2008 GA Memo
James Snell
Let me begin by saying that I cannot adequately share my experiences from GA by memo. So, I’ve simply highlighted a few things here. In general, I left inspired to work harder to incorporate our UU values into my daily life and into my family’s. I would be happy to testify any time!
- The most significant conclusion I reached at GA was that we need to organize our YRUU group to attend GA in Salt Lake City. The Youth Caucus is the most disproportionately influential group at the Plenary sessions. The voice of the Youth might very well decide the outcome of the President’s election next year. Furthermore, I suspect that attendance at GA might do a lot to solidify the UU roots of our Youth before they take off into the World and become lost to the movement. There seems to be no history of our Church’s involvement in the Youth Caucus, but it seems like this would be a critical year to change that.
- The most sobering conclusion I reached at GA is that the Presidential election will likely be very close. Peter Morales has a sing-song slogan, glitzy materials, and organized supporters. And, anecdotally, delegates were impressed by him. Having said that, what I heard at the Candidates’ Forum from Morales disturbed me greatly. I think his approach to change would be to drop a bomb on Beacon Street and upset what is good about the organization. I know that Laurel believes, as he does, that significant changes are needed; but her temperament is much better suited to actually succeeding without breaking the institution apart. It really matters who wins, but it’s going to be trench warfare, not a walk in the park.
- The most valuable session I attended was the Appreciative Inquiry session conducted by the UUA Board of Trustees. The purpose of the session was to help the Board draft Ends statements for the UUA. I would highly recommend the use of this technique for discerning whether or not the desires of our Congregation are adequately reflected in our Board Ends statements.
- The Unity Church of Oak Park, Illinois received a special award at one of the Plenary sessions. In their presentation, they said that a breakthrough moment was when they decided to give away EVERY plate offering to their community. They grew from 350 to 500 members in only 5 years! Martin Lavanhar from All Souls in Tulsa gave the sermon at Sunday worship. Awesome!!! In the sermon he challenged all congregations to give away EVERY plate offering. I thought when we moved in that direction and decided to give away one per month we should have gone all the way. I still think so. I visited with Vera and Duane Dowell, who attend Oak Park; they were supportive of this idea. I heard other church leaders talk about the fact that they receive more in the plates they give away, and there is no reduction in giving otherwise. I strongly encourage us to go all the way with this effort!
- I was disappointed with “Theology of Immigration,” which I agreed to attend. It was 90% the Politics of Immigration and did not live up to the billing. No big takeaways. Because this issue has so much disagreement in the political sphere (which came out in the questions and answers at this session), what I think we have to do is focus on those places where our values conflict with the manner of enforcement. So, for example, the UUA has joined the Sanctuary Movement, as was reported by Bill Sinkford in his President’s report. Being in Texas, our congregation or the SAC, at least, might want to explore getting involved; see http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/24051.shtml
- I was also disappointed with “Governance as Holy Work.” This was put on by the Governance Working Group of the Board of Trustees of the UUA. It was really just a report on their progress in adopting Policy Governance. They failed to address “the Holy.” I talked briefly with Chuck Woolridge and promised to send him some thoughts on my own experience with the benefits of Policy Governance from my own experience on our Board. The Appreciative Inquiry session came much closer to addressing “Holy Work!”
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