What a delightful response the Right Relations Team, the Board and I got about the worship service yesterday. It seems as if it really helped people understand, and to be able to articulate, what Unitarian Universalism is all about! I spoke with one person who said: I’ve been a UU for a long time and I never thought about our faith like that– covenant is what it’s all about, covenant is at our center. What’s more, new attendees were able to wrap their heads around what is different about our faith and what it is that even makes us a faith.
These responses boosted my initial assessment of the proposed UUA Article II changes. Each one of our values in the “Shared Values flower” is followed by a statement about that value and then, by an aspirational covenant that guides us in our efforts to manifest that value in the world. These covenants contain action words that support our understanding of how exactly to be a loving person in the world. The restructuring of our values and principles puts covenant front and forward and allows for people to understand and articulate our faith more clearly. If you’ve ever been a part of one of our “write your elevator speech” moments, you may understand that this has been difficult.
I also understand that accepting this new Article II and having to wrap your head around it all is difficult. When I first glanced at all this, I wasn’t excited about it either. What on earth is this? I thought. In the context of our 8 Principles and the way they were structured, I had a hard time making sense of this new structure. I’ve been a UU for 17 years. I’m accustomed to rattling off our principles as a list. This new format confused me but once I was able to see the new structure, all the words and meanings came into the light, too. I have taken the time to post the newly proposed Article II on our sanctuary walls in a way that highlights the new structure. I hope you take the time to read them and to understand our values, and our principles (because they are still there!) in a new way.
Link to the Shared Values flower: https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/article-ii-study-commission/article-ii-flower-graphic