The Dangers of Overly Aggressive UUA Reform

I'm really surprised at the negative attitudes being expressed by some bloggers about the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) on Chalicechick's blog.

I do hope that someone will sift through the reasonable and constructive reforms that are embedded on this blog along with the extreme and potentially destructive reforms being offered.

This concentration of negative complaints about the UUA staff, General Assembly, UUA social justice work, UUA Washington Office, etc is something that I've only observed in online forums and blogs. I haven't seen that in live face-to-face settings with Unitarian Universalists. This appears to be an internet-only phenomenon that isn't sustainable in non-internet settings.

I suspect that we're seeing a group of like-minded Unitarian Universalists forming an "echo chamber" online.

Wikipedia has a good explanation for the "echo chamber" metaphor:

Metaphorically, the term echo chamber can refer to any situation in which information or ideas are amplified by transmission inside an enclosed space.

For example, observers of journalism in the mass media describe an echo chamber effect in media discourse. One purveyor of information will make a claim, which many like-minded people then repeat, overhear, and repeat again (often in an exaggerated or otherwise distorted form) until most people assume that some extreme variation of the story is true.

There's an object lesson about the dangers of overly aggressive reform for Unitarian Universalists in our denominational history. It can be found in the transition from Liberal Religious Youth (LRY) to Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) in the 1970s and 1980s. This history example comes to us from Lela Sinha:

The life and death of LRY has a lot to teach. Obviously, the clearest lessons are to those of us in the denomination, but other organizations may face similar problems.

Situation: One of the most unfortunate side effects of the vilification of LRY by the UUA was that the new youth organization (YRUU) ended up reinventing the wheel a lot. When LRY was dismantled, most of the experience and materials produced over its 30 year tenure were lost or stored in unlabeled, unsorted file drawers. It was a tragic waste of time and experience. In addition, YRUU youth are rarely encouraged to seek guidance from LRY alumni in their congregations. Every time a new group has gotten started, the youth have had to find training from nearby groups, the UUA, or their own instincts.

Lesson: Any person or organization which is undergoing radical and painful change will probably be tempted to walk away and not look back. Some people say goodbye like that. For organizations, the transition time is a time of grave vulnerability, so the organization has a definite interest in keeping the transition as short as possible. Unfortunately, as in the case of LRY and the UUA, that kind of abrupt change can cause grief and hard feelings that will ultimately make the transition-incurred weakness last much longer.

That temptation to walk away can also lead one to repeat history and reinvent the wheel. A "clean" cut often leaves a mess behind: lack of materials, experience, and institutional memory. If there are existing program materials, for example, they need not be lost simply because the entity which produced them has fallen from grace. For LRY and YRUU this would have meant keeping the publications and experienced alumni available for incoming youth; for a church this may mean keeping old hymnals; for a school with a problem teacher it could mean firing the teacher but teaching some of her popular and creative teaching techniques to other teachers.

Bureaucratic or institutional memory is like plumbing, electricity, and other "infrastructures" that support organizations. The Unitarian Universalist Association is part of that infrastructure that many congregational leaders regularly use and depend on for congregational work. We expect it to be there ... something that we can always assume will be there. An overly aggressive restructuring of any organization can result in a fatal disruption of these resources.

And that is why I'm fearful about the overly aggressive UUA reform proposals.

Reform for the "Reformers"

Recently, Chalicechick has started a discussion on her blog about how we can "fix the UUA."

My suggestion for this "reformation" within the Unitarian Universalist Association is the addressed to the reformers who have provided suggestions for reform on Chalicechick's web site:

Anyone who wishes to reform the UUA needs to study the applicable bylaws, rules, and other procedural guidance relevant to the proposed reform first.

Previous reform traditions within the Protestant tradition that gave birth to Unitarianism, Universalism, and Unitarian Universalism involved scholarship and informed criticism. For example, Martin Luther was known as a scholar and educator within Catholicism before the Protestant Reformation. His criticisms were based on study and were not impulsive "shoot from the hip" suggestions.

For example, at least two suggestions for "reform" are already in place as current UUA procedures:

Actions of Immediate Witness should require a 66% vote

The UUA as a loose confederacy of churches

A quick glance at the UUA bylaws on the uua.org web site would have informed the reformer making the proposal that the "new reform" was existing procedure.

Additionally, during the comments to these discussions, various statements have popped up like "[General Assembly delegates'] power to set the agenda for everyone shouldn't be absolute."

In fact, the current business procedures for General Assembly resolutions currently require congregational inputs for setting the agenda. Anyone who wants to "reform" the current social justice business procedure should read "Social Witness Process Overview" on the UUA web site first along with the applicable bylaws that address this process. The power to set the General Assembly agenda is shared between local congregations working at home and the delegates that local congregations send to General Assembly to represent them.

So ... please do a bit of research before proposing reform ideas.

Thank you.

Interim Report of the Ft. Worth GA Special Review Commission

The Interim Report of the Ft. Worth GA Special Review Commission is now available online. This report will require Adobe Acrobat Reader Software for viewing.

This report is a last-minute addition to the UUA Board January 2006 meeting pre-packet. The entire pre-packet contents can be found online here.

Six Wise Blind Elephants

This joke is attributed to the prolific writer Anonymous. I found it while researching readings about Buddhism for a high school religious education class in my congregation:

Six wise, blind elephants were discussing what humans were like. Failing to agree, they decided to determine what humans were like by direct experience.

The first wise, blind elephant felt the human, and declared, "Humans are flat."

The other wise, blind elephants, after similarly feeling the human, agreed.

This joke parodies the Hindu parable about the six blind men and the elephant.

I'm thinking that there may a lesson from this joke that we can use when exploring world religions as Unitarian Universalists.

Like the blind elephants, we may accidentally transform and even distort another's religion into a form wildly different from the original through our exploration.

Sundown Towns - New Book by James Loewen

For those who are fans of the Unitarian Universalist Historian - Sociologist James Loewen and his books on US History (Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong and Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong), he's got a new book out.

It's called Sundown Towns: a Hidden Dimension of Racism in America and here's the book summary from the author's web site:

From Maine to California, thousands of communities kept out African Americans (or sometimes Chinese Americans, Jewish Americans, etc.) by force, law, or custom. These communities are sometimes called "sundown towns" because some of them posted signs at their city limits reading, typically, "Nigger, Don't Let The Sun Go Down On You In ___." Some towns are still all white on purpose. Their chilling stories have been joined more recently by the many elite (and some not so elite) suburbs like Grosse Pointe, MI, or Edina, MN, that have excluded nonwhites by "kinder gentler means." When I began this research, I expected to find about 10 sundown towns in Illinois (my home state) and perhaps 50 across the country. Instead, I have found more than 440 in Illinois and thousands across the United States. This is their story; it is the first book ever written on the topic.

More on this topic can be found online in this Wikipedia article on Sundown Towns:

Sundown town
Sundown towns were towns and cities in the United States where non-whites were systematically excluded from living. They became common in America in the late 19th century. Sundown towns existed throughout the nation, but more often were located in the northern states that were not pre-Civil War slave states.

In some cases, signs were placed at the towns border with statements similar to the one posted in Hawthorne, California which read "Nigger, Don't Let The Sun Set On YOU In Hawthorne" in the 1930s.

In addition to the expulsion of African-Americans from many small towns, Chinese-Americans were driven out of towns where they lived. In one example, in 1870, Chinese made up one-third of the population of Idaho. Following a wave of violence and a 1886 anti-Chinese convention in Boise, almost none remained by 1910. The town of Gardnerville, Nevada blew a whistle at 6 PM daily alerting Native Americans to leave by sundown.

In addition, Jews were excluded from living in some sundown towns.

In some cases, the exclusion was official town policy. In others, the racist policy was enforced through intimidation. This intimidation could occur in a number of ways, including harassment by law enforcement officers.

Though no one knows the number of sundown towns in the United States, the largest attempt made to determine how common they were estimated that there are several thousand towns throughout the nation.

