#251 | Kara Stebbins | Gratutude, Hope, and Giving

**Submission 251**

Kara Stebbins
UU Fellowship of Madison County (Richmond, KY) 3726

What is your suggestion or idea?

C2.2.g.

Generosity. We cultivate a spirit of gratitude***,*** and hope**, and giving**.

We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith values, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.

Amended Value without editing marks:

Generosity. We cultivate a spirit of gratitude*,* hope, and giving.

We freely and compassionately share our values, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.

What is the reason for your amendment idea?

Our Fellowship suggests that we (1) clarify how gratitude and hope are related to generosity by adding the word “giving,” (2) remove the religious word “covenant,” and (3) remove the word “faith” that makes it sound like we intend to proselytize and replace it with the word “values” - which after all is what this Section is all about!

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

Our Fellowship had a democratic approach to the Amendment process. While a straw poll indicated a slim majority would prefer to keep Article II as it is, the other votes indicated we should try to come up with Amendments that could conceivably change some “no” votes to “yes.” We began writing this Amendment in response to input from the Fellowship during two Sunday Services. We later word-smithed a suggested Amendment with our weekly zoom group. Finally, the full Fellowship had an opportunity to review this written Amendment. No objections were voiced.