Layoffs and advocacy at the UUA

Several bloggers responded to UU World‘s coverage of layoffs at the Unitarian Universalist Association and to UUA President Peter Morales’s March 8 letter about staff changes.

The Rev. Scott Wells, in a much-commented-on post, says he has “no sympathy” for people who see good news in the layoffs of the staff of the UUA’s Washington Office for Advocacy. Many of the comments discuss the state of UU church-planting. (“Boy in the Bands,” March 6; see also “Possible Next Steps after the UUA Staff Cuts,” March 10)

Joel Monka, however, has long favored eliminating the UUA Washington Office for Advocacy:

My primary complaint is that the UUAWO, and our other social justice organizations, for that matter, often do not take their stands strictly on principle but on political expediency. . . . But my objections to the UUAWO go beyond the fact that they make us appear to be not an independent church, but merely the Democratic Party’s chaplain office. . . . [O]ur efforts are so ineffectual as to be a waste of resources. There’s no reason to believe that our efforts have ever changed a single vote in Congress. (“CUUMBAYA,” March 7)

The Rev. Kit Ketcham is sad about the staff changes and wants to know more. In the process, she starts off a spirited discussion thread (now closed). (“Ms. Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show,” March 8)

Kim Hampton criticized the view that “advocacy is at the core of Unitarian Universalism” in response to discussions of the staff reorganization on the UUA-GA email list:

If advocacy is at the core of UUism…we’re a dead religious movement walking.

I hear you asking…Kim…if advocacy isn’t at the core of UUism…what should be? Well friends…let’s try something new for UUism…how about RELIGION being at the core of UUism? How about the exploration of the sacred/mystery being at the core? (“East of Midnight,” March 9)

Jacqueline Wolven dislikes Kim Hampton’s prescription—and criticizes UUA President Peter Morales at the same time:

Be more religious. Get more religion. Aren’t we a religion? Ugh. I was so exhausted after just reading the UUA Presidents column in the UU World this month that I couldn’t even continue. (“MoxieLife,” March 10)

Desmond Ravenstone writes: “At the end of the day, however, I believe the real question is what we mean by ‘advocacy.’ Is it just lobbying for Federal legislation, or are there other ways we can bend the moral arc of the universe?” He points to several ways his Boston congregation engages in public witness and advocacy. (“Ravenstone’s Reflections,” March 9)

People have also been discussing the layoffs and organizational restructuring at the UUA’s Election-L email list (about UUA governance), on UU World’s Facebook page, and on the UUA’s Facebook page.

‘Journalism from the readers up’

Former UU World editor Tom Stites spoke at the We Media conference in Miami on March 10 about “relational journalism” and the Banyan Project, the journalism initiative he has been leading since his retirement from UU World. Josh Wilson profiled Stites and his project on the We Media website (3.9.10). The Miami Herald quoted from his speech: “This is journalism from the readers up, not from the institutions and the experts down. We better respond to the challenge . . . or we can just pucker up and kiss democracy goodbye” (3.11.10).

Liberal religion’s ‘diversity problem’

At Tikkun magazine’s website, UU columnist Dave Belden drew many comments with his reflections on the cover stories in the Spring UU World about multiculturalism and liberal religion.

I am one of those UUs who long for more emotional expression, more recognition of suffering and evocation of joy, more moving music and inspiration in UU services. But not every UU I know agrees with me. If they would find a more expressive style alienating, then why should they do it? If the traditional style is a good place for their true spirituality to flourish, then it will show, love will be present, and people will feel it. (“Tikkun Daily,” March 12)

PolityWonk looks at several films about African American experiences:

These films suggest that UUs are so white not because of anything we do — so much of which I saw these various protagonists doing as well — from going to college to chanting Buddhism and even looking to pagan roots — but because we prefer examination to embrace. No total immersion for us, we’re not even dippers. We sip and write reveiws. We sip and reach for mirrors to see if we somehow look different. (“PolityWonk,” March 14)

Seminarian and military chaplain candidate David Pyle describes his own experience of distancing himself from his parents’ religion in a post on “religions of differentiation”:

I am not disturbed by the trend in our Unitarian Universalist congregations of our teens leaving to practice other faiths, or to join the military, or to declare themselves secular. When you are raised in a faith tradition that allows for the creative exploration and building of a sense of self, differentiation can be difficult to find. Of course they have to step away from Unitarian Universalism for a time. (“Celestial Lands,” March 13)

ChaliceChick looks at another cultural divide as it plays out in UU congregations—the divide between so-called “digital natives” (younger Americans who grew up using computers and the Web) and “digital immigrants” (who grew up without the technologies but have learned to use them).