Sundown towns included (the below refer to historic sundown towns, not necessarily current ones. Also note that all Illinois towns below, unless specifically noted otherwise, have been confirmed as sundown towns by scholar James Loewen):

• Anna, Illinois
• Pana, Illinois
• Ashland, Illinois
• Casey, Illinois
• Virden, Illinois
• Pekin, Illinois
• Cicero, Illinois
• Vienna, Illinois
• Berwyn, Illinois
• Pinckneyville, Illinois
• West Frankfort, Illinois
• Edina, Minnesota
• Myakka City, Florida
• Kennewick, Washington
• Vidor, Texas
• Darien, Connecticut
• Cullman, Alabama
• Arab, Alabama

One of the more famous towns on this list is Darien, Connecticut which is prominently featured in the film Gentlemen's Agreement.

"Six Feet Under" for Church Professionals and Their Families

The Book of Daniel is worth checking out.

You've got the drug-using artistic younger daughter who's struggling to find her identity (just like Claire).

You've got the son who has a family that is struggling with his sexual orientation (just like David).

And at least one character talks to a dead person repeatedly throughout the show.

And it's pissed off conservative Christians:

Book of Daniel Continues to Spark Criticism and Reaction
(AgapePress) - An official with the American Family Association says concerns about possible anti-Christian messages in a new NBC series are warranted. The hour-long drama The Book of Daniel, scheduled to kick off this evening (Friday, Jan. 6), is touted by the network as edgy" and "challenging." Critics, however, disagree -- some saying it "mocks" Christianity, others saying that it deals with religious subjects in an offensive manner. The show's main characters include Daniel Webster, who is a drug-addicted Episcopal priest, as well as his alcoholic wife, his homosexual son, his drug-dealing daughter, and his lesbian secretary, who has a romantic relationship with his sister-in-law. Also, there is Daniel's Chinese adopted teenage son who is dating a female bishop's daughter, and -- perhaps the most controversial character of all -- a white-robed, long-haired and bearded "Jesus" who appears to Daniel and holds discussions with him, often openly challenging contemporary interpretations of church teachings. While the Los Angeles Times reports that some Episcopal priests say the program "offers a refreshingly candid portrayal" of religious leaders and are encouraging their church congregations to watch the program, one pro-family researcher who was among a group of clergy invited to screen several episodes of the program earlier this week at the NBC affiliate in Memphis sees few positives. Ed Vitagliano, director of research for the American Family Association and news editor of AFA Journal, says concerns about the series, which he says mocks Christianity, were not unfounded. "The show is written by a non-Christian, but it's written about Christians that people are not going to recognize," says Vitagliano. "I don't know anybody this dysfunctional in my over 20 years of ministry."

Gee ... I didn't know the idea that Christians are humans with real problems was blasphemy.

In Memoriam: The Rev. Dr. Frank Schulman

Rev. Frank Schulman was a regular guest speaker at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana between 2000 and 2004 when we were without ordained clergy.

This obituary annoucement comes from the UUA-L press release announcement list:

The Unitarian Universalist Association announces with sadness the death of the Reverend Dr. Jacob Frank Schulman on January 4, 2006 from cancer. He was 78 years of age.

Dr. Schulman was born March 26, 1927 in Nashville, Tennessee. He had an outstanding academic life with degrees from the following institutions: B.A. - University of Oklahoma; S.T.B. - Harvard University; D.Min. and D.D. - Meadville Lombard Theological School; M.A., D.Phil.,B.D. - University of Oxford.

Mr. Schulman was ordained in the Unitarian ministry in 1954 at the Arlington Street Church, Boston, Massachusetts. He served many congregations: Arlington Street Church, Boston; First Unitarian Church, Worcester, Mass.; First Unitarian Church, Youngstown, Ohio; Emerson Unitarian Church, Houston, Texas; Unitarian Church of Horsham, West Sussex, England; and Huntsville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Texas. His last position before retirement was as Chaplain and Dean and Fellow in Theology at the Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford. Mr. Schulman was also named Minister Emeritus at Emerson Unitarian Church of Houston and at All Souls Church Unitarian Universalist, The Woodlands, Texas.

Frank Schulman was a prolific writer of books, pamphlets, and articles on topics from "Blasphemous and Wicked: The Unitarian Struggle for Equality, 1813-1844" (1997) to the pamphlet he edited, "Ralph Waldo Emerson Speaks." In addition, he was a sought-after lecturer, delivering the Berry Street Lecture (1981); the Minns Lecture (1982); and the Billings Lecture (1983). Mr. Schulman also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and the Korean War.

On learning of Frank Schulman's death, UUA leaders reacted with sadness and deep appreciation for his ministry. The Rev. William G. Sinkford, UUA President said, "I will miss Frank's presence so much. His scholarship, his wisdom about ministry and his commitment to our faith have nurtured me deeply in recent years. I will miss these gifts greatly. But I will grieve the passing on of a truly good human being. Like so many, I have lost a friend." The Rev. David P. Hubner, Director of the Ministry and Professional Leadership Staff Group said, "We, the Rev. Dr. Frank Schulman's colleagues at the UUA and in our wider ministry, are keenly aware of what we have lost at his passing. He was not only a great minister to the many he served, but was to many of us a model of what a strong, dedicated, and engaged ministry should look like. His ministry was, and will remain, an inspiration to us. We feel the deepest gratitude for his life and ministry to us all and know that his example will live on for us." Kay Montgomery, UUA Executive Vice President said, "Frank Schulman used to intimidate me: so smart, so formal, so disciplined. But it didn't take long in his company to experience his warmth, his humor, his authentic devotion to our faith. He's left a big mark on Unitarian Universalism and will be sorely missed."

Frank Schulman is survived by his wife of 52 years, Alice Southworth Schulman, and three grown children. A daughter predeceased him. A celebration of Frank Schulman's life will be held on Sunday, January 8, 2006 at 2PM CST, at Emerson Unitarian Church in Houston. The Reverends Terry Sweetser, Rebecca Edmiston-Lange, and Mark Edmiston-Lange will conduct the service.

Theology of Contemporary Unitarian Universalist Worship

On the Unitarian Universalist Association's Young Adult and Campus Ministry (YA/CM) web site, there's a portion of the web site dedicated to "contemporary worship." In this portion of the web site, Elisabeth Frauzel Bailey (2005 Meadville-Lombard graduate) has written a paper titled "Cresting From The Ocean: Creating Profound Worship."

Here's a summary of the paper from the YA/CM web site:

"In this paper, Elisabeth Bailey gives a theological basis to challenge what she calls 'minister-dominated, boring worship.' She then goes on (beginning on pager 9) to give some fairly concrete tips about how to design an embodied, spiritual, meaningful, community-centered worship experience. Elisabeth, our former Canada Regional Organizing Consultant, and a 2005 graduate of the Meadville-Lombard Theological School, calls on all of our congregations to make worship a community practice, and not something we endure to get to what really brings us together as a community.

One section from this paper captures the fundamental disconnect between children and youth in the RE wing and the adults in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings:

I believe that part of the answer to this question lies, ironically, in our noncreedalism. In a culture of religions that ostensibly define themselves by belief, UUs tend to cling a little obsessively to certain aspects of the religious tradition that ground them and help us be defined as the church. Famous historical figures such as the transcendentalists serve this purpose well—especially since a UU can say, “you know… Emerson and Thoreau,” and be generally understood. But I think that worship form also serves this legitimizing function. Because if on Sunday morning we have a prelude and a postlude and sing hymns and sit down facing a minister who’s behind a pulpit and might even have a robe on… well, that’s definitely a church, then! (The coffee afterwards helps, too.)

And yet this form clashes terribly with the beliefs that are represented in the pews. I know many adults who would be incensed to hear that their children’s RE classes were taught in a largely lecture style, yet will themselves sit in worship, reflecting individually on their spirituality while pretending that they are listening and/or know how to read music. In the meantime, a sacred opportunity for profound connection is lost.

To read this paper, you will need Adobe Acrobat or other PDF reader software.

Download Acrobat here.

Adrastos -- Friend's Blog About Post-Katrina New Orleans

A New Orleans family friend has started blogging about his family's post-Katrina experiences as the city rebuilds:

Adrastos -- Politics, Life & Culture (or what passes for it) in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Implicit and Explicit Theologies - Part II

This post is in response to the discussion on Philocrites about Unitarian Universalist theology ("A religion still seeking definition").

