Gini Courter thanks all who took part in elections

UUA Moderator Gini Courter, who was elected to a second full term at the General Assembly in Salt Lake City June 27, sent the following letter to the UUA's Election-L email list on June 29 expressing her gratitude for the candidates and everyone else who took part in denominational elections this year:

I'm thankful for...

the campaign teams , whose skills and dedication gave the candidates a presence in local congregations that was barely imaginable eight years ago

the supporters, whose contributions of time, money, and love informed and encouraged both candidates

thoughtful UUs who reviewed materials, visited web sites, attended forums, and asked challenging questions

the diligence and care shown by Paul Rickter, Secretary of the Association, while managing the election process

I'm grateful to....

Laurel Hallman and Peter Morales, who shared their visions for our faith broadly and passionately, and who allowed their visions to be shaped and refined by their interactions with us

our congregations, who elected the Reverend Peter Morales to serve as the eighth President of our Association

I promise to continue to...

lead transparently with integrity and passion,

always hold the needs and possibilities of our Association first in my thoughts and actions as Moderator,

work with Peter as we have already begun to work: with collaboration, candor, and joy.

In faith,
Gini Courter, Moderator
Unitarian Universalist Association

Official 2009 UUA election results

Here's a PDF of the official final vote count in this year's UUA elections, showing vote totals by on-site and absentee ballots for all races.

Courter apologizes for missing post-election event

UUA Moderator Gini Courter apologized to the General Assembly during her annual report Sunday afternoon for not attending a post-election celebration Saturday night. Some delegates had interpreted her absence as a slight on newly-elected President Peter Morales, since she had endorsed his opponent, the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman, but she told delegates that was not her intent.

Courter told the plenary session:

Being moderator is a great honor for me. The care that you entrust me with when I'm paying attention puts me in awe. So I want to begin with an apology for not being here with you last night. . . . My nights at GA are pretty short, so I got in the habit several years ago of not attending the Ware Lecture. I simply go and work on the things I'm doing today, and it's an evening I have off. . . .

So last night I came over for that wonderful worship service when the election results were announced, and then I scooted backstage and picked up my backpack and headed back to my hotel room and set up my computer and got some email and started typing and writing some things some things that you're going to hear later this evening, and then I went down to hotel lobby and somebody said, "There you are!" And I said, "Where did you expect me to be?" And they said, "Well, there were several thousand people waiting for you to show up with the other candidates afterwards." It is never my intention to no-show you, and it is so unlike me to do it at night. . . .

You have my deepest apologies for not being here with you yesterday evening. I wish I had been here for that celebration. (Flash video; Courter's report starts at 2:31:00)

She also posted an apology to her blog Monday evening.

(Full disclosure: This reporter had expected the candidates to speak during the 8:00 post-election worship service, and also didn't realize that the candidates were going to speak at 10:00. I had to run from the Electronic Communications Center to the convention center ballroom when someone close to one of the campaigns informed me that the candidates would be speaking.)

Trustees start awkwardly, but seek common vision

After a mid-morning break, the UUA Board of Trustees—which is meeting for the first time with newly-elected UUA President Peter Morales—acknowledged that they started awkwardly this morning. "We started weird," Moderator Gini Courter said.

The Rev. Jeanne Pupke, a newly elected trustee-at-large, said she was concerned that a statement read by the Rev. Will Saunders at the start of this morning's meeting had seemed to say to Morales, "sit down and shut up." She added, "Our president was duly elected and has a lot of support." Although she had supported the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman's candidacy, Pupke said, she was eager to work with Morales and wanted to welcome him.

The Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, the board's chaplain and trustee from the Metropolitan New York District, said that she had invited Saunders to offer a statement during this morning's meeting in order to focus the board on its need to embrace a common vision after the divisions of the campaign season. (About half of the trustees had endorsed each of the candidates for president, but Saunders had remained neutral in the race.) McNatt said she regretted not thinking more about when such a statement would have been most useful on today's agenda.

Morales said that he recognized that "that was not an attack on me." He added, "Having spent eleven years in journalism, I have a thicker skin than most people."

Courter said that she hadn't read Saunders's statement in advance and "was regretting where it ended up being positioned."

"We started weird," Courter observed. "Just because I don't know what to do with the elephant in the room doesn't mean you don't," she said to her colleagues. "This is a board with a very deep culture, and some of it will not be evident, and some of it has nothing to do with the current president of the UUA, or even with the previous president or the president before that. And I hear Peter saying that he knows it's not about him."

Board welcomes Morales, asks about new relationship

After each trustee briefly introduced himself or herself at this morning Board of Trustees meeting in Salt Lake City, UUA Moderator Gini Courter said, "I don't know if you're as excited as I am, but please welcome our new president, Peter Morales." The trustees applauded and cheered.

Morales offered a few reflections on the campaign. "Happily," he said, "the discussion was not about competence nor was it really about personality. I'm delighted about that." He said he interpreted the election results as a mandate for ambitious action. Unitarian Universalists "really want us, as their leaders, to be ambitious about moving into the future."

Morales said he would be traveling to Boston next week to hold initial conversations with Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery, to look for an apartment, and to begin setting up a travel schedule. "My head's still spinning," he said, "but I'm anxious to shift gears and make this transition."

He then invited questions from the trustees.

