Submission 376
Ostara Hollyoak
Channing Memorial Church, UU (Ellicott City, MD) 4040
What is your suggestion or idea?
Instead of this formatting:
Interdependence. We honor the interdependent web of all existence.
We covenant to cherish Earth and all beings by creating and nurturing relationships of care and respect. With humility and reverence, we acknowledge our place in the great web of life, and we work to repair harm and damaged relationships.
Something like this formatting for each of the six values:
Interdependence. We honor the interdependent web of all existence.
We covenant to cherish Earth and all beings by creating and nurturing relationships of care and respect. With humility and reverence, we acknowledge our place in the great web of life, and we work to repair harm and damaged relationships.
What is the reason for your amendment idea?
While co-facilitating a discussion about the proposed revision at our church, I mentioned, in an introductory vein, that the description of each of the six values begins with, “We [a strong verb] … [single sentence]; and that sentence is followed by, “We covenant to … [one or two sentences].”
To my surprise, others in the room had not noticed this pattern, and several people made a point to express how helpful it was to have this pointed out. When latecomers entered the room, I was asked to repeat the statement for their benefit. What I took from this experience was that bringing the pattern to light helped them see the structure of the values, and, hence, to feel less like the descriptions are lengthy, wordy, and without particular form.
One of our participants suggested that it would be helpful if the values section were formatted in a way that draws more attention to the pattern. This was discussed in some detail, with the main point being that further indentation would help. What I’ve done here is, essentially, an elaboration on that concept. In addition to a more pronounced indentation of the second sentence, I:
- Formatted the value label (“Interdependence” in the example) in larger font than in the current version;
- Formatted the phrases, “We [verb]” and “We covenant” in special font (I used Bodoni 72 Smallcaps,” but any font would work as long as it’s sufficiently distinctive and looks aesthetically pleasing in context— But I do like using the same font for both “We” phrases); and,
- Used different colors for each of the two phrases (I used green for the first phrase and blue for the second, but the specific colors are immaterial, as long as they’re used consistently for the first and second phrases throughout the six values.)
Have you discussed this idea with your congregation or other UUs?
Since the discussion session mentioned above (there were eight of us present), I haven’t had a chance to present this to others. I.e., I haven’t had the opportunity to present this precise formatting, visually, to other UUs.
