#225 | Janet Bush | Covenant Only

Submission 225
Janet Bush
Unitarian Society of Northampton & Florence (Northampton, MA) 4816

What is your suggestion or idea?

Section c2.2 - Covenant Only

As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our association, to support and assist one another in our ministries, building on the foundation of love. We draw from our heritages of freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love.

Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. The love we invoke is the love known as agape. It is the love that creates justice, practices generosity, shows compassion, celebrates our differences and recognizes our interdependence. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love love.

What is the reason for your amendment idea?

This borrows from the Board FAQ to clarify some of what is meant by using the word ‘love,’ which is responsive to some suggestions here and may allay some of the concerns expressed by others. The last sentence seems redundant - heritage is addressed in the Inspirations section.

Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?

Yes - we’ve had many conversations in our congregation. People are generally positive about centering love, some want it better defined, and some are uneasy about capitalizing it.

2 Likes

I second the idea of striking the last sentence of the first paragraph, since that is redundant with the Inspirations section. My first response was to expand this sentence to include our spiritual and religious heritages, and that just increases the redundancy. Striking the sentence is a better way to go.

And, I applaud and am grateful for the work that went into defining love, which is the only value not already defined in the document. Thank you.