I think the challenges as far as UUism is concerned are specifically interesting because the contrast seems especially dramatic with UUs given that we talk a lot about freedom. For example, board members often like to be conservative about things like information, yet Digital Natives tend to view information, and lots of it, as crucial to the functioning of the Democratic principles that UUism preaches.

Do you see this issue as one your church is facing? How are y’all dealing with it? How should we approach it as a denomination? Will ignoring it be one more thing that convinces people my age and younger that UUism (or protestantism or Catholicism or Judaism) has nothing for them except RE?

Or is this a totally false dichotomy and am I worried over nothing? (“The Chaliceblog,” March 14; see also Kinsi at “Spirituality and Sunflowers,” March 12)

Nicholas Axam, at “UK Spirituality,” observes that “since 9/11 religion has been the new rock and roll and no, not in a good way,” which leads him to wonder how Unitarianism fits in:

So if religion is the new rock and roll, Unitarianism to me is the new Indi. It’s unconventional, sometimes quirky; it’s not afraid to say the unsayable, think outside the box. It doesn’t yell rock and roll, whoop and wave its shirt about in the air. It’s the skinny, dark-eyed kid in the corner at parties who actually has something interesting to say, the kid who’s going to leave town someday and amount to something. Not yet though – it’s wedged against the wall with a few oddball friends, largely overlooked.

But I know who I’d rather hang out with. (March 13; click “more” to read the full post)

Unitarianism is ‘indi’ now, was Christian then

The Rev. Andy Pakula, a Unitarian minister in Great Britain, writes about Scientologists and other religious evangelists who offer their versions of salvation in the public square. “Perhaps what bothers me most about these tactics is that I’m not using them and that I’m not willing to use them.” (“Throw Yourself Like Seed,” March 15)

At “American Creation,” a blog about religion and the American Revolution, Brad Hart highlights ways that 19th-century Unitarians were more “Christian” than people today might guess. He shares the story of how a Unitarian minister, John Sullivan Dwight, translated and popularized the Christmas carol “O Holy Night.” The comments numbered 67 the last time we checked. (March 8; see also UU World‘s article about another Unitarian Christmas carol, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” Nov./Dec. 2002.)

Maine novelist and DownEast.com columnist Richard Grant writes about his neighbor, UU minister and writer Kate Braestrup, in a post about progressive religion. “Remember love? It was big for a while, back in the 60s. You heard a lot about it in the same context as other, now-passé notions like peace, brotherhood, and charity for the poor.” (March 8)

The Rev. Ron Robinson offers a summary of the innovative community ministry he leads in Turley, Okla., at A Third Place Community Center. (“Planting God Communities,” March 10; see also “Church Founders Thrive on Different Challenges,” InterConnections July 2008)

Criticism, conflict, and more

The Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell decries the Vatican’s defense of Pope Benedict XVI’s role, as archbishop of Munich and Friesing in the 1980s, in covering up sexual abuse of Roman Catholic priests in his archdiocese. “This is an old, old story–it’s called ‘passing the buck.’” (March 13)

Jacqueline Wolven wonders why we are so quick to criticize others: “There is no right way to sweep a sidewalk. Be grateful, or get out there and help. Don’t stand on the side giving your 2 cents.” (“MoxieLife,” March 6)

The Rev. Kit Ketcham helped organize a workshop on nonviolent communication:

One of the most helpful thoughts that I use to deal with those who frustrate or annoy me is to ask myself “under what circumstances might I behave the same way?” I don’t know why, always, the person is so annoying, but if I can frame it in a personal way, it helps me get to a place of understanding and, hopefully, compassion. And that’s the point of NVC—getting to compassion. (“Miss Kity’s Saloon and Road Show,” March 7)

This season’s ministerial settlements

The Rev. Dan Harper hails the arrival of this year’s “hot stove” conversation—the discussion of which clergy candidates have been named for open ministerial positions (“Yet Another Unitarian Universalist,” March 14). The Rev. Hank Peirce has set up a “Hot Stove Report” page on Facebook; here’s the list of open positions.

Kenneth Sutton contributed to this week’s roundup.

What draws visitors, and keeps them from returning

David A. Markham posts a list of reasons why someone might visit a UU church (“UU a Way of Life,” August 8). The Rev. Sean Parker Dennison initiates a conversation about what keeps visitors from returning to a UU congregation, with a list of 15 reasons why first-time guests may not return from Church Solutions magazine (“ministrare,” August 3).