As a religious educator who is familiar with Maria Harris' book Fashion Me a People and the related UU essays on current and future trends in religious education found in The Essex Conversations, I really think we need to look at our "implicit curriculum" if we are serious about theology in our congregations.

Our "implicit" or "hidden" curriculum is very close to the unstated theological assumptions behind the way that Unitarian Universalists currently "do church." While complaining about the lack of theology in UU churches, we overlook the existing "theology" that's currently in use every day in our congregations.

The complaints about modern-day Unitarian Universalism lacking a well-formed and articulated theology may be really be complaints about an explicit theology. To me, this is related to the concept of "explicit curriculum":

"Explicit curriculum refers to what is consciously and intentionally presented. It is the official curriculum, or written curriculum, which gives the basic lesson plan to be followed, including objectives, sequence, and materials, what is taught by the teacher, methods used and the learning outcomes for the student."

Contrast this idea with the concepts of "implict curriculum" and "null curriculum":

"Implicit (hidden) curriculum includes the norms and values of the surrounding society, the setting in which the learning occurs (including the decoration and set-up of the area), and the broader environment in which education occurs."

"Null curriculum consists of what is not taught. Consideration must be given to the reasons behind why things are not included in the explicit curriculum or recognized in examination of the implicit curriculum."

Extending these concepts of "explicit," "implicit," and "null" to our theologies, I think we can find some theological questions. We may find some theological history and even some current-day theology being practiced in how we run our churches.

1. What topics fall into our "null theology" (topics that we avoid in our pulpits and religious education settings)? What does this "null theology" say about us?
2. In terms of implicit theology, what is our implicit theology (or theologies) in how we view the nature of god and humanity and the relationship between god and humanity?
3. As an implicit theology, what is our "ecclesiology"? How do we define who is and isn't a member? How do we decide matters in our governance? Where does authority reside in our tradition?
4. What is our implicit theology of "soteriology"? Do we even have a theology of salvation in modern-day Unitarian Universalism? What does salvation mean for those Unitarian Universalists who are not Christian and are non-theists?
5. What is our implicit "missiology"? How do we interact with folks who are currently not in our faith tradition?
6. What is our implicit "eschatology"? What do expect to find as the "final destiny" or "end state" in our tradition?
7. Finally, what is our implicit "pneumatology"?

Well ... that's plenty for now. Go discuss.

A Religion Still Seeking Definition -- Explicit and Implicit Theology

On Chris Walton's Philocrites blog (commentary on "Unitarian Universalism, liberal Christianity, American religion, and liberal culture"), there's been an extensive discussion on whether Untarian Universalism has a "religious definition" or "theological core." This discussion can be found here:

A religion still seeking definition

One part of this discussion that is missing is the role of implicit theology. We may not have a shared creed or a shared confession of faith, but we may have an implicit theology that is defined by shared assumptions.

In 2002, Rev. Rebecca Parker spoke at the Liberal Religious Educators' Fall Conference on "theology of religious education." Two useful summaries of Rebecca's theme talk can be found online here:

• Unitarian Universalist Identity (UU Young Adult Curriculum - see pages 19 - 28 of this PDF document written by Katie Erslev, UU Religious Educator, UU Fellowship of Lafayette CO)
• The Theology of Religious Education (Summary notes from 2002 Fall Conference - PDF file written by Laurel Amabile, Lifespan RE Consultant, Thomas Jefferson District - UUA)

And you may be able to borrow a copy of the audiotapes of this theme talk from your congregation's religious educator if you want more than just the summary information.

One other online writer has commented on what we share in common in terms of theology and culture:

Children of a Different Tribe (Sharon Hwang Colligan's observations on UU young adult developmental issues)

One section of Sharon's paper talks about Unitarian Univeralists as a "recognizable people" with a shared culture (and perhaps a shared implicit theology):

A recognizable people

Until we acknowledge, describe, and make explicit our implicit theology and shared culture, we will have a very hard time seeking and finding our religious definition.

Unitarian Universalists and Theology - Layperson Responsibilities?

Recently, I've read a bunch of blog and other online commentary on Unitarian Universalist theology:

• Do UUs have theological common ground? (UU World Magazine article)
• Engaging Our Theological Diversity (UUA Commission on Appraisal Report)
• A religion still seeking definition (Blog commentary)
• Ministers as Public Theologians (Blog commentary)

The question I would ask about all of this: What responsibility do laypersons living in local UU congregations and other UU religious communities have in developing a shared UU theology?

Should we expect professional "public theologians" do this work for laypeople?

Should we expect the religious professionals in our congregations (ministers and non-ordained professional religious educators) to do this work for laypeople?

Writing as a "mostly layperson" (who is a "paid religious professional" for 1-2 training weekend workshops each year), I think we should we be asking ourselves about what our responsibility as laypeople is in jump-starting a theological dialogue.

We can't realistically expecting our over-worked and under-paid congregational ministers and religious educators to jump-start this dialogue for us. Otherwise, we will find ourselves sliding into a consumer's attitude where we expect our paid professionals to provide us with our theology pre-chewed and pre-digested for us in this passive consumer role.

If we want to move ourselves out of this role as passive consumers of religious services, we need to acknowledge that laypeople have an essential role in this theological discussion if we want the discussion to be "deeper and wider" than the current discussion currently is.

We need to do more than passively waiting for "someone" to deliver better preaching and better academic theology to us.

Rather than expecting us to be a passive consumer of religion where the minister delivering the sermon is a form of Sunday morning "entertainment," we need to re-image how we view our clergy where the communication between clergy and layperson is much more interactive.

Instead of the commonly experienced metaphor of "minister = Sunday religious entertainment" and "layperson = passive consumer of religious services," we need a different metaphor. I have some suggestions:

• "minister = coach or trainer" and "layperson = theological athlete"
• "minister = ballet teacher" and "layperson = dance student"
• "minister = writing teacher or editor" and "layperson = writer"

Perhaps you have some suggestions for how we should re-image this interaction between clergy and laity as well?

Pathways Church Funding Cutbacks

Today, while checking out UU blogs, I read that the Unitarian Universalist Association's large church startup project in the Dallas-Ft. Worth TX area (Pathways UU Church) is experiencing financial difficulties and has not met the planned growth goals.

Details about this can be found online here in this 21 October 2005 letter from Rev. Laurel Hallman (Senior Minister, First Unitarian Church of Dallas TX). The letter requires Adobe Acrobat or other PDF viewer software. Some excerpts from Laurel's letter are printed below:

The church was formed in the recognition that our usual methods of starting churches have been self-limiting. We had a vision of planting a church which would have the resources to grow quickly as many other denominations (and non-denominational churches) have done.

The DFW area had all the right elements: entrepreneurial UU donors in the First Unitarian Church of Dallas who were willing to underwrite most of the projected $1 million budget; NTAUUS, the North Texas Association of UU Societies which was willing to purchase and hold land for the future of the congregation; the willingness of the UUA Administration to contribute the remainder of the money needed from the UUA Capital Campaign monies; the conservative religious climate in Texas which challenged us as religious progressives to come out, gather together, and to be bold in our faith.

Since this had never been done before within our denomination, we knew that much of the wisdom and practical skills for such a project would have to come from sources outside our usual circles. A donor in First Church gave money to provide for training in "planting" such a large church start. UUA and Pathways staff attended a United Methodist conference on large church life that included visits to the six large United Methodist congregations in the Houston area to observe and analyze best practices. We contracted with the Texas-based Easum, Bandy Associates, a consulting firm specializing in church growth, that included extensive on-site consultations with Tom Bandy at Pathways.

We formed a local search committee that carefully researched many of the large churches in the DFW area to glean the qualities necessary for the minister of such a church. After interviewing several very good candidates, the committee was excited to choose Anthony David, who had the tenacity, entrepreneurial spirit, and excitement we believed would make this experiment a success. He accepted the challenge and moved to Keller with his family to plunge into the process of learning "church planting."

The plan was to spend a year preparing the staff and programs for the church and provide enough publicity to gather 300 people at the first service. While the first public Sunday worship service on September 19, 2004 had an attendance of 140, we knew that the UUA Media Campaign that was being tested in Kansas City and Houston would be coming to Dallas/Ft. Worth within the year, and so missing that first goal did not seem as important as the enthusiasm generated on that Sunday.

