Congregations at their best are “schools of love,” places where we can be with others who make us more compassionate, generous, peace-filled, and kind. –Cameron Trimble

This quote embodies the spirit that was present at our board meeting yesterday. One of the events your board of trustees is working on planning is a “Committee Fair.” (It’s perhaps not the most appealing name for something that should be spirit-filled, but we’ll work on that.) The bottom line is, there are many ways to engage in the work of our congregation and all of that “work” is essential to the life of the congregation. And the congregation, we hope, is essential in your life.

It is important for us to ask ourselves “why do we do this?” Why do we invest time, energy, and money into the congregation? Why do we want more people (more of you) to volunteer? Why do we expect commitment from our members? Why do we engage in a faith community versus an organization that exclusively does social justice work or in a political organization? We need to be able to answer this big question. We want to know how you answer this question.

One of your board members articulated his reason for dedicating his time, talent, and treasure to UUCL in a way that resonated with all of us. It went something like this: “I come here because I can form relationships, learn from other people, learn how to trust, and grow community.” Sounds like Love + Connection = Transformation! When we build relationships in which liberating love is present, our spirits are transformed and so is our community.

Now, let’s take a look at how this relates to our UU Principles and the changes that are being proposed to the association’s Article II, where our principles “live”. I have decided to make it a practice to print out the newly proposed value statements and to read them each day, alongside our 8 Principles. This will help me understand their wording, their structure, the deeper, contextual meaning that has been written into them. It will help me understand Unitarian Universalism as a Living Tradition. Here’s a link to a source from the Cleveland, OH UU church so that you can do that, too: https://uucleveland.org/article-ii-comparison-february-2023/

I know that the work of the Article II commission has been extensive, deliberate, careful, and thoughtful. I understand that our 8 principles still exist in the new value statements, but they are embedded in the experience of our living tradition and all that we have learned since 1985 when they were originally written. We are not the same as we were in 1985. Furthermore, the new statements are more explicit about centering us in covenant. For our UU faith, it is our covenants that bind us together. And, it is our covenants that call us to action (deeds not creeds has long been our motto).

In particular, I want to look at our current 3rd and 4th Principles in comparison to the new value statement and covenant for “Pluralism.” These carry the spirit of our board member’s answer to the “why do this” question. What I notice is that the new value statement expands the context of our 3rd and 4th principles by infusing it with our theological and scientific understanding of interconnectedness. The proposed covenant then calls us to action, to the ways we ought to be together in our congregations. It gives us an anwer to the why. In my mind, the new statements are spirit-filled and they call upon a theology of relationship and interdependence that is not as present in our current principles.

3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.

4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

Proposed change: Pluralism. We celebrate that we are all sacred beings diverse in culture, experience, and theology.

We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect.

I look forward to exploring Article II with you. Please join our Town Hall meeting on January 28th to find out more.