Submission 135 Kara Stebbins UU Fellowship of Madison County (Richmond, KY) 3726
What is your suggestion or idea?
As a delegate for my fellowship, I will be submitting the specific language Amendments we suggest for each Section of the proposal.
However, one of my personal suggestions is not so much a suggestion for specific language as it is an idea for the general ““flavor”” of our Values & Covenants; it’s a poem, titled ““Revision of the Revision,”” which I hope I can upload here.
I offer my poem ““Revision of the Revision”” as a way to capture how I felt as I struggled to encourage my congregation to engage in a constructive Amendment process.
I think it also provides valuable context for the specific language suggestions my congregation eventually came up with, which will be submitted separately.
In a way it is also an offering of thanks to the Commission for all the hard work they have done - and thanks to all of the congregations who are continuing this hard work of building consensus.
Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?
I shared this poem with my congregation in an effort to give them a feeling of hope that we could work together to address their concerns. I don’t know if it helped them, but it helped me! And as a result, I was able to work more productively with them to come up with Amendments that seemed to address most of their concerns.
Thank you Kara! This poem is the most beautiful, uplifting thing I have seen here (in this article 2 debacle of a conversation). This represents I think the best of what a conversation on UU principles/values/core could look like, if they hadn’t railroaded us into an interpretation that most of us hadn’t been involved in.
Over 10,000 of us have been involved & all were invited into the process. This has been part of every GA & UU World for the past 2 years. Our board, not UUA staff, created a Commission at the direction of the delegates. The entire process was initiated by the grassroots 8th Principle project that delegates had been working towards being adopted. I understand being late to the party is difficult. And you’re here now. Your input is being solicited. Perhaps now is the time to engage in reflection, discernment, and suggestions.
Hi Debra, I get that from the perspective of those key UUA folks invovled from the start, the article 2 process has been extensive. I’m from a small, lay-led congregation in Canada, and I only heard about it Nov. 2022. I’ve tried to reflect and suggest, but you are right, I have been late to the party. By late 2022/ early 2023, the UU idea seems to have moved past anything one person could suggest to what the article 2 has become to the UUA. I tried to be engaged. And I feel like I failed.
It is hard. I commend your efforts. I missed out on the mini-assembles in May about Amendments because of foolishness in my home congregation. And I really admire and trust those who have been deeply engaged. And it is only for 17 years until we revise it again… Nothing that they will do will be something that we cannot course correct then. And I really like how we are shifting to a more active and accountable articulation of our faith. It is easy to say everyone has inherent worth and dignity. It is so much harder to build a faith community and world that makes that manifest. Stay the course. There are many of us on the path with you - unsure, curious, hopeful, and concerned. Sending love.