Despite this planning and enthusiasm, however, we must regrettably report that Pathways has not grown as rapidly as we all had hoped. After more than a year of public worship, Pathways has 71 members. At current spending levels, the UUA's financial commitment to Pathways would be completed in a matter of months.

Due to these circumstances, Pathways leadership needs to adjust staffing and expenditures to match the reality of their current size in the near term. This adjustment will not be easy, but the Pathways vision is strong, and the church will continue to bring Unitarian Universalism to an unserved part of the Dallas/Ft.Worth region. With 71 members and 110 average attendance at worship, Pathways has a pledge base of $110,000, with an average pledge of $2,600 per pledge unit. They have a strong membership and a committed board, and they remain undaunted. It is our sincere hope that Pathways will continue to grow even if at a less strenuous pace. The Dallas/Ft. Worth UU Churches have just enjoyed a significant media campaign as part of the Metroplex Growth Strategy which was funded by NTAUUS and the UUA Capital Campaign. All the UU Churches in the DFW Metroplex area are "coming out" in significant ways and we hope that Pathways, in spite of their current task of reorganization, will also be able to enjoy the benefits of that campaign.

We are disappointed that we could not achieve our goals for a large church at Pathways. But we have learned much from the Pathways experiment, learnings that we are already using. We have learned that we need to have more experience embedded in the new congregation and available to church leadership right from the start; that the new congregation needs to have a close and clear relationship with a mentor congregation for guidance; that all understandings, financial and otherwise, between the new congregation and the UUA must be in writing; and that there must be clear benchmarks for progress reported to and analyzed by the mentor congregation and the UUA. At the same time, Pathways has much to teach the rest of us about the process of planting a church, including "start small and slow to grow big fast." These lessons were hard-learned, but they will serve us well in the future.

The UUA Board of Trustees has requested an independent review of the Pathways effort, and an independent committee will submit a report by April, 2006. We did not want to wait, however, until that report was received to inform you of the situation at Pathways.

Our disappointment that the Pathways experiment did not result in the outcome we dreamed of must not distract us from our mission to grow Unitarian Universalism. Pathways has been a bold undertaking by some brave and generous UUs who have done the best they could. Pathways will continue to do good ministry where our voice so desperately needs to be heard. In addition, the skills and experience gained at Pathways are being applied as we support the next large church plant which has emerged from the Mainline UU Congregation in Devon, Pennsylvania. We may have fallen short of our immediate goals with Pathways, but what we have learned will be invaluable as we continue our efforts to grow Unitarian Universalist churches.

So ... it appears that we have some feedback on the "church planting" process and metroplex growth strategies for Unitarian Universalism.

Last June, Mary McIntosh and I trained several members from Pathways to be Our Whole Lives (OWL) Grades 7-9/10-12 facilitators (OWL is the lifespan comprehensive sexuality education program jointly developed by the UUA and the United Church of Christ). Pathways wanted to use OWL as a way to provide outreach and ministry to the wider DFW community. I hope that they still have the resources to provide OWL as part of their ministry.

Good luck to Pathways as they plan they future with these cutbacks to funding and paid ministry.

More information on UUA metroplex growth strategies can be found online here:

Growing UUism: Regional Strategies and New Congregation Formation - Overview: Regional/Metro Strategies 1999-2005 (October 2005)

Does Roe v. Wade Still Matter?

Check out the excellent PBS Frontline documentary, The Last Abortion Clinic (Tuesday - 8 November 2005 - 9:00 PM EST/8:00 PM CST - check your local listings for confirmation).

Here's a quote from the PBS Frontline web site:

"Recent news coverage has focused on the new Roberts Supreme Court and how its decisions might affect abortion -- an issue that has divided the country for decades. Later this month, the Court will take up its first major abortion case in five years: Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.

But while the spotlight has been on Washington, there is an equally significant story playing out in local communities. Pro-life advocates have been successfully spearheading campaigns in states throughout the country to pass laws that regulate and limit access to abortion.

According to one abortion provider in the South, who prefers to remain anonymous: 'The assault on abortion rights is very clever. It's very smart. And we are losing.'"

This documentary is freely available as streaming video on the PBS web site tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 PM EST.

It's also available for purchase on VHS or DVD as well.

Reinforcing Feedback Between Racism and Classism - "The Other America" (Newsweek Article)

The following quote comes from the 19 September 2005 issue of Newsweek in the cover article titled "The Other America." It may be one possible explanation for incidents where interactions between different races and economic classes end up producing unintended outcomes:

Harvard's [Glenn C.] Loury argued in a 2002 book, The Anatomy of Racial Inequality, that it's this stereotyping and "racial stigma," more than overt racism, that helps hold blacks in poverty. Loury explains a destructive cycle of "self-reinforcing stereotypes" at school and work. A white employer, for instance, may make a judgment based on prior experience that the young black men he hires are likely to be absent or late for work. So he supervises them more closely. Resenting the scrutiny, the African-Americans figure that they're being disrespected for no good reason, so they might as well act out, which in turn reinforces their boss's stereotype. Everybody goes away angry.

This is just speculation on my part, but this "cycle of self-reinforcing stereotypes" may have been a factor in the closing ceremony incident and other race relations incidents at the 2005 Ft. Worth General Assembly.

Hurricane Katrina Updates - Southwest District (UUA)

Updates from the Southwest District (UUA) Hurricane Katrina update web page through 2 September 2005, 1250 CDT:

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[Message from David Wadleigh, Board Member - Community Church UU in New Orleans, 2 September 2005]

Thanks for the web resource pages to help us communicate.

CCUU has also set up a page at www.communitychurchuu.org/katrina.htm to help our members communicate and has an active emailing list
CCUU-NOLA-Members-Friends@yahoo.com set up as well. We are in touch with a number of our members by email, but of course many more are not known about.

Personally, I am in Dallas for the moment, and contemplating a return to Prairieville between Baton Rouge and New Orleans over the weekend. If the current news from New Orleans is reliable, it seems we may need donations of guns in order to go back near there.

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message from First Church New Orleans President:

Thank you so much for reaching out. My heart is so heavy. I just watched a video of our mayor's report and have been surfing the blogs looking for info on specific neighborhoods, mine and those of me peoples. I had my first meltdown cry my eyes out of the day.

For those who don't know I was already out of down in the DC area doing a training with a UU church in Arlington VA when the threat became real and personal to New Orleans. During the weekend most of my immediate kinfolk and many friends and neighbors and extended family members also evacuated. Eric Paul, nephew Josh, and sister Karen drove my car to sister Veleja's house in Newark, TX near Ft Worth. Kendra is up here at school in DC. As I am she is very concerned for home and friends and family but she is going to all of her classes and doing what her people want her to do..staying focused. I am proud of her as you already know if you know us. Also, Ann and Amelia, our Casa Panola housemates are in Memphis

Two immediate family members stayed behind..We still dont know where my father in law Bernard and brother in law Kermit are. The superdome? the high school? We cant reach sis in law Jerry who did evacuate because she only has a new orleans cell phone. none of them are working right now. I do have a california cell phone.. (email the team if you need it)... so I can be reached.

Our Reverend Marta has been using email to minister to our Church, First UU of NEw Orleans, to those of us who are able to connect. This is a comfort and gives me hope for being part of a collective effort to help and to heal.

The mayor is telling evacuees not to even attempt to come back yet. The airport is still under water and the only to roads into the city, which cross bodies of water to get there, are structurally questionable now..there may be no safe way to drive back in for sometime to come. At minimum it will be a week. But it could be more. much more time before we see home again, whatever shape it is in.

I am sitting so comfortably at the breakfast table ...I can only imagine what so many of my nieghbors throughout new orleans are going through. They are only just beginning to set up a temporary morgue for the dead, so many of whom are still in the waters that have not gone down...it seems that the pumps that do work pump the water back into the same body that it is spilling out of ...so it is more of a circulation system than a drainage system at this point. This seeing the devastation without any way to find out about our home or reach out and help those who are really suffering...It is hard. Tomorrow I am going to go to California to be with my sister LAurie. She could use some help with her small business and that will give me something to do to avoid this helpless feeling. The texas side of the family house is pretty full right with evacuees now so I will take shelter elswhere although I am missing Eric Paul and all the rest of them very seriously.