What draws people into the ministry

The Rev. Kit Ketcham tells the story of how she recognized her call to the ministry (“Ms. Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show,” August 8), and seminarians Lizard Eater and Ogre offer their stories, too (“The Journey,” August 8; “Sparks in the Dark,” August 8).

Dangers of fascism and mercenaries

Sara Robinson, who writes for the anti-right-wing blog “Orcinus,” sees disturbing developments in American conservatism:

All through the Bush years, progressive right-wing watchers refused to call it “fascism” because, though we kept looking, we never saw clear signs of a deliberate, committed institutional partnership forming between America’s conservative elites and its emerging homegrown brownshirt horde. We caught tantalizing signs of brief flirtations — passing political alliances, money passing hands, far-right moonbat talking points flying out of the mouths of “mainstream” conservative leaders. But it was all circumstantial, and fairly transitory. The two sides kept a discreet distance from each other, at least in public. What went on behind closed doors, we could only guess. They certainly didn’t act like a married couple.

Now, the guessing game is over. We know beyond doubt that the Teabag movement was created out of whole cloth by astroturf groups like Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks and Tim Phillips’ Americans for Prosperity, with massive media help from FOX News. We see the Birther fracas — the kind of urban myth-making that should have never made it out of the pages of the National Enquirer — being openly ratified by Congressional Republicans. We’ve seen Armey’s own professionally-produced field manual that carefully instructs conservative goon squads in the fine art of disrupting the democratic governing process — and the film of public officials being terrorized and threatened to the point where some of them required armed escorts to leave the building. We’ve seen Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner applauding and promoting a video of the disruptions and looking forward to “a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress.”

This is the sign we were waiting for — the one that tells us that yes, kids: we are there now. America’s conservative elites have openly thrown in with the country’s legions of discontented far right thugs. They have explicitly deputized them and empowered them to act as their enforcement arm on America’s streets, sanctioning the physical harassment and intimidation of workers, liberals, and public officials who won’t do their political or economic bidding.

This is the catalyzing moment at which honest-to-Hitler fascism begins. (August 7)

Responding to news that the U.S. independent military contractor formerly known as Blackwater may be implicated in murders of critics of the company in the United States, Army chaplain-candidate David Pyle writes:

Military Ceremony reminds our soldiers that they are not mercenaries.

The mercenary provides their own meaning for why they choose to risk their life, why they use violence, and they are primarily responsible to themselves or to other mercenaries. The most common conception is that the mercenary finds meaning in the pay they receive . . . but of the meanings they might find this is a fairly benign one. . . .

If the reports are true, for many in the Blackwater organization the meaning was found not primarily in money, but in a Dominionist understanding of Christianity. Their risk and service was made meaningful by an understanding of themselves as holy warriors, fighting a culture war against an opposing religion.

This understanding, this source of meaning is outside what is appropriate to United States Military and related forces. It is detrimental to our national interest, and to our stated goals of creating a stable and self-sustaining governmental system in the areas we are currently involved. This source of meaning for the mission of Blackwater can be traced to attitudes which lead directly to some of the most controversial aspects of the company’s actions in combat zones. (“Celestial Lands,” August 6)

The value of doing nothing

The Rev. James Ford writes in praise of doing nothing (“Monkey Mind,” August 8).

The Rev. Victoria Weinstein likes to take her beagle Max for a walk through the town green. She writes:

We’re quite a spectacle.
Because we’re just sitting there.
Sometimes Max rolls on his back and wriggles in the grass, causing people to grin like children if they happen to notice.

Watching people watch him, I realize that Max is just basically a living commercial for beagles; or more generally, for having a dog.

And I realize that I myself am a commercial for Just Sitting There, a kind of radical thing to do in our place and time. (“PeaceBang,” August 4)

Pagan reflections

JohnFranc, a UU and a Druid, reflects on the “antiquity” of contemporary Paganism:

John Michael Greer said something I’ve heard before, though perhaps not in these exact words. He said that Paganism in general and Druidry in particular are not “revived” religions or even “reconstructed” religions. Rather, they are indigenous religions of modern Anglo-American industrial society. I think that’s right. . . .

