Graham Kreicker, UUA Trustee

The way three regions are forming shows distinctly different and unique approaches. For example, next April a regional conference in San Jose, California, will bring together UUs from 12 western states to get acquainted, attend workshops, and worship together.  The Pacific Western Region comprises more than a third of the territory of the Continental U.S. and about 20% of our UU members. The four included four districts are, Mountain Desert, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Central and Pacific Southwest.

In these early stages of regionalization, the Southwestern UU Conference, Mid-South, Southeast, and Florida Districts are uniting with the UUA’s Stewardship and Development staff to experiment with a single annual funding program, beginning in Fiscal Year 2014. This “unified ask” combines the requested district and Annual Program Fund contributions into one, using a percentage of each congregation’s reported annual operating budget. This new model will help to streamline and simplify the congregations’ funding of their wider UU community, opening new possibilities for all UU congregations if the Southern Regional experiment proves successful.
The approach for this joint funding program will emphasize the covenantal nature of Unitarian Universalism and the interconnectedness of the relationships among congregations and within their wider association. (more…)

Rev. Erik David Carlson, UUA Trustee

Amidst the sounds of New Orleans jazz wafting through the board conferencing system, UUA Trustees broke into small groups to focus on the story of Katrina and the Federal floods of 2005, the story of our UU sisters and brothers on the ground, and the story of the UUA/UUSC response to our UU churches there. Having visited with the New Orleans area congregations at our meeting in January, the people and their stories were fresh in our minds and hearts.

Through a guided process of reflection, conversation and reporting, the Trustees agreed that there was much work to do to rebuild the ties between the UUA and our New Orleans area congregations. There was also a strong sense that the complexity of the issues involved in this process demands more time, and the Trustees have committed to continue this important work as it pertains to our congregations in New Orleans and our future response to congregations in need.

Tom Loughrey, UUA Trustee

For well over a year the Board has been asked to consider locating our administrative offices to a different location. The current motivation originated with a possibility of a purchase of Hebrew College in nearby Newton over a year ago. While the prospects were interesting the Board wanted to see how all this might ultimately fit in a facilities strategic plan that is aligned with our Ends. Possibilities included another Boston area location, an altogether new location elsewhere in the country, leased space and more.

After much discussion and hearing information from staff on costs to move, staff disruption, revenue potential from a sale and more the Board voiced support for plans of the staff to look for adequate space in Boston near public transportation. We did not feel a need to vote on this as current policy gives the president the ability to explore these possibilities now. A Board decision would come with any motion to buy and/or sell property. Nonetheless, support is important in the process. Our policies call for a rationale and metrics that are consistent with the policies. These will guide the work of the staff as they engage in a process to seek both suitable space and a qualified buyer of our Beacon Hill property. They will also guide the Board in any ultimate decisions to approve a sale and a purchase or lease. (more…)

Rev. Sarah Stewart, UUA Trustee

Little kids and youth in bright t-shirts stood in a circle in the open, inviting parish hall in Roxbury. They were invited to share their favorite thing they had done during the day camp offered during school vacation week. The children answered: games, making friends, playing football. As one girl spoke in a quiet voice, she pulled the arm of her teen counselor around her shoulder. The youth smiled at her and encouraged her to speak more loudly, to share her voice with the group.

This school vacation camp is just one program offered by the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry (UUUM), housed at the First Church in Roxbury. Members of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Board of Trustees visited UUUM before our April board meeting to learn more about their programs.

The vacation week camp is part of UUUM’s Roxbury Youth Programs, offering an after-school program for middle- and high-school youth, weekend activities for elementary-school children, and summer employment and camp opportunities for children and youth. UUUM also offers Renewal House, a domestic violence shelter and resource program for women and men; and United Souls, a support group and network for urban men, including those transitioning home from prison.

In all these programs, UUUM relies on volunteers, many of whom are members in Boston-area Unitarian Universalist congregations. The Ministry is rigorous in screening and integrating volunteers. UU volunteers provide weeknight dinners for the Roxbury Youth Program. The counselors in the vacation week camp were drawn half from UU congregations and half from students in the Roxbury Youth Program. (more…)

Rev. Dr. Michael Tino, UUA Trustee

In 2010, the General Assembly directed the UUA Board to create a different kind of General Assembly for 2012.  This “Justice GA” was to be planned in accountable relationship with partner organizations who had invited us to Arizona as part of their ongoing struggle for human rights and equality.

When our Association’s Arizona Immigration Ministry met with our partners, we received one clear request for an agenda item at GA2012.  Our partners said that the single most important piece of business we could do at GA2012 was to study and repudiate the Doctrine of Discovery and support the full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.  Further, they asked us to have our congregations study this issue and how it is related to the ongoing oppression of indigenous peoples whose lands straddle the US-Mexico border.

Given that the charge from our congregations was accountability, the UUA Board felt it imperative that we honor their request and take up this piece of business at GA2012.  Given that we are prohibited from making justice statements through Business Resolutions and that Actions of Immediate Witness are not on the GA2012 agenda, our only option was to craft a Responsive Resolution to our own report. (more…)