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Partner Church in Romania
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The Unitarian Church in Charleston(UCC) is partnered with the Unitarian Church of Küküllódombó in Ádámos county of the Mures district in central Transylvania, Romania (also known as Dâmbau on the Kükül River). As are most Unitarian congregations in Transylvania, the members are ethnically Hungarian, and speak Hungarian as their first language. The adage ""egy az isten georgyius musnai diakon", or "There is but one God" expresses the central tenet of the faith of these people in a church that was established in the late 1500s. UCC raises money to help with educational scholarships for the youth of the church that wish to attend the Unitarian High School located in Cluj.
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UUA General Assembly Issues
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UUA Social Witness Issues 2008
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Current Social Witness Issues
Determining What Proposed Congregational Study/Action Issues (CSAIs) Will Appear on the GA 2008 Agenda
The Congregational Poll closed as of February 1st. Its purpose was to receive congregational input on whether to post both, either, or neither of the two proposed Congregational Study/Action Issues on the GA 2008 agenda. Under new social witness bylaws, a 25% quorum of certified congregations must participate in this poll for the process to move forward. This quorum was surpassed, and congregations voted to move both proposed CSAIs onto the General Assembly (GA) 2008 Agenda. At GA in June 2008 the General Assembly delegates choose ETHICAL EATING as our next Congregational Study/Action Issue:
Ethical eating
At the Unitarian Universalist Association's General Assembly last month, delegates selected ethical eating as the next Congregational Study/Action Issue. It's also a popular topic among Untiarian Universalist bloggers.
Generva at "One Joy, One Sorrow," frames eating in moral terms (although without reference to General Assembly):
To see food as an ethical, moral, or mindful choice seems to move it from an automatic activity to an intentional one . . . to carefully consider everything we put into our bodies requires attention, action, and patience. And if we really are to tackle some of the larger issues that seem to hold our country back from ever-greater achievement and efficiency within the scope of food consumption and production, it seems being aware of how, what, when, why, and where we eat is a necessary and beneficial first step. (July 6, 2008)
To help Unitarian Universalists learn more about ethical eating, Plaidshoes at "Everyday Unitarian" recommends several relevant books. At "UUA View from Berkeley," UUA Pacific Central District trustee Linda Laskowski applauds the choice of ethical eating as the next CSAI. But Bill Baar at "Pfrarrer Streccius" warns that due to eating disorders, "eating is far far from a delight for more people than one would think" (June 29, 2008).
The current Congregational Study/Action Issue (2006-2010) is Peacemaking.
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Unitarian Universalist Denominational Affairs
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Unitarian Universalist Association Home Page: http://www.uua.org/
Unitarian Universalism emerged from two different religions: Unitarianism and Universalism. Both Unitarianism and Universalism started in Europe hundreds of years ago. The Universalist Church of America was founded by 1793, and the American Unitarian Association by 1825. In 1961, these denominations consolidated to form the new religion of Unitarian Universalism.
Thomas Jefferson District of UUA Home Page: http://www.tjd.uua.org/
We are part of the Thomas Jefferson District of the UUA:
The Thomas Jefferson District is comprised of 62 congregations which includes members in North and South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia.
9704 Mallard Creek Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28262-9738
(704) 549-0750
(toll-free) (800) 549-0751
(fax toll-free) (866) 648-6928
Annette Marquis, District Executive
amarquis@uua.org
| Report from Anna Olsen, TJD Trustee to the UUA |
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| UUA October 15-19 Board Meeting |
November 7, 2008 |
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This October meeting was a very exciting one for many reasons and rather than trying to walk you through our schedule, I am trying to give you just the summary and impact of what I experienced. I am always torn when writing to you to try making it interesting for you and not just listing what we did. You can always go to the UUA web site and read our complete schedule, packet of information for each meeting and minutes posted by the executive vice president (Kay Montgomery) about a month after the meeting. It is very interesting to read about your association. Go to: UUA Board
The UUA board meeting was extended by one day in order to allow us time to do more work on governance. We tried to do all of our normal board business and added meetings with several District Presidents, a group from Congregationally Based Community Organizing, and the Executive Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Minister's association. The purpose of these meetings was to get input from them about the vision they have for the UUA. Most of Friday we worked to draft statements of our values, a mission statement and who we are accountable to ("owners" in Policy Governance language). We also traveled on Saturday to Worcester, MA to meet with the New England Region fall conference. We presented the statements which we had developed and collected their feedback.
