video there, register (reduced rates before March 15), and see the program and items discussed and voted on including the final version of the proposed revision to Article II of the UUA Bylaws which was adopted.

BACKGROUND: Click here to hear a March 2024 message from Rev. Tricia preparing us for this.

Are you curious, or apprehensive, or excited about the ongoing UUA initiative to update “Article 2” of our UUA bylaws?  (Do you know why the UUA Bylaws might matter, to you?)

Article 2 of the UUA Bylaws is where our UU Principles are found.  You can remember what the principles say at https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/principles and newsletter cover.  Many of us (including me) cite these seven principles as one reason we chose to become UU.  So, they matter!

The UU Principles are strong statements highlighting the centrality of our faithful commitments to respect life and all of humanity; to the truth that everyone, everywhere, has a right to justice, freedom, equity, compassion and peace.  They affirm the “interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”  An 8^th Principle was proposed a few years ago as a commitment to build Beloved Community, as our congregations “accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”  Several hundred congregations have so far voted to adopt the 8^th Principle in their own legal documents, including CVUUS.

Here’s what’s happening now: the very same UUA Bylaws that contain the Principles also call on us to review those Principles and Purposes and Sources (all of Article 2) at least every 15 years.  The wise founders of the UUA knew life does not stay the same – ideas shift, cultures modernize, and world events affect all of us, and our planet.  The statement of our core principles needs to reflect what matters most to Unitarian Universalists, today.  Sometimes, that means they need to change.

An Article 2 Commission has been working for years on a revision of our principles, with lots of feedback from UUs everywhere.  The goal is make them more inclusive of different generations and backgrounds; more focused on our lives not just as individuals but our life in community.   The central ideas of all the current UU Principles are incorporated into in a simple, beautiful design, with Love at the center.  I think you’ll come to like it as much as I do.