We suspect that my neice Jen and her hubby Jimmy's new house is completely under water. We suspect the same for my sis Karen's rented house. Our neighborhood is apparently spared that kind of flooding but we hear that there is much structural damage in our area from the winds...I live on a street canaped by magnificent live oaks and magnolas. Those beautiful trees may have wound up in side our houses, maybe not. There is no way to know yet.

please keep your thoughts and prayers with all of us who have been affected. much love
Jyaphia

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David Ord is heading back to LaCombe in a few hours – he feels he needs to be there at the parsonage on the church property to keep an eye on things and help his church members as they return. They have no electricity and no phone. David says he will only be able to communicate with us every few days when he heads back to Baton Rouge for a break. The only congregants that he knows the status of are those who were with him in his home as they rode out the storm. He appreciates our trying to help locate the displaced UU’s. David reports that Slidell , where half of his membership lives, is still underwater but the other areas are not, although they still have no electricity and may not have any for months. David hopes there is a good response to his request for help in covering the church building and clearing the property. He fears they will lose the entire building if something isn’t done soon. David also said to remind everyone who comes to help to bring fuel for their chainsaws – there is no gasoline available anywhere in the area. David is in good-spirits, although concerned, and will stay in touch as best he can.

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Dick Harris of the North Shore church left Mandeville on Sunday and is safe in Chattanooga.

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Baton Rouge
The news is reporting that Covington is without phone or cell service, as well as without electricity, water, etc. Steve Crump has tried and been unable to reach Jane Mauldin and family, who live in Covington.

North Shore (from Steve Crump)
NorthShore congregants took a direct hit --Mandeville, Madisonville, and Slidell. Slidell looks devastated from arial views---it's under water. I just spoke with Rev. David Ord's son who lives in Baton Rouge and is a student at LSU. David and his son survived the storm in the parish house and watched all the trees go down on the church yard and also saw most of the roof of the church blow off. Their immediate need will be to pull a tarp over their church somehow to secure it from more water damage.

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From Jim V., minister at Community in New Orleans: At this time, I am in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. I am working with the local Red Cross relief effort. Many refugees are here. I plan to return to NOLA, under Red Cross auspices, as quickly as this is possible. I have had limited contact with congregants. My assumption is the church is under water, and can only be reached by boat.

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From Rev. Steve Crump, minister in Baton Rouge: Rev. Jim VanderWeele of New Orleans Community Chruch is in Arkansas and is trying to get into New Orleans via the Red Cross. The Community Church building was probably hit the worse, though First Church members and North Shore members may be most affected individually. Marta Chase is safe in Dallas with her partner, trying to reach parishioners, her new residence is in a low part of the city. It will be some time before we hear anything.

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From Penny Ramsdell, Baton Rouge president: Thanks so much to all of your for your concern and offers of help. Our power went out about 5:30 a.m. and was just restored about half an hour ago. A huge tree came down and took out our back fence, and our place is literally blanketed with layers of branches and leaves--a massive cleanup job--but we're among the lucky. The church lost five big trees and has part of the parking lot blocked, but as far as we know no damage to the building, the circle window, the new electronic sign. No word about New Orleans and Northshore congregations.

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Susan Besse UU Fellowship of Lafayette: Thanks for inquiring about our safety during Hurricane Katrina - fortunately the storm did not come as far as our area of Louisiana, so we have sustained no damage - This Time! We still have a couple more months to weather our the hurricane season this year.

There are many refugees from the eastern part of the state that are abiding in our area in centers that we hope to be able to give some assistance to.

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Steve Crump tells us the church in Baton Rouge had a tree fall on the playground, but everything else there is fine. He is currently checking on members of the congregation.

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Hurricane Katrina Information - Southwest District (UUA)

The Southwest Unitarian Universalist Conference (aka "Southwest District" or "SWUUC") has set up a web page with information and links from Southwest District congregations.

You can find this page online here:

http://www.swuuc.org/hurricane.html

"Sex education helps save the world" (UU World Magazine Article)

In the Fall 2005 Issue of UU World, there's an article titled "Sex education helps save the world" by Cynthia Kuhn (a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University, and co-author of Buzzed: The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy. Cynthia is also an Our Whole Lives Grades 7-9 facilitator in her congregation).

Here's a short passage from Cynthia's article:

This year one of my owl students brought to class a book the public school had passed out. One of its "top ten reasons" why teens have sex was participation in sex-education classes. Another section stated that condoms do not halt the spread of HIV/AIDS or even effectively prevent pregnancy! In fact, as I had just been teaching my medical students, condoms are 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and significantly decrease the transmission of HIV when they are used properly, according to well-designed, peer-reviewed research studies. A colleague and I tried to get the local newspaper to address these falsehoods being taught in our schools but failed to spark any interest. We live in frightening times when scientific truth is suppressed in our public schools and forums.

Abstinence-only programs do not accomplish their goal of delaying sexual intercourse until marriage, According to a review of such programs in eleven states conducted by Advocates for Youth. Eighty-eight percent of young people in such programs have sex by the time they leave high school. And when they do have sex, they are less likely to use contraception and more likely to engage in dangerous sexual practices than children in programs that teach about contraception. The majority of scientists who specialize in children's health, as well as the American Medical Association, Planned Parenthood, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all endorsed comprehensive sexuality-education program -- programs that advocate abstinence for teens but also provide complete and accurate information about contraception and STDs. The OWL program epitomizes that approach.

UU parents should certainly feel proud that their kids, by participating in OWL, are the smartest kids on the block about these issues. But our responsibility doesn't stop at our church doors. Those of us with the expertise need to advocate for all kids, especially the ones who get only the little book about the ten reasons that teens have sex. We need to show up at school board meetings and talk to teachers, principals, and superintendents about curriculum, armed with facts. (Planned Parenthood, the National Institutes of Health, and Advocates for Youth all have excellent, up-to-date, and scientifically accurate information.) We need to bombard our state legislatures so that they can have the courage, as the state of California did, to turn down federal "abstinence-only" money and develop effective programs instead.

In our religious-education program we have a slogan: "Nothing less than saving the world." I believe that is exactly what we do with OWL. Our children can grow up to enjoy healthy relationships, have a sexual life without contracting disease, and bear their children when they are adults and not children themselves. Teaching our kids about safe, mutually respectful sexual behavior in the context of our value system, I believe, is indeed nothing less than saving the world.

And this is why Our Whole Lives and supporting other comprehensive sexuality education are so important in our congregations and our wider communities. We are offering salvation from those things that deny life or make life less whole. This is just one example of how Unitarian Universalism offers salvation to a world in need of salvation.

Closing Ceremony Incident Mentioned in Latest UU World Magazine

From the Fall 2005 issue of UU World magazine -- coverage of the closing ceremony incident at the 2005 Ft. Worth TX General Assembly:

While many of the injustices delegates considered this year could be thought to take place "out there," the Assembly ended in a way that reminded the UUA's Board of Trustees of unfinished business within the Association.

The morning after the Assembly adjourned, several youth leaders reported to the Board of Trustees that young people of color had experienced a series of demeaning and upsetting incidents throughout the week, including a heated confrontation with several white adults outside the arena during the closing ceremony. The Youth Caucus cancelled its intergenerational dance, which was scheduled to follow the closing ceremony, because many youth of color were meeting to discuss the incidents; Moderator Courter met with them.

In response to the youth report and other inquiries, the Board issued a letter on July 6 that said, "At General Assembly in Fort Worth, there were several incidents that reminded us that we have much work to do in our journey to becoming an antiracist, antioppressive, and multicultural association." The Board expressed "deep sadness and regret" for incidents involving "apparently disrespectful and racist treatment of our youth by Fort Worth officials," other incidents in which "white UUs assumed that UU youth of color were hotel service people and asked them to carry luggage or park cars," and an altercation during the Closing Ceremony in which "some UU youth of color were made to feel that they were not welcome."

The exact circumstances of some of the incidents are still unclear. The Board has formed a Special Review Commission, which expects to offer a more complete report on the incidents at its October meeting and a complete report in January. The Board vowed to provide "safe space to process issues and concerns around oppression and racism" at future General Assemblies.