Now is an incredible time to serve on the UUA Board because we are doing very important work in setting a vision for the future. Of course this vision is based on the input from the last two General Assemblies when you may have attended the Open Space sessions and the Appreciative Inquiry session. We collected input from others at this meeting and now I need feedback from you. Here are the draft statements of values, mission and owners (those to whom we are accountable). Please read them with thoughts about what it means to you to be a Unitarian Universalist and what you think the UUA should be seeking to affirm and promote.
UUA Board Draft Statements for Policy Governance
Values
Wonder
Connection
Transformation
Mission
Grounded in our covenantal tradition, the UUA will inspire people to lead lives of humility and purpose, connection and service, thereby transforming themselves and the world.
Owners
~Our member congregations
~Generations of UU's
~The highest ideals of Unitarianism, Universalism,
and Unitarian Universalism
~The vision of beloved community
~The spirit of life and love or the holy spirit.
I suggest that you use these statements in your newsletter or order of service and invite feedback. Your feedback can be collected and sent to me. I will also be inviting you to a tele-conference on December 9th to present the process we used to develop these statements and listen to your feedback. Information will be sent later about the phone contact for the conference.
Anti-Racism/Anti-Opression/Multiculturalism Monitoring and Assessment Team
This committee, of which I am a member, worked on a code of conduct for interpersonal relationships. Our draft has been given to the board and the executive committee will consider how to deal with violations of the code if it is accepted. We will be visiting it again in January.
Working Groups
The groups were only given two hours to meet because of the work we needed to do on governance. The Association Working group brought forward recommendations for a new election process for the UUA President and Moderator. Under consideration is terms for 6 years versus 4 years and if the Moderator and President elections should be staggered rather than during the same years. These are new recommendations and would not effect the elections next June since it will require bylaw changes which are voted on during a GA. The Growth Working group and the Congregations Working group met to discuss, "What is a congregation?" Since the Pew Survey reports that basically 3% of adults in the US identify as UU, and other surveys indicate that there are 400,000-500,000 self-identified UU's, how are we responsible to them? What is the role of the internet to form communities of people able to worship and do good works, as well as contribute to our Association? Could we be seen as a movement? and what are the implications of how we use our resources and increase our impact?
Motions Passed
- Accept Interweave Continental into Independent Affiliate status.
- Approve that the GA 2009 fees be as recommended by GA Planning Committee.
- Make the GA budget a separate segment of UUA budget beginning in 2010.
- Reduce impact on the environment by committing to reduce travel and use technology in Board work where possible.
- Direct the Executive Vice President to seek advice of legal counsel to assist the Board in its January deliberations about the elections process for President and Moderator.
- Approve moving the membership of the UU fellowship in Murfreesboro, TN from the Thomas Jefferson District to the Mid-South District.
Thomas Jefferson District Activities
From June into December I have or will be visiting 13 congregations and have committed to 6 next year. When I promised to visit every congregation, I did not envision the great effect this would have on me. How wonderful to be with members of congregations who share with me their challenges and success experiences. I feel very blessed by every congregation that I have visited (about one third of the district) and look forward to visiting the rest. Please contact me with requests, questions and feedback. It is an honor to represent this District and the UUA.
Have a wonderful fall and a grand Thanksgiving!
Anna Olsen, aolsen@uua.org , (828) 301-7673
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UUA Social Witness Issues 2008
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| Prepare for important 2009 GA elections |
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Next June's UUA General Assembly in Salt Lake City will be a watershed event in the history of Unitarian Universalism. Voting delegates from the Association's more than one thousand congregations will elect a new president, moderator, and financial advisor as well as members of decision-making boards, commissions, and committees. As with the national political elections taking place this year, UUA elections will focus on a variety of issues as well as the candidates' experience and approaches to leadership.
Please take a few minutes to get to know each of the candidates for president, moderator, and financial advisor by visiting the UUA's election website and joining the UUA Election-l email list. Managed by Election Campaign Practices Committee Chair John Gibbons and UUA Secretary Paul Rickter, the list is a neutral place for open discussion of the 2009 UUA elections for President, Moderator, Financial Advisor, and other positions that will be elected at 2009 General Assembly.
To subscribe to election-l, go to lists.uua.org - election-l. And for information on UUA elections, visit aboutus/governance/elections.
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Our Denominational Affairs Leader
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