August 2009

Delegates appreciated The Reverend Bill Sinkford for his eight years as President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and elected The Reverend Peter Morales as the eighth UUA President. Peter comes to the Presidency with rich experiences: minister of the UU congregation in Golden, Colorado, UUA staff, state government, newspaper editor and publisher, partner and parent. He grew up in a Spanish speaking household, and he has lived and worked in Peru and Spain. He is visionary and energetic in proclaiming our Unitarian Universalist faith as a religion for our times, for our pluralistic society.

In her charge at Peter's installation as President, UUA Moderator Gini Courter asked the holy spirit, the human spirit to “help us invite our leaders to make us uncomfortable and discontented, to challenge our privilege, our cynicism, our arrogance, our complacency, to trouble our hearts so we will see the gap between the world that is and the paradise that should be, to help us expect much of our leaders, but even more of ourselves.”

At General Assembly, poet and activist Sonia Sanchez spoke at Ministry Days of the impact of love and gratitude. The act of speaking words shows the condition of our souls. Our words have an impact on the body, the soul, and on others. The words we speak to one another in our homes, in our board meetings, she said, have vibrations that affect the world.

Barbara attended a workshop “iMinistry” which calls us to use technology's possibilities for creating more moments of connection and ministry and challenges us to participate in the spiritual practice of taking time to fast from email.

Bill was elected President Designate of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association. He spent the week in meetings, a time of learning, growing and leadership development. What Bill learns working with the UUMA Executive Committee will strengthen his ministry here at home with members serving and ready to serve as leaders.

General Assembly includes UU University, nine hours of in-depth, interactive learning. Six tracks were offered for exploration of these topics: Governance, Justice, Multicultural, Multigenerational, Stewardship, and Theology. Barbara attended the Multicultural Track. Other representatives from UUCB participated in other tracks, and we purchased the DVDs of all six tracks to share with you.

Unitarian Universalists rallied with interfaith representatives in downtown Salt Lake City to witness to immigrant families and the injustices they face. UUs wore T shirts and carried banners with the message, “Standing on the Side of Love.”

Check out the UUA's website uua.org to experience more of the energy and inspiration of General Assembly and Unitarian Universalism. We're not a congregation alone but connected to a wider movement.

Together may we grow our souls and serve our world.

With love and gratitude,

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