[Paganism is] a reaction to the environmental and commercial excesses of the Industrial Revolution that continue to this day. It’s a reaction to our disconnection with the land and separation from families and communities. It’s also a reaction to both male-dominated misogynistic religions and soul-denying hyper-rational scientific materialism. (“Under the Ancient Oaks,” August 5)

Jason Pitzl-Waters responds to a blog post we highlighted last week about a Discordian-led pagan ritual celebrating Lammas, generating a lively conversation at “The Wild Hunt” (August 6).

On looking deeply

Rebecca Hecking sees more than most of us in a styrofoam peanut:

My inner scientist (a product of my college years) started playing mental free-association games. Styrofoam . . . plastic . . . polymers . . . petroleum . . . fossil fuels . . . fossil fern fronds . . . It hit me that this little white blob was really a tiny piece of an ancient legacy, transformed by humans into its present form. . . .

It is a carrier of the hidden Sacred, a reminder of our connection
to our Deep Time ancestors. If we open our eyes, it can serve as a catalyst to our collective memory. Can we find other connections? Can we see the Sacred, hiding in plain sight? (“The Sustainable Soul,” August 4)

Apologizing to Utes, rethinking Atticus Finch, and more

Seminarian Paul Oakley posts a letter from the Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris explaining how UUA President William G. Sinkford came to offer an apology on behalf of the UUA to the Northern Ute people for their treatment in the late nineteenth century by American Unitarians, a story which had not been widely known before Sinkford offered the apology at the 2009 General Assembly (“Inner Light, Radiant Life,” August 6).

The Rev. Marilyn Sewell writes about her surprise at falling in love as she approached retirement (August 5). She is getting married next month.

In a conversation about Macolm Gladwell’s New Yorker article about To Kill a Mockingbird and early twentieth-century Southern liberalism, commenters at “The Chaliceblog” have all sorts of interesting things to say about the novel (August 8).

The Rev. Scott Wells (of “Boy in the Bands”) has launched a small independent online-only magazine for Unitarian, Universalist, and other liberal Christians called The Liberal Christian.

Erik Resley reflects on a poem by Scott Cairns, who stops by to offer a comment in reply (“Embodied Fragments,” August 6).

UUA trustee Linda Laskowski writes about the Board of Trustees’ attempt to create links with “sources of authority and accountability” in the UUA’s member congregations.

What became clear was how difficult it is for many congregation presidents to get out of the role of “customer”. Linkage is not only about who you talk to, but what you talk about: our congregations are both “customers” of services provided by the UUA (a conversation held most appropriately with the UUA staff), and “sources” (moral owners) who care deeply about what the institution of Unitarian Universalism provides to the world (conversations with the UUA Board). Congregation presidents are often so caught up in the crises of church life . . . that asking them what differences they want the UUA to make in the world can not only catch them cold but also seem irrelevant. (“UUA View from Berkeley,” August 5)

Religious studies scholar Jeff W. posts a summary of UU and religious liberal events at the annual American Academy of Religion meeting in Montreal this November (“Transient and Permanent,” August 5).

Come together…

After the Rev. Peter Morales was elected president of the Unitarian Universalist Association on June 27, UU bloggers began chiming in. The Rev. Dan Harper was pleasantly surprised by Morales’s victory (“Yet Another Unitarian Universalist,” June 27). The Rev. Kit Ketcham wrote, “I was a Hallman supporter yesterday; I’m a Morales supporter today” (“Ms. Kitty’s Saloon and Road Show,” June 28).

Matt Alspaugh, who volunteered with the Morales campaign, described the campaign’s “overarching culture of permission and experimentation” (“Slowing Down,” June 29).

The Rev. James Ford, who supported the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman’s candidacy for president as well as the proposed revision to Article II, felt despondent after both lost. “Of course, over the years, I’ve won sometimes and I’ve lost sometimes. And, honey, whatever they say, winning is better” (“Monkey Mind,” June 30).

On the night of the election, Kari Kopnick, a religious educator who did not endorse either candidate, was dismayed by the “rift” between supporters of each side. “I want us to wrap our arms about one another and say ‘we begin again in love, we begin again in love’” (“Chalice Spark,” June 27).

Harper, who was also one of the UUA’s official GA bloggers, wrote at his personal blog about rumors circulating about Moderator Gini Courter’s absence from a post-election celebration (“Yet Another Unitarian Universalist,” June 28). Courter explained her absence as a scheduling error (“Just Gini,” June 29); UU World‘s General Assembly blog reported on her public apology during the next day’s plenary session (June 30). Trustee Linda Laskowski wrote, “[I]t never occurred to me that [Courter's] absence would be any kind of statement. . . . Why would we think otherwise? Are we so starved for drama that we make it up?” (“UUA View from Berkeley,” June 30).