David Friedman, the trustee from the St. Lawrence District, asked how Morales planned to respond to travel invitations. Morales replied that he hoped to be "as strategic about it as possible, looking for ways to move the vision forward." He said he would be accepting invitations from diverse regions and speak in "venues that have some leverage to them," but added that this would not restrict him to large congregations or gatherings.

Tom Loughrey, the new UUA secretary and trustee from the Pacific Southwest District*, asked about staff anxieties about a new administration. Morales said he would meet soon with the UUA's staff and Leadership Council. "I've been through this drill before," he said. "There's always some anxiety—and it's not all bad. There's a kind of anxiety that brings heightened awareness. My style is, I don't come in with a submachine gun and shoot the place up. But there will be some changes."

"I like to talk about the distinction between anxiety and panic," Morales continued. "A certain kind of urgency can be invigorating and healthy. I want to bring some of that atmosphere into the Association."

Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery said that the staff has been anxious on two fronts: feeling grief about former President William G. Sinkford's departure, and feeling relatively unfamiliar with either of the candidates for president. "I want to affirm Peter's comments that a certain amount of urgency and anxiety will be healthy," she added.

Linda Laskowski, trustee from the Pacific Central District, asked Morales what makes the relationship between a board and chief executive work well.

Morales replied that he saw no conflict between his and the board's values and goals. "I see Policy Governance as a means toward our ends, a way of achieving certain values."

He continued: "The values that appeal to me are real clarity about roles, transparency and accountability—I'm totally committed to that. I'm someone who believes that secrets are terrible things; one has to have a compelling reason for something to be confidential—personnel issues, litigation—and I am committed to this administration being as absolutely transparent as possible."

Morales said, "I don't believe there are any significant differences between the values I've been campaigning for and the values the board is focused on. I don't see any misalignment with the board." He added that, in general, "a lack of disagreement bothers me; I see it is not as a sign of health."

John Blevins, the trustee from the Prairie Star District, asked how Morales intended to begin a conversation about arriving at shared vision with the board. Morales replied, "One advantage we have is that Laurel and I have been [attending board meetings] for a while. I feel like I'm part of the board culture. I kind of know what you think already. Also, I don't pretend to have all the answers."

Nick Allen, the youth trustee, asked about Morales's plans to meet with UUA leaders. Morales said he and Kay Montgomery will sit down to talk next week. Courter said she and Morales will talk by phone next week as well.

Lew Phinney, trustee from the Mountain Desert District, responded to the Rev. Will Saunders's concern in his opening statement (mentioned in the preceding blog post) that the board was too invisible. "Unfortunately, we disagree. I see the role of the board as being largely invisible if everything is going well. If something is not going well, the board has dropped the ball or something has intervened and we have to get involved." He asked, "Should we be out there in front leading the parade, or sitting back and watching the parade we launched?"

Morales replied, "That's the board's to talk about and decide, not mine." He added as an observation that he knew who was the president of each college his children attended, but did not know who was on the board of either school. "I hope the board doesn't set a target that's unattainable."

Correction 7.1.09: As originally published, this blog entry left out part of the name of the district represented by trustee Tom Loughrey. Click here to return to the corrected paragraph.

UUA Board gathers with newly elected president

The UUA Board of Trustees is meeting this morning with newly installed UUA President Peter Morales in Salt Lake City.

At the opening of this morning's meeting, the Rev. Will Saunders, the trustee from the New England District, told Morales that the UUA's governance was "at a crossroads." (The UUA begins operating under a modified form of Policy Governance on July 1.) Saunders lamented the "invisibility of the board" and said he looked forward to a unified board and administration with a single vision. "The president's vision is irrelevant unless it is also the board's vision," Saunders said.

The Rev. Elizabeth Greene, trustee from the Pacific Northwest District, responded to Saunders. "As an individual, I would have said different things. I would have said, Welcome! If you have a different vision than I have, let's talk about it and work together."

Moderator Gini Courter then said, "Yes, let's do the welcoming thing." Turning to Morales at her right, Courter said, "It's good to have you here."

Later in the meeting, the board will be talking about its new relationship with the president under the new governance system.

General Assembly is over, but our coverage continues

With a benediction from President Peter Morales, the 2009 General Assembly has concluded—but UU World will continue to publish news related to the General Assembly here at the General Assembly blog and in our regular weekly news coverage. Watch for full reports on the presidential election and General Assembly business over the course of the next week at uuworld.org—and sign up for uuworld.org's weekly email newsletter.

The magazine's full coverage of General Assembly will appear in the Fall issue.

Peter Morales installed as UUA president

The Rev. William G. Sinkford has given a charge to his successor as UUA president, the Rev. Peter Morales, quoting from each of his surviving predecessors in the office. Sinkford then took the stole he had been wearing and placed it on Peter. The Rev. Victoria Safford has led the General Assembly in laying hands on and blessing President Morales. He sits beside Sinkford, with his wife and daughter behind him, and the Board of Trustees and other leaders surrounding them. Moderator Gini Courter is now leading the congregation in a prayer with a sung response led by the choir.

Saying goodbye to Sinkford, welcoming new leaders

During the closing ceremonies of the 2009 General Assembly, UUA Executive Vice President has just thanked the Rev. William G. Sinkford for his ministry as president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Newly elected trustees and members of elected committees and commissions are now making a covenant with the delegates in the plenary hall, effectively their oath of office. President-Elect Peter Morales will be formally installed shortly.

