Post General Assembly Townhall Forum
The Fifth Principle Project will host a post-General Assembly Townhall Forum to provide a venue for people to share their thoughts about this year’s General Assembly.
We have three guest speakers, Anne Schneider, Dick Burkhart, and Rebecca Pace. They will share their perspective on General Assembly.
- Date: Wednesday, July 5, 2023
- Time: 8:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM Mountain, 5:00 PM Pacific
- Duration: 75 – 90 minutes
Pre-registration is required.
All are welcome. However, if you wish to participate in the discussion, make a comment, or ask a question, you will be required to turn on your device camera and directly speak to the forum. To foster a free-flowing conversation, we have opted not to use the Chat feature for questions. In short, we ask that if you have a comment or a thought to share, please engage in the conversation and not use the Chat feature.
Thanks from Rebecca Pace
I want to thank all of you who commented on my posts. Many of you have thanked me, some even in person. There are too many for me to respond to each of you, but I truly appreciate your encouragement.
The last day of General Assembly is usually light on business and this was true this year.
By now, you have heard the results of the vote. We will have to work to save Article II at the 2024 General Assembly. That General Assembly will be 100% online. It will be very challenging to connect with people. We need someone with Facebook and social media skills to step forward.
I enjoyed a slow start in the morning. I packed up and checked out of the hotel, then went for a walk along the river. We have been blessed with good weather this week.
The worship service was filled with music. I made a note from the opening. A humanist was asked why he attended church. After a long pause, he answered, “Something happens when we gather together…” I think this is true no matter what your concept of religion is—something happens that is good for the spirit.
After the worship service, I joined a few of our team members on the roof of the Convention Center for a brown bag lunch. It was a lovely place to spend some time. The view of the city and the river was beautiful.
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Thanks for GA reports. Helpful!
Thank you for your contributions in time and effort.
Do you know why GA will be all online for 2024?
Thank you for your reports!
Thank goodness you’re doing this! Please know it is much appreciated. I’d be happy with help with any social media that I’m able to.
What a tremendously wonderful initiative. Rebecca, please accept a grand merci from France where I live.
John
I was upset to learn on Sunday of GA that the all-important vote to drop the 7 Principles forever would take place next year when none of us would be gathered in person, at a completely remote GA. With young people most comfortable and long term UUs less likely to attend, this seems to stack the deck in favor of radical change. How to speak out effectively to ALL congregations in the meantime and help them consider whether this is what they want?
Hi Margot,
There are a number of people who are willing to step forward and DO something to help spread the word to as many individual UUs and congregations as possible. What would you like to sign up for? Can you recruit one other person to help?
What do you mean, “With young people most comfortable”? Can you share more? In my experience, young people are in the minority at General Assembly (both as participants and as voting delegates, though we often call on them for their volunteer leadership), and they often feel their voices are marginalized in those conversations.
Rebecca, or is it Karen?
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In light of the importance of this 2024 “remote vote,” I think we need to make sure, somehow, that there are no shenanigans involved in the voting and the reporting of same. I don’t know that there isn’t something “off” about this whole throwing out of the Seven Principles, and it will probably behoove us to look into it from all aspects, and proceed in a way that will assure that the process is completely transparent from this point on.
Of course there’s something “off”. It’s a hostile takeover, and has involved violations of both democratic principles and UU principles from the very beginning.
Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t get the sense from the comments here that it was considered a “hostile takeover,” although it seemed like that to me. I also didn’t get that idea from the seven to one voting in favor of tossing the principles out the window at the GA! Why would so many people be willing to abandon the foundation of Unitarian Universalism? So far, to me, there’s seems to be a lot of manipulation involved, enough to convince a vast majority of normally very smart UUs to do this ill-advised thing.
What kind of “shenanigans” do you imagine there could be, Terri?
I think there were probably shenanigans at this 2023 GA, i. e., I don’t believe the result was truly 80% for throwing the 7 Principles out the window and adopting the “6 Vibes.” From what I’ve heard, attendees have reported that they heard, over and over, that people were in favor of keeping the 7 Principles, and puzzled at the whole Article II situation. I would like to know how the vote was obtained, precisely, and I think we should gather descriptions of what was happening at that meeting, vote-wise, from as many attendees as possible. That kind of shenanigans,… Read more »
Is there any sense for what the changes UU’s have made already has done for membership? Is the influence of BLM and Crt drawing more congregants than it’s putting-off?
I just downloaded the 2023 Certified Congregational Data 6/30/23.
Members – 135,330, RE – 19,668. Total = 154,998
From the UUA website for 2020
Members – 152,921, RE – 34768. Total = 187,689
Thank you.
From 2010 to 2020 membership decreased yearly by between by about 1%. The drop between 2023 and 2020 is 11%.
Be sure to put these numbers into context of what is happening with mainline Protestant denominations and other comparable groups. These shifts are not just impacting Unitarian Universalism. Lots to learn!
From 2010 to 2020 membership decreased yearly by between by about 1%. The drop between 2023 and 2020 is 11%.
From 2010 to 2020 membership decreased yearly by about 1% a year. The drop between 2023 and 2020 is 11%.
I would like to attend the Jne 5th town hall, but haven’t found a way to register.
I regret I won’t be able to attend the debriefing. It will be 2 a m. here in France. I am nevertheless relieved and glad the town hall is being held and deliberation is continuing. I hope key relevant questions will be asked at the debriefing. I myself would especially wish to know the evidence available that a legitimate and fair democratic process was or was not practised in the rewriting of the 7 principles; that there was quorum, that all voting members were fully informed, that there was open accessible debate; that leaders were in non conflicting positions, and… Read more »
It seems that the purpose of the UUA and its member congregations is shifting from being a community for helping all people develop in understanding and caring for life to being a social justice organization. If the shift continues, I’d expect that the membership numbers will continue their precipitous decline. I’d also expect, and have witnessed, some “in”-fighting the likes of which will probably continue and drive many more away. In the end, the material and financial holdings of the UUA and perhaps many churches will be sold and the money turned over to social justice causes. The exemplar for… Read more »
The goal, and it’s not by minorities, is to destroy Unitarian Universalism. This is being attempted not by UUs, but by pretenders, as Dr. Todd Eckloff describes in his video, “Occupation of America’s Most Liberal Religion.” Well-meaning people are being used, thinking they are working toward the highest and greatest good, by the malignant narcissists at the UUA, to do the dirty work. We can resist this attempted dismantling by voting to save the Seven Principles in June of 2024 at GA, and letting as many people know of the tactics used by the rotten apples at the UUA so… Read more »