Amendment 10 to Article II - Proposed by Kathy Kerns

Bold underlining indicate insertion ; [brackets indicate deletion.]

10 Section C-2.2. [Values and Covenant.] Principles.

11 We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

12 - The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

13 - Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;

14 - Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

15 - A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

16 - The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;

17 - The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all;

18- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

19- Building diverse communities and working to dismantle racism and other oppressions in our world

20 Manifesting love in the world is one of our core values and a source and inspiration for living out our principles.

21 Our efforts to realize our principles and create Beloved Community are rooted in the spiritual discipline of love.

11 [As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant, congregation-to-congregation and through our

12 association, to support and assist one another in our ministries. We draw from our heritages of
13 freedom, reason, hope, and courage, building on the foundation of love.

14 Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are
15 accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual
16 discipline of Love.

17 Inseparable from one another, these shared values are:

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18 Image Description: This image is of a chalice with an overlay of the word love over the flame,
19 with six outstretched arms that create a circle around each of the core values and form a six
20 petal flower shape. Each arm is a different color and clockwise they are: Interdependence
21 (Orange), Equity (Red), Transformation (Purple), Pluralism Dark Blue), Generosity (Teal), and
22 Justice (Yellow).

23 Interdependence. We honor the interdependent web of all existence.
24 We covenant to cherish Earth and all beings by creating and nurturing relationships of care
25 and respect. With humility and reverence, we acknowledge our place in the great web of life,
26 and we work to repair harm and damaged relationships.

27 Pluralism. We celebrate that we are all sacred beings diverse in culture, experience, and
28 theology.
29 We covenant to learn from one another in our free and responsible search for truth and
30 meaning. We embrace our differences and commonalities with Love, curiosity, and respect.

31 Justice. We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive.
32 We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression. We support the use of
33 inclusive democratic processes to make decisions.

34 Transformation. We adapt to the changing world.
35 We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change
36 is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect.

37 Generosity. We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope.
38 We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our
39 generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.

40 Equity. We declare that every person has the right to flourish with inherent dignity and
41 worthiness.
42 We covenant to use our time, wisdom, attention, and money to build and sustain fully
43 accessible and inclusive communities.]

In case it is not clear, the intent is to add an 8th principle, add a statement about work grounded in love, and put this in place of the proposed covenant/values statement. The latter could have been retained but it would require substantial rewording to avoid sloppy overlap so my amendment removes them.

Some of the amendments that add back the 7 Principles (with or without an 8th) delete the entire Values&Covenant (as this one does), and others simply insert the 7 or 8 Principles back while retaining the rest of the proposed revised Article II (as my #49 does). I am on the fence about which direction to go - my thought on retaining the proposed Values is to honor the hard work of the Commission and those who are attached to the new wording, but I personally am not supportive of the graphic or the idea the new Values have more meaning than the 7 Principles.

That said, I support this amendment and any that retain the 7 Principles. If, after the dust settles at the GA, the proposed new Values are kept AND the 7 + 1 (or more) Principles are retained, there will be a lot of work for the Commission to revise and remove duplication across the updated sections. This is appropriate.

Lines 20 and 21 seem to me to say the same thing.

That was my struggle as well. I wanted to include more of their work, as I am grateful for what they did and the conversation that ensued. But, it has to have added value. Something could be drafted to complement the principles but that would be a lot of work, not sure if we can accomplish that at GA.

I took this from the Commission’s work, to include their language with only a slight tweak.

To those favoring amendments that weren’t prioritized or presented, or wishing to collaborate on new amendments: This forum is closing for comment tomorrow, but our lay-led public Facebook group, Blue Boat Passengers, will remain open for another few weeks for commenting (and still be viewable after that).

If you want to find people to coordinate with for the 15-congregation amendment process, you may use the group to do so while it remains open. There’s now a specific post for this in the group (“A post for those wishing to do the 15-congregation amendment process to coordinate”).

Please read both the rules and the pinned post about the pending suspension of the group before posting or commenting there.

Thanks.

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