A few final figures from the 2009 General Assembly

The General Assembly raised $29,726 in Sunday morning's collection for the Salt Lake City Pride Center.

UUA Secretary Paul Rickter reported Sunday afternoon that 1,991 delegates attended the General Assembly this year, including 1,545 member delegates, 416 ministerial delegates, and three credentialed religious educator delegates from 582 congregations. One hundred forty-five youth attended. The total registered attendance was 3,385.

Resolution calls for inquiry into African visa denials

Dale Hill, from River Road UU Congregation in Bethesda, Md., proposed a responsive resolution in response to President Sinkford's report on his trip to Africa and his introduction of two African UU leaders. Hill observed that both African men had been granted visas by the U.S. government, but that eight African women who had applied for visas to attend the International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women were turned down. The resolution asks the UUA staff to make inquiries with the U.S. government about the reasons for rejecting the women's visas while granting the men's. The resolution passed.

(I'm posting this out of sequence; the General Assembly passed this resolution prior to the longer debate about the Mosaic Project.)

Assembly rejects proposal to delay Mosaic Project

Finley C. Campbell, a member of First Unitarian Church of Chicago who called himself an "Old Black Dude, '34," offered a responsive resolution urging the UUA to delay implementation of the "Mosaic Project," an assessment of the ministry needs of youth and young adults of color. Campbell said that the Mosaic report calls for mandatory racial caucusing. His resolution also called for the UUA to declare itself a "multiracial" religion. A long line of opponents argued that the Mosaic report does not mandate racial segregation and that the report expresses the experiences and needs of people of color. The resolution failed by a wide margin.

G.A. responds to failed Article II revision

Delegates brought a variety of responsive resolutions to the final plenary of the 2009 General Assembly in response to the Commission on Appraisal's proposed revision of Bylaw Article II (the "Principles and Purposes").

The Rev. Wendy von Zirpolo, president of UU Allies for Racial Equity and minister from Marblehead, Mass., and the Youth Caucus proposed a responsive resolution that asked the Board of Trustees to offer an amendment at the next possible General Assembly that would replace the current "Non Discrimination" clause (Section C-2.3) with the "Inclusion" clause (Section C-2.4) offered in the Commission on Appraisal's proposed revision of Article II. Delegates had voted down the Commission's full proposal, but expressed frustration that they couldn't vote on specific pieces of the proposal. This responsive resolution would urge the board to offer one of those pieces. The resolution passed.

The Rev. James A. Hobart, minister emeritus of the First Unitarian Church of Denver and a member of UU Allies for Racial Equity, proposed a second responsive resolution that committed delegates to act on the pledges in the Commission's proposed "Inclusion" clause (Section C-2.4) and to report on their congregations' actions before the next General Assembly. The resolution passed.

Elizabeth Yoss of the First Parish of Lexington, Mass, proposed a responsive resolution that asked the Board of Trustees to review Article XV C-15.1, the section of the bylaws that forbids the General Assembly to amend proposed revisions to Article II. The resolution passed.

The Rev. Robert Klein, minister from Little Rock, Ark., proposed a responsive resolution that asks the Board to encourage ongoing discussion about the Principles and Purposes "until such time as further revisions may be presented to the General Assembly." The resolution passed.

Amy Kelly, from First Unitarian Society of San Francisco, proposed a responsive resolution that commends an ad hoc volunteer group to the Board that wishes to continue revising the text that the Commission on Appraisal had offered. This resolution generated considerable conversation about whether an ad hoc volunteer group should be authorized to conduct work for the Association. The resolution failed.

G.A. opposes violence against sexual minorities in Iraq

The General Assembly has adopted Action of Immediate Witness 6, "Oppose Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity-Based Violence in Iraq," which urges UUs to pressure the U.S. government to work with the United Nations to protect the rights of sexual minorities in Iraq.

Delegates call for commission of inquiry into U.S. torture

Delegates to the UUA General Assembly have just adopted Action of Immediate Witness 5, "U.S.-Sponsored Torture: A Call for a Commission of Inquiry," which endorses the National Religious Campaign Against Torture's call for commission of inquiry.

Delegates support Bolivian UU human rights struggle

Delegates are adopting Actions of Immediate Witness so quickly we're falling just a bit behind here in the blogging department!

The General Assembly adopted Action of Immediate Witness 4, "Support Bolivian UUs Struggling for Justice and Human Rights." The AIW expresses the General Assembly's support for Bolivian UU leader Olga Flores Bedregal, who has been calling on her government to provide information about victims of disappearance by the country's military government, and calls on UUs to write to the Bolivian ambassador urging the country to establish a truth commission to investigate human rights violations.

General Assembly supports Red Rock Wilderness Act

The UUA General Assembly has just adopted Action of Immediate Witness 3, "In Support of America's Red Rock Wilderness Act," which calls for the passage of S 799/HR 1925 to protect Utah's "spectacular and irreplaceable wild lands."

Delegates urge ratification of nuclear test ban treaty

Delegates to the UUA General Assembly have just adopted Action of Immediate Witness 2, "U.S. Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," which urges the United States Senate to ratify a treaty that the United States signed in 1996.