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

The competing theories of Intelligent Design and Evolution now have a competitor.

Check out the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Blogger Spam, Part II

This morning Jesus Reyes suggested turning on the "word verification" feature provided by Blogger. This sounds like a good compromise between keeping spammers out and allowing folks to easily post to Blogger sites. Thanks for the suggestion.

This should allow folks to post without creating a Blogger account and still keep the "machine spammers" out (until the someone figures out how to create software with pattern recognition abilities).

Blogger Spam

We are taking a brief break due to technical difficulties.

I just got my first Blogger Spam today ... and I've just changed my settings to require that folks replying to my posts must have a Blogger user identity (freely available).

I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Thank you.

Anti-Racism Sermon by Dr. James T. Brown

While googling for Unitarian Universalist anti-racism resources, I found this sermon on anti-racism that was written by Dr. Brown back in July 1999. Dr. Brown was the Southwest District Executive for the UUA before his retirement.

A large part of his sermon revolves around difficulties that many have with the word "racism" and the multiple definitions being used. Here's a short section of his sermon commenting on denial surrounding the topic of racism:

The UUA's definition of racism: "racial prejudice plus power and privilege" unnecessarily complicates our understanding of U.S. racism.

Simply put, racism is the unquestioned, deeply held group belief that one "race" - in the U.S. it is the White race - is superior to all other races, and (this is vitally important) all the People of Color "races" are inferior. The second part is vital to our understanding, because the belief in white superiority is more than egocentric chauvinism (we are the best), it is inextricably coupled with the deeply held belief that people of color, as a group, (not necessarily as individuals) are inferior (they are not up to acceptable standards). This (superiority/inferiority beliefs) definition of racism is used by most social scientists currently involved in these discussions. These beliefs are inculcated in the psychics and souls of Americans from the day they are born, and for immigrant Americans, from their first exposure to American culture and media of all types.

I have only found two reactions to the above definition from American Whites. The first group fully agrees with the definition - the great majority. The second agrees that it is true "for some white people" but they, themselves, "don't see skin color" - everybody is equal. The evidence of denial on the part of those holding the second position is easily discernible. Their neighborhood, their friends, their doctor/lawyer, their spouse or partner, their church, their heroes or role models, their favorite performers, etc, etc, are all white. Since all white people more or less agree, in words or deeds, that they, as a group, share the superior/inferior belief, and that belief according to most social scientists, defines racism, then it is not untrue or unfair to say all whites are racist (I will accept 99.9% if you simply cannot accept absolutes).

I must add that being a racist, that is, a believer in the white/POC superiority/inferiority dichotomy, is not a "sin"; original or otherwise. I call it an American cultural phenomenon. The "sins" of racism are the negative and oppressive behaviors and disparate acts perpetrated against people of color, by Whites, sometimes unwittingly, based upon their racism belief. It is the behaviors and acts committed that violate moral law and the UU's first principle, not just the existence of the belief. The evil of racism (the superior/inferior belief) is that it shapes all of America's institutions and their policies, and either consciously or unconsciously determines the behaviors of whites and POC's (POC internalized racism). The disparate treatment of POC's in the workplace, in financial institutions, in churches, in schools and colleges, in social and service organizations, in health care, in the insurance industry, and in retail establishments provide all the evidence one needs of institutional racism.

And here's one final comment from me about this ... I remember hearing Dr. Brown comment at the 2000 Spring District Meeting before his retirement. He commented on how troubling it was for him that it required the lynching of James Byrd for our district's ministers to engage in anti-racism work with their district colleagues. The more subtle types of racism including institutional racism existing both before and after James Byrd's death were not a sufficient reason for engaging in anti-racism work.

Cindy Sheehan on DVD

I received information on this video from the "yruusj" email list (the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists Social Justice email list). This may be a useful resource for youth and adult religious education discussions.

Here is the email announcement that was sent out by Margot Smith (filmmaker from Off Center Video):

We have a 21 minute video of Cindy Sheehan giving a speech at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarians on DVD, if anyone wants one, we charge $10 to cover costs. She is really remarkable!! ... Margot Smith

Cindy Sheehan - Military Families Speak Out Against the War in Iraq! Speech at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian/Universalists (November 2004)

"At this crucial moment in history we must support Americans like Cindy Sheehan who have stood up and are telling the truth. We support Gold Star Families for Peace and the movement which is turning the tide to end this illegal war based on lies and deception." -- Hal Carstad

Here is DVD of Cindy Sheehan made when she first was speaking out against the war. She reads her open letter to George Bush. This video has been shown in the Berkeley area and was enthusiastically received. It encourages discussion. In includes pictures of her family and protests.

The DVD is 21 minutes long and is available for $10.00 which includes shipping. All money above costs will go to support Gold Star Families for Peace campaign.

The video was made by Ralph Stein and Margot Smith.

Please send your name, address and check for $10 to:

Off Center Video
1300 A Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
510-486-8010
FAX 510-644-2139
OffCenterVideo@aol.com

Poem About Homophobia

I received a poem about homophobia a few days ago from Lara Campbell, the Director of Religious Education from the Community Unitarian Church of White Plains NY.

The author listed for this poem is "Unknown" (who is nearly as prolific as "Anonymous") ... and I googled looking for an author. The poem is popping up on tons of blogs and livejournals with the "Unknown" author attribution and the last line of the poem is a request to repost the poem.

Homophobia

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.

I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.

I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.

I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.

I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks, and in another year I will probably be able to walk again.

I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.

We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.

I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.

I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.

I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.

I am the man who died when the paramedics stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.

I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didn't have to always deal with society hating me.

I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.

I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

Repost this, homophobia is wrong.

Author - Unknown

Does anyone know the name of the author for this poem?

"It's like deja-vu all over again." -- UU Youth Ministry History Resources

With the upcoming "Consultation on Ministry to and With Youth" happening within the UUA between Fall 2005 and Fall 2007, I thought it would be useful to review the history about where our youth ministry has been in the past and where we might find ourselves in the future.

The Yogi Berra quote seemed appropriate ... especially in light of the recurring issues that have come up in UU youth and young adult ministry since the early 20th century (e.g. how much autonomy is appropriate, non-congregational vs. congregational expressions of Unitarian Universalism, substance use and sexuality issues in conference settings, etc).

These issues predate Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) and even the earlier Liberal Religious Youth (LRY). It seems that UU adult and youth developmental needs keep bringing us back to a re-invention of youth ministry every 25 to 30 years.

Here are some suggested history resources for a starting point on a discussion of UU Youth Ministry:

From the UUA Youth Office: 7.20.2005 - All past issues of Synapse are now online!! Thanks to some new technology (and some help from our fabulous interns!) we have been able to scan and post on our website all of the back issues of the YRUU magazine / newspaper Synapse and it's predecessor, the Liberal Religious Youth publication People Soup. It's hours of history and browsing pleasure!

From Rick Roehlk's online collection of LRY and YRUU historical documents - UU Youth History

From Skinner House Books and the UUA Bookstore - We Would Be One: A History of Unitarian Universalist Youth Movements by Wayne Arnason and Rebecca Scott - Documents the challenges, triumphs and far-reaching effects of the UU youth movement. Compelling personal stories capture how important UU youth groups, conferences and organizations have been in peoples' lives from the late 19th-century to the present. Arnason was the UUA's director of youth programs from 1980 to 1984 during the creation of YRUU. Scott was a youth programs specialist in the UUA Youth Office from 1989 to 1990. Revised and updated from Follow the Gleam, published in 1980.

Unitarian Universalists Speak Out for Reality-Based Sexuality Education Legislation

From the UUA's web site ...

Unitarian Universalists Speak Out for Reality-Based Sexuality Education Legislation
(July 28, 2005) At a meeting held with Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) yesterday, the Rev. William G. Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and Rob Keithan, director of the UUA's Washington Office for Advocacy, presented Senator Lautenberg with more than 2,000 affirmations of support signed by Unitarian Universalists from around the country in support of S.368, and H.R. 768, the Responsible Education About Life (REAL) Act.

