New Principles and Purposes

Did you know that our UU purposes, principles, and sources are being re-drafted? This includes more than the addition of the new language that was adopted by our congregation in June 2021 through the 8^th Principle. In fact, the entire article 2 in the UUA Bylaws is being rewritten with an eye towards the future of our faith.

Ours is a living tradition, which means that how we express what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist has changed over time. The six principles at the time of the merger between the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America in 1961, and the seven principles and six sources of 1985 are both significantly different.

In 2023, a new expression of our purposes, principles, and sources, will come before our UUA General Assembly for a vote in June. The new draft language (not the final draft language) is published and was created by the Article 2 Commission based on multiple meetings with Unitarian Universalists across the country.

We are all invited to give feedback on the draft language. The Article 2 Commission will then write the next draft, which will go to the UUA Board, and ultimately to the General Assembly.

There are two ways to give feedback. You can attend one of the online Zoom sessions between now and Monday, November 14^th, or you can write down your feedback on a Google Form by November 28^th, or you can do both.

This Sunday, November 13^th you can join me and Board Member, Leslie Pohl-Kosbau, in Elliot Chapel at 12:30pm to learn more, to review the current principles and the proposed new language, and to notice what remains constant and what has changed. You will notice, for example, that some of the language of the 8^th Principle is woven into this new draft.

May this effort to re-articulate what holds us together enliven, deepen, and broaden our faith. Make sure you take the time to take part by checking out the links below.

In faith,

Rev. Alison

The new proposed draft language of our Principles and Covenant can be found here:

Click to access article2_draft_language_102022.pdf

The current language of our Principles and Purposes can be found here:

Click to access articleii_present.pdf

You can read more from the Article 2 Commission at this link:

https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/article-ii-study-commission

Here are the links to register for the UUA Article 2 Commissions ZOOM meetings:

Here is the link for the online Google Form to offer feedback: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgJEx_L8VCBOrolhjfUYKkpWHUT9XBab1cKePxT7hHqpKXhw/viewform