General Assembly supports fair elections legislation

Delegates have just adopted Action of Immediate Witness 1, "Advocate Pending Legislation Toward Clean, Honest and Fair Elections in the United States." The AIW supports current bills—HR 2894, HR 1826, and S 751-752—and proposes nine amendments that would strengthen HR 2894.

Initial press coverage of Morales's victory

The Salt Lake Tribune and Denver Post each report on the election of the Rev. Peter Morales as UUA president. The UUA General Assembly, where Morales was elected, is being held in Salt Lake City; Morales has been serving as senior minister of Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colo.

UUA elects Colorado pastor as president (Salt Lake Tribune, 6.27.09)

Unitarians elect golden [sic] pastor to presidency (Denver Post, 6.28.09)

President-Elect Morales address General Assembly

UUA President-Elect Peter Morales addressed the General Assembly for the first time during an election celebration Saturday night at the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association. A transcription of his remarks follows:

Mercifully, the election is over. [Laughter] Laurel and I joked—but there was much seriousness to it— the carbon footprint would have been less if we just took turns going to the forums, because we could deliver each other's stump speeches and answer any questions that came up on the campaign trail. [Laughter] And truly we spent, for some time, much more time with one another than we did with our families and loved ones. I thank her very much, and her supporters, who were spirited and gave, and may that be a source of strength for us all. [Applause]

My remarks are going to be brief tonight because I'm too delirious to be coherent for any length of time. [Laughter]

I believe firmly that religion is much more about what we love than about what we think. And all of us—all of us—love the same things: We love compassion, freedom, stewardship of the earth, religious community, spiritual depth—and therefore we have one religion.

In the nature of a campaign we try to highlight the differences, but the truth is that what unites us is so, so very much more important than anything that is dividing us.

We have a big challenge. I talked about it and put out a very ambitious kind of agenda. It's going to take all of us, all of us. This campaign is about and has been about taking our movement and realizing its potential, and that will happen when the commitment and the idealism and the energy of all of us, in over a thousand congregations, is unleashed. So it is time that we let our people go. [Applause]

The challenges are enormous—and we can do this. We are smart enough, and committed enough. We can make a tremendous difference. We can grow this faith, and be a far more powerful voice for all of those things that we care about.

So tonight I ask you to rededicate yourselves to this faith that we all love, and hand in hand—as I'm fond of saying, mano y mano—let us go forward together. Thank you very much. [Applause]

Morales: 'We have this amazing potential'

In a brief conversation with UU World and members of the UUA's Communications staff shortly after he was named President-Elect on Saturday, June 27, the Rev. Peter Morales praised his opponent and identified some key goals of his administration.

Morales said, "To get to where we want to go requires all of us, and we need [the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman's supporters'] commitment, their enthusiasm, their passion, and their vision. I also particularly want to say that I fully appreciate Laurel's consistent emphasis on spiritual depth, on the creation of profound covenant in communities, and also her deep passion for retaining our youth and young adults."

Asked where he would like to take Unitarian Universalism in the next four to eight years, Morales said, "I want to grow our faith, to reach all those people who are looking for nondogmatic, liberal religious community. I look forward to working with partners in many other progressive and justice-seeking religious groups. There are tremendous issues that we'll be facing in the coming years and we're going to need one another." He pointed to Friday's interfaith rally for immigrant families as an example, which brought Mormon, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and Unitarian Universalist leaders and laypeople together.

Morales described what Unitarian Universalism has to offer to the world. "The number of people who are already in agreement with us—not just in an intellectual sense, but in complete harmony with our core values—is enormous. The breadth of our message is very appealing, but we need to become more culturally diverse in our forms of expression in order to reach the millions of people who share our theology and values. We've tended, because of our particular history, to have a narrow range of expression. I so want to see our faith become much more multicultural and open to other ways of expressing the same fundamental values."

Did he expect to win? "I had no idea," he said. "We thought momentum was on our side," but he said the final vote count "really surprised me."

"We were underdogs for sure," Morales continued. "I started out a good year and a half after Laurel, and understood that she was very well funded, and also that four or five other people had considered it and declined to run. So it was a daunting undertaking, we had no illusions about that."

"I hope, and believe, that people resonated with the call to take our faith to a place it has not yet been, although we have this
amazing potential. The consistent message of our campaign was that we could be much, much more. We need to
make some adjustments because we live in a time of tremendous change. There's an enormous demographic shift going on."

Laurel Hallman's speech at election celebration

The Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman, who lost to the Rev. Peter Morales today in her bid to become president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, addressed the General Assembly Saturday night. Her comments are transcribed below:

Thank you. I congratulate Peter and his campaign staff for all they have done and for their success. I thank all of you who have paid attention to this election, participating in candidate forums all across the country—Peter and I are bonded forever: We have been to thirty-three of them—reading and commenting on Election-L and various blogs. I believe that you've heard what we've been saying, and that each campaign, in the appropriate process that is the democratic process, each campaign has been influenced by the other.

So we have each been forced through the implications of what we have been saying and what the other candidate was saying, and we are both different because of it. This can only be good for our beloved faith. [Applause]

Well, this campaign has mostly been a joyful journey. [Laughs] It has had some harrowing moments. But I will be happy to put it behind me now, to regather our liberal religious movement together from two hard-working campaigns back into one free faith, one association of free congregations, all of us united by our love for Unitarian Universalism. We are united by our determination to widen its reach and strengthen its impact, and by our wish for as many people as possible to experience the saving power of our free faith that has saved so many of us.