The REAL Act is endorsed by Advocates for Youth, with whom the UUA is a partner, and would provide funding to states for medically accurate, age appropriate, comprehensive sexuality education in the schools—education that includes information about both abstinence and contraception, from both a values and public health perspective. The effort is consistent with the approach taken by Our Whole Lives (OWL), the UUA's reality-based sexuality education lifespan curriculum developed with the United Church of Christ and now in use in congregational and secular settings. More than 125 national and state and organizations are supporting the REAL Act, including medical, civil rights, family planning, educational, public health, reproductive rights, and HIV/AIDS organizations.

The UUA launched an effort to build support for the REAL Act as part of an outreach effort from the Rev. Sinkford to Unitarian Universalists across the country. Sinkford wrote to UUA members in late April, "The voices of the religious right have been largely successful in drowning out other people of faith. This has allowed them to dominate the current debate on moral values and assert themselves as the religious voice on crucial matters including civil rights, health and the family, international peace and justice, and religious liberty. You and I cannot allow the religious right to speak for us."

The rest of this article can be read online here.

Other Resources About This Issue

• UUA Washington Office Sexuality Education Resources
• Advocates for Youth Letter Writing Campaign in Support of REAL Act
• Our Whole Lives Lifespan Reality-Based Sexuality Education
• United Church of Christ Sexuality Education Resources

New Worship Planning Resource Online

The UUA Young Adult and Campus Ministry (YACM) Office has a new worship planning resource online. It's called "Unitarian Universalist Contemporary Worship" and can be found online here:

http://www.uua.org/ya-cm/resources/Worship/index.html

Here's a brief description about this resource copied from the YACM web site:

"This site is designed as a resource for congregations seeking to design more contemporary worship services to attract young adults and others who are largely absent from our communities of faith. It includes articles, resources and links for UU Contemporary Worship. Soon to come are pieces on the theology of contemporary worship (and why it fits better with Unitarian Universalism than more traditional worship styles) and more resources for designing and implementing contemporary worship."

This worship resource and other UUA worship resources can be found online in a previous post to my blog listing available UU worship resources (originally posted on 22 January 2005 - updated on 22 July 2005).

These worship planning resources are provided to our congregation through the generous financial contributions that our congregation and other UU congregations make to the UUA each year.

These worship resources reflect the cooperative and interdependent spirit of Unitarian Universalism. They are freely available to all who need them.

UUA Youth Office Response to the Concerns Raised About The Decision to Withdraw Support for Con Con

The following article was posted on fuuse.com:

March-July 2005
To: Young Religious Unitarian Universalists and their Allies and Supporters
From: The UUA Youth Office

Note: This response was originally drafted in March of 2005. Because of other issues taking up a considerable amount of staff time, we were not able to finalize and post this response until July. We are sorry for any inconvenience this delay may have caused.
Responses to the Con Con Decision

After the Youth Office's decision to withdraw support from Con Con, we invited feedback from the wider community about the decision. The response was noticeably positive; people echoed many of the same concerns about Con Con we had shared. To be specific, yruu@uua.org received 47 emails directly praising the decision, as well as 25 people who wrote simply "to support the Youth Office" without commenting either way on the decision. Positive comments primarily came from former Youth Office staff, youth advisors, and religious educators, though 7 youth also wrote to us agreeing with the decision. We sincerely appreciate that support. We also received email from 11 people criticizing the decision, 5 of whom were youth. We also learned of a number of conversations going on in online communities about the decision (though we could not possibly have followed all such conversations).

The rest of the response can be read here or here.

GeoURLs on Church Web Sites

Here's a geeky but cool web site feature that I learned about on the "Websters" UUA-sponsored email list for congregational webmasters:

"GeoURL is a location-to-URL reverse directory. This will allow you to find URLs by their proximity to a given location."

Using hand-held GPS coordinates in WGS-84 format that were recorded with a Garmin eTrex, I updated our church home page with the appropriate meta-tags, indexed our site on the GeoURL web database, and added a link to our congregation's GeoURL data on our home page.

From page that shows the GeoURL data, go to the Google Map page and view our congregation location using the "satellite" map feature.

The Consultation on Ministry To and With Youth

The following announcement comes from the UUA Youth Office Web Site:

7.13.2005 - The Consultation on Ministry to and With Youth -- The UUA Board of Trustees has approved the process recommendation of the Consultation on Ministry to and With Youth. This is an exciting process by which the UUA and its member districts and congregations will revision the way we do youth ministry over the next two years. Learn about the process here!

On the UUA Board of Trustees "Youth Consultation" web page, you will find a link to the following document:

UUA Consultation on Ministry to and with Youth: Process Recommendation (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader or other compatible software).

Different Religions Week Announcement - 15-22 July 2005

I received this in my email today from Nathan Black and I thought this idea might be a useful project for Unitarian Universalists to support ... either in the form of Different Religions Week celebrations in their communities or in cooperation with other existing multi-faith celebrations like World Religion Day. Nathan's email is posted below ...

Dear Steve,

I am a student at Rice University in Houston and the founder of Different Religions Week, a week during which people are encouraged to attend services of faiths different from their own. I read your blog this January and determined that, based on the blog's subject matter, you might be interested in posting a comment regarding the week -- either agreeing or disagreeing with its concept or simply announcing that it is taking place.

Different Religions Week 2005 is July 15-22. I started the movement in 2003 to help curb people's widespread ignorance of other faiths, which often leads to intolerance and which sometimes ultimately results in -- or is used to justify -- violence (consider, for example, 9/11 or the Bosnian conflict). More information about the how and why of the movement is available at http://www.differentreligionsweek.org.

There is no one "event" around which Different Religions Week is based; rather, people are simply encouraged to find and attend an unfamiliar religious service at their convenience during the week. (Atheist and agnostic meetings count too.) The movement's Web site has links under "World Religions" to directories where people can get started finding a service.

Please consider posting a comment on or announcement of Different Religions Week 2005 on your blog, and e-mail me if you do so I can keep track of the Web presence of the movement. Thank you for your consideration and your time.

Sincerely,
Nathan Black

School e-mail: nwblack@rice.edu
Movement e-mail: differentreligionsweek@yahoo.com

Another Apology ...

In regards to the recent discussion on my blog and other online communities such as fuuse.com about recent events at GA, I want to apologize.

If I hurt you, I'm sorry. Hurting others was not my intent.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to fix the mistakes I've made.

Rather than contacting me by blog for this, I would request email being sent to the following address:

stevecaldwell at bellsouth.net (replace the "at" with "@" or use the HTML link).

I've said too much already on my blog and fuuse.com on this subject and I will be taking a vacation from blogging.

If anyone is still interested in discussing this issue, there are two threads on fuuse.com ... one discussing the UUA Board letter and one proposing a possible action that may prevent or reduce future incidents at GA.

Thank you.

An Open Apology ...

... to anyone who feels that I called them a racist.

I'm sorry that I wrote anything that might have implied you were a "racist" as the term is commonly used (e.g. a person like David Duke and other overt white supremacists).

That was not my intent. I did not say anything remotely equivalent to stating "you are a racist."

But I did ask a question on my blog.

Is a tendency that I've observed in some online posts to minimize the role of race as a major factor in the GA incidents due to unconscious racism or ageism?

An unconscious response that comes in part from racist influences in North American culture could be happening here.

Suggesting this possibility arising out of involuntary and unconscious cultural influences isn't the same as calling a person a "racist." I just want to suggest that we need to be mindful of influences in our society that encourage us to discount racism.

Again ... my apologies for any misunderstanding my blog words have created here.

Dangers Inherent in Discounting Racism in Unitarian Universalist Communities

In case you're curious why I think any liberal religious and Unitarian Universalist tendency to discount racism as a current-day problem that exists in our UU communities, here's a brief snippet from the UUA's Lifespan Faith Development resource archives that addresses how discounting of racism can cause racism to thrive:

"Racism is a particularly sensitive topic for religious liberals because we pride ourselves on our perceived lack of racism. However, we often fail to differentiate between traditional or overt racism and neo-racism. Traditional racism is direct, institutionalized racial discrimination/oppression, using strategies of direct even legal exclusion and/or hierarchical domination. Slave laws and Jim Crow are examples.

