Submission 235
Randy Converse
Prairie UU Society (Madison, WI) 53711
What is your suggestion or idea?
(1). In my opinion the purpose of any mission statement or policy statement is only to be a guideline for future actions of the organization. They get interpreted to help facilitate action when questions arise. Large amount of words and paragraphs only complicate their use.
Therefore the excessively wordy revision of Article II could make it cumbersome to use as a basis for any discussions.
The current version of Article II, on the other hand, is concise and simply organized.
This makes it easy to utilize to help guide discussions.
(2). I support the addition of the section entitled TRANSFORMATION. I feel one of the key strengths of UUism is its willingness to deal with the reality of change in our world.
What is the reason for your amendment idea?
To emphasize my feeling that Article II statements are not followed literally but get interpreted to facilitate actions of UU congregations. The current version of Article II is concisely organized so can be a better basis of interpretation than the overly wordy and complexly organized suggested revision. In my opinion the revised version is not.
Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?
Yes. Fellow members of Prairie UU Society, Madison, Wisconsin.
They felt the idea that Article II is not literal but in reality open to interpretation was worthy of more thought.