I am grateful to Peter for lifting up the issues he has, and for being good company as we've toured the country, all over, telling all of you our dreams for this faith that all of us love.

Many people have told us that they feel lucky that Unitarian Universalism had two people this year so dedicated to our faith that we were willing to campaign and possibly serve as president.

I am more grateful than I can say to the people of First Unitarian Church of Dallas that generously gave me time and space to do this campaign, and to all the colleagues and friends who encouraged me to seek the presidency and supported me every step of the way. I couldn't have done it without you, I have been enriched by the journey, and I thank you all.

Morales wins UUA presidency decisively

UUA President-elect Peter Morales won the UUA presidency decisively with 59 percent of all votes. He won 55 percent of the absentee vote (1,020 to 827) and 61 percent of the on-site vote (1,041 to 654). His margin of victory is 580 votes. Seven ballots were disqualified for discrepancies; one vote was cast for "No."

Outgoing UUA President William G. Sinkford won by the largest margin of any UUA president in a contested race when he was first elected in 2001. Sinkford won that election with 67.7 percent (2,218 to 1,043).

Official: Morales elected eighth UUA president

UUA Secretary Paul Rickter has just declared in a worship service celebrating the elected leaders of the UUA: "I can announce that we have elected as the eighth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations the Rev. Peter Morales."

Peter Morales elected UUA president

The Rev. Peter Morales has been elected the next president of the Unitarian Universalist Association by a vote by 2,061 to 1,481.

Votes still being counted in UUA presidential race

Unitarian Universalists are waiting for an announcement of the winner in the 2009 UUA presidential election. At 7:00 p.m. MDT, votes are still being counted. An hour from now, a formal announcement of the winner is expected in the General Assembly plenary hall, but we will publish the election results as soon as we hear them.

Voters line up in UUA presidential election

Today is election day in the Unitarian Universalist Association, as delegates to the General Assembly cast their ballots for president of the UUA. Polls are open from noon until 5:30 p.m. MDT; although a winner will be formally announced at 8:00 p.m. MDT, UU World will announce the winner as soon as UUA Secretary Paul Rickter and UUA Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery confirm the outcome sometime after 6:00.

Here are some scenes from the voting area this afternoon:



Signs in the General Assembly Exhibit Hall lead delegates to the polling place.



An usher divides delegates into two lines, based on their congregation's state. Long lines formed promptly at noon.



Delegates formed long lines in the Exhibit Hall as they waited to cast their ballots.



Delegates put their completed ballots in the ballot boxes. At 5:30, the ballots will be scanned and then special software will count the votes on the scanned ballots. More than 1,800 absentee ballots will also be counted at that time.

Alice Blair Wesley receives Distinguished Service Award

During Saturday morning's plenary session, the Rev. Burton Carley presented the Rev. Alice Blair Wesley, a UU minister and author, with the UUA's 2009 Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism.

Reading from the citation, Carley said, "Alice is fiercely loyal to the free church and the congregational way. She constantly invites us to right relationship with one another through covenant."

He continued, "She has constantly called attention to the wisdom of the people in the pews and reminded us how we are gathered so that we might grow in love. Her candor, insight, and scholarship have blessed our congregations. And, indeed, our movement is stronger due to Alice’s unfailing persistence."

The annual Award for Distinguished Service is one of the Association's most prestigious awards. It honors UUs who "over a considerable period of time, have strengthened the institutions of our Unitarian Universalist denomination or clarified our message in an extraordinary way."

Accepting the award, Wesley thanked the UUA trustees, and said, "I was pleased to be told in May this honor was coming—and flummoxed. I never expected any such thing. Whatever I have done, usually the hard way, I could not have done but for others’ unlikely urging and support."

From 1978 to 1995, Wesley worked as a parish minister, serving congregations in Texas, New Jersey, and Maryland. Since retiring from parish ministry she has continued to be engaged with Unitarian Universalism, researching, writing, and speaking particularly on how covenantal theology remains at the heart of the Unitarian Universalist movement.

As the selected speaker for the Minns Lectures in 2000 and 2001, Wesley delivered a series of six lectures over 18 months on the topic of covenant. Meadville Lombard Theological School published the lectures as Our Covenant in 2002. She is also the author of the popular Myths of Time and History and wrote the introduction to The Cambridge Platform, published in 2008 by Skinner House Books. Wesley has written articles and poems for numerous publications, including UU World, the Register/Leader, the UU Christian, Kairos, Faith and Freedom, the Meadville/Lombard Reader, and the UU Ministers Association’s Selected Essays.

Wesley, who lives with her husband in Bellevue, Wash., and Allentown, Pa., has been an active leader in the Joseph Priestley District Women and Religious Committee, the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, Unitarian Universalist Advance, and the International Association for Religious Freedom.

Concluding her acceptance speech, Wesley told the General Assembly, "Free churches by nature have it in them to be a light to the world. They have changed history for the better and shall. They are the world's best hope. If I could start all over trying to strengthen our free churches, I would. I pray that you beloved people will do so far better than I."

Keep up with all media coverage of GA

UUA.org's Press Room includes links to all media coverage of the Unitarian Universalist Association's General Assembly in Salt Lake City, along with press releases issued by the UUA.