Neo-racism is indirect, institutionalized racial discrimination such as calls to eliminate affirmative action, redlining of neighborhoods, denial of small business loans to persons of color, immigration policies that exclude Africans and other persons of color, and the social and economic abandonment of inner city schools. Because neo-racism thrives on the denial of the existence of racism, it is a particularly perplexing problem for religious liberals who deny their own role in a racist society and therefore so easily succumb to neo racism's insulating effects."

This may seem like a harsh message, but it's one that I think we need to seriously consider in how we react to incidents like the recent one at General Assembly.

Racism and Racial Profiling of UU Youth of Color at GA -- Summary of Events

Here's a summary of the recent racist events at the 2005 Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly (GA) in Ft. Worth TX. I've collected this information from the following sources:

UUA Board of Trustees Open Letter (uua.org web site)
UUA Board of Trustees Open Letter and Reader Commentary (fuuse.com web site)
Reader Comments on the "Boy in the Bands" Blog

And here's what I found out:

1. Some white Unitarian Universalists (UUs) assumed that UU youth of color were hotel service people and asked them to carry luggage or park cars.
2. There was a "racial profiling" incident outside the hall where the GA Closing Ceremony was happening. A group of UU youth of color were stopped from entering because they were not wearing nametags. White adult UUs without their nametags were not stopped even though they were violating the same requirement on page 3 of the GA Program Book.
   
3. The initial verbal dispute involved several UU youth of color and a UU adult who questioned their right to be there. This questioning provoked an angry response.
   
4. This verbal dispute caused a UU minister to intervene in support of the UU adult.
5. Another white UU youth intervened in support of the UU youth of color and verbally attacked the minister and she responded in kind -- escalating this conflict.
6. During the GA Youth Caucus discussions after the Closing Ceremony incident, the Youth Caucus staff met and decided through consensus process to cancel the Monday night dance they had sponsored.

Canceling the dance was apparently a controversial decision for some GA attendees. Here's a bit of blog commentary from a young adult worked on the Youth Caucus staff:

" ... and i'm not sure what the sway the 'institutional youth of the UUA' means, but i'll guess is has to do with the canceling of the YOUTH sponsored dance. and the youth (and adults who were there in support, including myself) who cancelled it were white volunteer GA youth caucus staff, not youth office staff. it was a hard decision for the youth, but consensus was reached, we did not want to be a bunch of white people partying it up while all of their friends of color were spilling their guts about the crappy thing that had happened to them over the course of GA. that would be adding insult to injury."

And ... as you may have noticed in my earlier post, there's also a lot of denial that racism could be an issue for Unitarian Univeraslists. Denial won't make this problem any easier.

Racism and Racist Incidents at 2005 UUA General Assembly

In case you haven't heard about this yet, some disturbing things happened at the 2005 General Assembly in Ft. Worth TX.

The UUA Board of Trustees has published an open letter to UU youth of color and UU people of color who attended Fort Worth General Assembly and to the broader UU community.

Rev. Eric Posa was an on-scene Chaplain for the event and his very useful analysis can be found online here.

Commentary from fuuse.com can be found online here.

The surprising thing about this incident is the tendency of some to minimize the impact of what has happened. I don't know if this comes from unconscious racism, ageism, or a combination of the two. Examples of this tendency for some Unitarian Universalists to dismiss racism as a possible cause for some incidents at GA can be found online here, here, and here.

My Congregation Retreats From BGLT Social Justice Work

My congregation is putting our earlier social justice study and discernment efforts surrounding homophobia and heterosexism on hold.

The report describing these events can be downloaded here (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

Update on YRUU Steering Committee - UUA Administration Dispute

Here's the latest news that I have on the dispute between the current YRUU Steering Committee membership and the UUA Staff. This info comes from Joseph Santos-Lyon's blog:

Chalice Revolution (YRUU)
This resolution was drafted by a collective of youth concerned about the current state of affairs in continental YRUU. At this point I'm wondering about the impact of all these activities long term on the nature of UU campus ministry growth and deepening.

In extraordinary times we must take extraordinary action:

The Chalice Revolution

Sponsors: Nora Lindsey, Current YRUU Steering Committee member; Siri Larsen, Current YRUU Steering Committee member; Trevor Moomaw, Saint Lawrence District Youth Council Representative; Dale Brydon, Quebec, Ontario and Martimes Region Youth Council Representative; Sean Jones, YRUU Co-Continental Social Action Coordinator; Paul Phillips, Canadian At-Large; Naomi Rice Moir, 2004 Youth Council People of Color Caucus; Jessica Akhavein, Thomas Jefferson District Youth Council Representative; Kelsey Campbell, Pacific Northwest District Youth Council Representative; Erin Dunn, Ballou Channing District Youth Council Representative; Al Jensen, YRUU Co-Continental Social Action Coordinator; Kate Philipson, Metro New York Youth Council Representative

Point People: Tony Carpenter, Mountain Desert District Youth Council Representative; Emily Brunts, Central Mid-West District Youth Council Representative; Ian Moore, Mid-South District Youth Council Representative; Winters Geimer, Joseph Priestley District Youth Council Representative;

Primary aides: Julian Sharp, Youth Observer to the UUA Board; Westin Miller, Ohio-Meadville District Youth Council Representative

UU Principles: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning; The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.

Specific problem being addressed: The dysfunction and unhealthy dynamics at play in the current YRUU Steering Committee. The manipulation of steering committee members and the YRUU movement. The fact that Steering Committee is no longer in right relationship with the UUA.

Hope to achieve: The health and wellbeing of YRUU during the current Youth Ministry consultation process.

Short term goals: A safe, productive, and effective Youth Council 2005.

Steps to achieve: Steering Committee, the executive body of youth who lead the YRUU movement are no longer in right relationship with the UUA Youth Office. They cannot plan and run Youth Council. We strongly recommend the following action be taken:

Steering Committee relinquish authority over the planning and running of Youth Council to the following group, who shall be referred to as the Youth Council Leadership Team:

1. Three Youth Council members. One should be a person of color.

2. Two People of Color Caucus members.

3. Three adults. One should be a minister. At minimum one should be a person of color.

4. The UUA Youth Office

Evaluation: The Youth Office, including the June YPS Lilly Sparks should fill all positions. Current Steering Committee members are not excluded. We welcomingly encourage current Steering Committee members who are interested to join the team, but as individuals working with a team and not steering committee members.

Long term goals: To make sure YRUU is at a healthy place during the renewing and revisioning of Youth Ministry. To make sure YRUU has a voice in the process and outcome.

Local and district/regional resources: Leaders.

Resources YRUU has that will be used: Leaders/People Power.

Financial impact: The team should have access to phone conferences and one face to face meeting. Possibly before, during or after GA and/or two days before Youth Council.

Point of Clarification: The Youth Council Leadership Team is specific to the 2005 Youth Council, and will disband thereafter.

We expect to have a response by Tuesday May 10, 2005. We hope Steering Committee makes a responsible decision with the best interest of YRUU in mind.

Please direct your written response to: Trevor Moomaw at DJNinja312@aol.com.

New Interim Southwest District Executive

The following news tidbit comes from Joseph Santos-Lyons on his blog site (Joseph is the Campus Ministry & Field Director for the UUA Young Adult and Campus Ministry Office):

"The Reverend Anne Odin Heller will continue serving the UUA as interim district executive in the Southwest district. Anne will fill the position vacated by the Reverend Bob Hill whom we earlier announced will be moving to Australia with his wife, Kristi. Anne is currently interim DE in the Mass Bay district and was the DE in the Pacific Northwest district for ten years before that."

Bob and Kristi ... best wishes with your Australian adventure.

I haven't met Anne yet, but I thought her Churchworks book would be an outstanding resource for my congregation to use.

Classism and Language - UU Online Discussions

Some very interesting blog discussions on classism and dialects can be found online here:

need advice on UU classism

classism, intellectualism, and dialects

Class isn't just a matter of how much money you have ... it's also a fetish with having the "correct" trappings. To better understand this, you should take this quiz:

THE LIVING-ROOM SCALE (With minor revisions by Robert Keel, 1999) -- From: Paul Fussell, Class: A Guide Through the American Class System, 1983, Summit Books, pp. 194-197