…or not

Suzie, writing at the feminist blog “Echidne of the Snakes,” thinks sexism determined the outcome of the UUA presidential race and says that she is “experiencing post-traumatic stress over the election of the Rev. Peter Morales as the eighth president” (June 28). Chalicechick offers a “sour grapes” post-mortem, asking whether “the level of civility hurt the Hallman campaign” (“The Chaliceblog,” June 28).

No new ‘Principles and Purposes’

Ogre, the seminarian-blogger at “Sparks in the Dark,” was surprised that the proposed revision to Article II of the UUA Bylaws (the “Principles and Purposes”) generated so much opposition that it was narrowly voted down. He thought they should have been revised just to avoid creedalism (June 27). Another seminarian, Earthbound Spirit, was also disappointed that the revision failed and posted the statement she planned to offer in support of the proposed Article II (“Earthbound Spirit,” July 1).

Pagan news blogger Jason Pitzl-Waters was glad to see the Article II revision fail because he and other UU pagans felt that earth-centered spirituality would be relegated to a “footnote” in the new text. He wrote, “[F]uture proposed revisions, and other decisions by the UUA BOD [sic], shouldn’t continue the trend of making Pagans feel unwelcome” (“The Wild Hunt,” June 29).

The General Assembly of the future?

The Rev. Tony Lorenzen took notes on a workshop by the Board of Trustees’ “Fifth Principle Task Force,” which will be presenting a proposal to radically change General Assembly at next year’s GA. He liked what he heard (“Sunflower Chalice,” June 28). Sean, a delegate from Church of the Larger Fellowship, also endorsed the task force’s recommendations (“CLF Delegates’ Notes,” June 29).

Lorenzen also took notes on Moderator Gini Courter’s remarks on good governance (“Sunflower Chalice,” June 29).

The Rev. Ricky Hoyt was discouraged by the way the General Assembly behaves like “self-appointed justice monitors of the world” (“One More Step,” June 30).

Can Unitarian Universalism go multicultural?

The Rev. Anthony David writes the must-read post about General Assembly, pulling together observations from several speakers on the challenges of creating a truly multicultural Unitarian Universalism. Pathways Church, the congregation David helped found near Dallas, drew from the worship styles of contemporary evangelical and non-denominational churches, he writes, but people who were already UUs resisted and criticized the approach.

I can’t tell you how many times I was “pecked to death” by people who came to us from other Unitarian Universalist congregations—people whose sense of what is proper for UU culture was mortally offended by what they were experiencing in our pews. They smelled white trash, and they sneered. (“Thousand Voices,” June 29)

The Rev. Tony Lorenzen (who succeeded David at Pathways) responded by inviting other UU innovators to help plan a summit about “what’s NEXT” for Unitarian Universalism (“Sunflower Chalice,” June 30).

African UUs, the Peacemaking vote, and board tension?

The Rev. Erik Cherry, the UUA’s director of international resources, posted video from the presentations made by three African UU leaders at GA, the Rev. Mark Kiyimba of Uganda, the Rev. Fulgence Ndagijimana of Burundi, and Olufemi Matimoju of Nigeria (“Inspired Faith, Effective Action,” July 2; see UU World’s coverage of Unitarian Universalism’s explosive growth in Kenya in the Summer 2009 issue).

Jess Cullinan wouldn’t have missed the plenary debate about the “Peacemaking” Statement of Conscience, which the General Assembly voted to refer back to the Commission on Social Witness for another year of revision:

But . . . while the Plenary session debated the merits and implications of the language of that statement about Peacemaking, I was across the street at the Marriott Hotel, attending a commissioning ceremony for a dear friend leaving one of our Unitarian Universalist seminaries to enter the Navy. (“Jess’s Journal,” July 5)

Meanwhile, Army chaplain candidate David Pyle has put together a photographic tour of monuments to UU servicemembers buried at Arlington National Cemetery, a project he described on his blog (Flickr; “Celestial Lands,” July 4), while the Rev. Tony Lorenzen helped officiate at a memorial service for a UU Army colonel on Independence Day (“Sunflower Chalice,” July 4).

Trustee Linda Laskowski responded to UU World‘s coverage of the first Board of Trustees meeting after GA, which, we reported at our General Assembly blog, began somewhat awkwardly (see here, here, and here, June 29). She adds some observations about the importance of collaboration between the board and the administration in the context of some historic tensions between the UUA president and board (“UUA View from Berkeley,” June 30).