Amendment to Article II fails

By a very close vote, the motion to amend Article II of the UUA Bylaws has failed. The final vote was 573 for and 586 against.

Tellers are counting votes on Article II revision

After more than an hour of debate about the Commission on Appraisal's proposed revision to Article II of the UUA Bylaws, Moderator Gini Courter has called for a counted vote on the question. Tellers are counting the pro votes, and will begin counting con votes.

The arguments largely tracked the discussion at last night's miniassembly. The Young Adult Caucus joined the Youth Caucus in affirming the Commission's amendment, praising its Inclusion and Right Relationship clause.

Many delegates stepped to the procedural microphone to ask for clarification about how the amendment process can be changed.

Moderator Gini Courter suggested that the Board of Trustees would bring an amendment to Bylaw 15, which disallows any amendments to a proposed revision of Article II.

Discontent with revision to Article II

Critics of the Commission on Appraisal's proposed revision to Article II of the UUA Bylaws—the "Principles and Purposes"—expressed frustrations with the proposal during a Friday evening session in the General Assembly plenary hall.

Although a handful of people, including a delegation from the Youth Caucus, spoke in favor of the proposed text, dozens of people criticized the substance of the text and its approval process, which forbids any amendments by the General Assembly in the two-year approval process. Several delegates said that their congregations had instructed them to vote against the proposal.

Most objected to the replacement of the "Six Sources" section of the current bylaws with three new paragraphs. The Rev. Roger Brewin, minister of First Unitarian Church of Hobart, Ind., said, "What bothers me most is what's missing—the poetry." He said he and a group of others have collected 1,200 signatures from around the country urging that the Commission on Appraisal revise their proposal again.

Moderator Gini Courter told the miniassembly that she, parliamentarian Gordon Martin, and legal counsel Ned Leibensberger had concluded that the bylaws that govern changes to Article II do not allow amendments or referral back to the Commission on Appraisal.

Several pagan UUs lamented the loss of the language in the Sixth Source—"spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature." Michael Hart, of First Unitarian Universalist Church of Houston, said, "I just want to talk about how this makes me feel as a UU pagan: It's a blow in the solar plexus, a punch in the gut."

"We've gone from a bullet point about earth-centered spirituality that explains what we mean, as UUs, what it means to us, to a footnote buried in lots of very nice verbiage," Hart said.

The Rev. Dr. George "Kim" Beach objected to the "challenge" of prophetic teachings has been transformed into the "benefits" of prophetic exemplars. He also noted the loss of the phrase "living tradition."

Several speakers noted that many UU resources, including religious education curricula and the Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, are organized around the Six Sources in the 1985 Principles and Purposes.

The Rev. Nathan Stanley, a minister at Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colo., referred to the performance at the last General Assembly of the Rev. Jason Shelton's "Sources" cantata. "No one would ever have written a cantata" using the new text, he said.

"Where the Sources get used a lot is religious education," said Deb Bodeau of First Parish in Bedford, Mass. "What we've got coming is an R.E. train wreck."

Others praised the Commission on Appraisal's work. Nancy King Smith of Cleveland said that the UU Ministry for Earth supports the new text, which replaces "respect for the interdependent web of all existence" with "reverence for the interdependent web of all existence."

The Rev. Michelle Walsh of United First Parish in Quincy, Mass., said she liked that the new text is titled "Covenant" rather than "Principles and Purposes." The Youth Caucus said that the new text's "Inclusion statement [Section C-2.4] will put us far ahead of other groups in terms of expressing our values into the world." The Rev. Douglas Taylor of Binghamton, N.Y., said the youth in his congregation liked the addition of a sentence about forgiveness.

Delegates are preparing to debate the text in Saturday afternoon's plenary session.

Delegates vote to admit six Actions of Immediate Witness

During Saturday morning's plenary session, General Assembly delegates voted to admit all six proposed Actions of Immediate Witness to the final agenda: AIW-1 Advocate Pending Legislation Toward Clean/Verified Elections in the U.S., AIW-2 U.S. Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, AIW-3 In Support of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, AIW-4 Support Bolivian UUs Struggling for Justice and Human Rights, AIW-5 U.S.-Sponsored Torture: A Call for a Commission of Inquiry, and AIW-6 Oppose Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity-based Violence in Iraq.

Delegates can help amend and finalize the text of each AIW in miniassemblies today from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

The miniassembly for AIW-1 will meet in Marriott Deer Valley room I, AIW-2 will meet in Marriott Deer Valley room II, AIW-3 will meet in Marriott Deer Valley room III, AIW-4 will meet in Grand Ballroom A, AIW-5 will meet in Grand Ballroom B, and AIW-6 will meet in Grand Ballroom C.

Following these miniassemblies, the Commission on Social Witness will meet to consider the proposed amendments. Debate and voting on the amended AIWs is scheduled to take place during Sunday’s plenary session.

Local media coverage of UUA General Assembly

Both daily newspapers in Salt Lake City published articles today about yesterday's interfaith rally for immigrant families sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association. Both papers quoted the Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Unitarian Universalist leaders who spoke at the rally. The Mormon Church-owned Deseret News, however, did not mention Larry Love, the Mormon congregational leader who described the arrest and pending deportation of his Guatemalan wife.

Interfaith rally points to spiritual side of immigration debate (Salt Lake Tribune 6.27.09)

Religious groups show support for immigrants (Deseret News 6.27.09)

KSL-TV reported, meanwhile, on the thunderstorm that ripped the UUA's banner from the front entry tower of the Salt Palace convention center: Northern Utah hit by quick-moving thunderstorm (KSL-TV 6.26.09).

UUA hosts interfaith rally for immigration reform

Unitarian Universalists rallied for immigrant rights with members of Utah's interfaith community in downtown Salt Lake City Friday evening. The theme was "Standing on the Side of Love with Immigrant Families."

Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and Unitarian Universalist leaders spoke against a new Utah law that will make undocumented immigrants significantly more vulnerable to deportation, but the rally focused especially on the impact of current immigration policies on families.

Larry Love, a leader in a Spanish-speaking Mormon congregation in Salt Lake, told the crowd how current immigration policies are affecting his family. Love's wife, who immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala sixteen years ago and applied for asylum three times, was arrested March 18 and is currently scheduled for deportation, even though she has three children who are U.S. citizens.

Love said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents knocked on his door at 6:30 in the morning to show him a photograph of a Latina woman who, they said, was illegally registering cars to his address. When he told them he didn't recognize the woman, the agents asked to talk to his wife. She also said she didn't recognize the woman.

Then, Love said, the agents told her, "We're not here to arrest this woman. We're here to arrest you."

After being allowed to kiss her children goodbye, Love's wife was handcuffed and shackled in a van alongside several other people. After ICE agents learned that her husband was a U.S. citizen, she was released but required to wear an ankle bracelet while she awaits deportation.

Love emphasized the financial and emotional toll that current immigration policies inflict on families. He said their family depends on both parents' incomes, and that his wife's health insurance policy is significantly less expensive than the one available from his employer. Yet, although she has worked and paid Social Security taxes throughout her time in the U.S., and although being an undocumented alien is only a civil offense—"it's like a speeding ticket, not like robbing a bank," Love said—their family is about to be torn apart.

One of his wife's children stood beside him as he spoke, but she did not attend. "She was afraid that the Minutemen would be here," he said, or that media attention would endanger her job.

UUA President William G. Sinkford told the crowd, "We know that ICE raids are not the solution to this broken system. We could not deport 12 million people even if we wanted to."

"We say, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,'" Sinkford said, "but we know the Statue of Liberty has always faced east, toward Europe, not south."

Sinkford called attention to the racism that "has blinded many Americans to what takes place in their own kitches, workshops, and fields."

"We must call for an immediate end to ICE raids and call for just and comprehensive immigration reform," Sinkford said.

Volunteers with the UUA's new "Standing on the Side of Love" campaign handed out postcards inviting people to pledge to stand on the side of immigrant families. The Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman and the Rev. Peter Morales, candidates for the UUA presidency, helped hold a "Standing on the Side of Love" banner in the front of the podium at the rally.

The Rev. Thomas Goldsmith, minister of First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City; Roman Catholic Bishop John Charles Wester; Episcopal Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish; and the Rev. Pablo Ramos, the canon missioner of Latino ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, also spoke.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported on the rally on the front page of Saturday's paper: "Interfaith rally brings spirituality into debate" (6.27.09). The Deseret News also reported on the event: "Religious groups show support for immigrants" (6.27.09).

Banner shatters glass on Salt Palace entry tower

The UUA's "Standing on the Side of Love" banner, which has been hanging this week on the glass entry tower to the Salt Palace, the site of the General Assembly, broke loose during an intense thunderstorm Friday evening, shattering several panes of glass. No one was injured by falling glass, which covered the floor of the vestibule.

Jan Sneegas, UUA director of General Assembly and conference services, said that the banner came loose in the wind. The cables and gromets that attached the large banner to the entry tower structure smashed through several window panes.

People inside the convention center heard several extremely loud bursts of thunder, and heavy rain soaked many Unitarian Universalists as they returned to the Salt Palace for this evening's Service of the Living Tradition.

The main entrance at 100 South is now roped off as emergency personnel clean up the glass and examine the structure.

GA sends back 'Peacemaking' Statement of Conscience

After an hour of debate Friday afternoon at the General Assembly in Salt Lake City, delegates have voted to refer a proposed Statement of Conscience on peacemaking back to the Commission on Social Witness for another year of study and review.

Reports on the UUA's financial situation

Tim Brennan, UUA treasurer and vice president for finance, told the General Assembly during Friday afternoon's plenary session, "I won't mince words. It's been a very tough year for the UUA." He explained that the UUA's fiscal year 2010 budget is 15 percent below the 2009 budget.

He said that watching the UUA's investments decline in the midst of the worldwide economic recession last fall "felt like plunging down a roller-coaster in the dark with no idea of where the bottom is." All of the UUA's investments declined significantly, although less dramatically than the stock market itself, with a 23 percent drop in the UUA's nearly $100 million Common Endowment fund.

"But we didn't just cut," Brennan said. "We challenged ourselves to think about how we could serve the needs of our congregations with fewer resources by being smarter and more efficient." He pointed specifically to reduced travel and meeting costs using virtual meeting software and to reduced publication costs by distributing many periodicals and other publications electronically.

UUA Financial Advisor Dan Brody added that it "hasn't been a good year to be a financial advisor—and it hasn't been a very good year for many UUs, their congregations, or the Association."

"But this recession won't last, however," Brody continued. "And how Unitarian Universalists behave during it will be a real test of the strength of our movement."

Brody urged Unitarian Universalists who have been relatively unaffected by the recession to maintain or increase their gifts to their congregations and to the UUA. He encouraged congregations not to cut their Annual Program Fund contributions to the UUA, and cautioned that cutting church employees' health care benefits harms all of us, not just the employee.

Brody concluded his report by saying that he would be urging the UUA to adjust the way it calculates the draw from the endowment so that reserves would accummulate during high-performing years.

The Rev. Jim Sherblom, chair of the UUA Investment Committee, reported that the UUA has been diversifying its assett allocations "beyond U.S. treasuries and public equities to also include substantial commitments to U.S. high yield debt, international bonds, international equities, non-correlated equities, global asset allocators, and alternative investments."

Sherblom said the UUA continues to aim at an 8.5 percent nominal return over a full market cycle.

3,349 people at GA, 1,928 delegates

UUA Secretary Paul Rickter reported to Friday afternoon's plenary session that 1,502 member delegates, 396 ministerial delegates, three credentialed directors of religious education, four associate member organizations, and 23 members of the board of trustees are present at this year's General Assembly—a total of 1,928 delegates from 571 congregations from all 50 states, three Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. He said there are 145 youth registered. So far, 3,349 people have registered for GA.

Rickter will present the final numbers during Sunday's plenary session.

Grammy winners serenade Sinkford at reception

A donor reception honoring outgoing UUA President William G. Sinkford Thursday night featured speeches by several notable UU leaders and culminated in a surprise performance by Sinkford's favorite band, Grammy-winning a capella group The Persuasions.

In one particularly moving speech, Denny Davidoff, former UUA moderator, described her relationship with Sinkford. "More than anything else, Bill Sinkford is a pastoral presence in my life," she said. "In emails and on the phone and snatched in face-to-face meetings, he comforts me when I am scared. He listens—oh, how he listens—when I have made plans and God is laughing. He loves me when I am anxious and try to project that anxiety on him with criticism or complaint. [His family knows] the steadfastness of his love, and so do I. UUA presidents come and go, but love lives forever, and I am standing on the side of love."

During her own comments, Gini Courter, current UUA moderator, wondered what might have happened had Sinkford begun his term now with the current U.S. administration and national sensibility, instead of eight years ago, but quoted James Michener, who said, "An age is called dark not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it." Courter continued, "I know we are where we are—in the standing that we have, in the increased public voice, in the increased visibility—that we were ready because Bill Sinkford refused to let us keep our light under a bushel."

Other speakers included the Rev. Terry Sweetser, the UUA's vice president of stewardship and development; the Rev. Wayne Arnason, chair of the Ministerial Fellowship Committee and co-minister of West Shore UU Church in Rocky River, Ohio; and the Rev. Abhi Janamanchi, minister of Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater, Fla., and a member of the UUA President's International Advisory Council.

The Persuasions finished the evening off with 85 minutes of hits such as "Lean on Me" and "Chain Gang" that got the audience clapping and moving, and, at one point, participating in a conga line "train" around the room.

Expressing his surprise at their appearance, Sinkford called the performance a "thrill" and exclaimed, "I have loved these gentlemen for 40 years!"

Donors made special contributions to bring The Persuasions to the event as a personal thank you to Sinkford for his many years of service to Unitarian Universalism.

Morales, Hallman make final case to delegates

At the final candidates forum before the election of the next president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Rev. Peter Morales choked up as he began his opening statement and the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman struck a defiant note as she responded to critics of her campaign. The candidates spoke at a Thursday evening forum at the UUA General Assembly in Salt Lake City that was also broadcast on UUA.org.

Delegates will vote for the next UUA president Saturday afternoon, June 27. More than 1,800 absentee ballots have already been cast.

Morales, senior minister of Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colo., spoke first. He choked up as he told a story about his practice of standing on the sidewalk outside his church each Sunday morning, greeting people as they arrived. He often didn't recognize people, he said, which led him to conclude that large numbers of people are visiting UU congregations all the time. Yet, despite all the visitors drawn to Unitarian Universalism, the membership of the UUA's congregations hasn't grown significantly.



"The central question for our faith," Morales said, "is, What is it we are called to be in the world?" He said we are called to change so that our congregations can "feed the spiritually hungry and house the spiritually homeless" who are already attracted to our ideas, but who often find our congregations unsatisfying.

Morales reviewed his four priorities: growing UU congregations, helping the UUA as an organization do more with less financial resources, build on the public witness work of President William G. Sinkford, and develop a strategic plan to recruit a more multicultural ministry to meet America's rapidly changing demographics.

Hallman, recently named minister-at-large by First Unitarian Church in Dallas, where she served as senior minister for twenty-two years, emphasized her spiritual groundedness. "It is my spiritual practice that has made me a leader," she said in her opening statement.



She repeatedly challenged "some" who had questioned her candidacy and responded to several phrases used by the Morales campaign. "I am less concerned with being 'the religion for our time,'" she said, invoking one of Morales's slogans, "than I am with being the religion for our future."

"I care that we deal with our issues not just as smart people," she said in her opening statement, "not just as strategic people, but as smart, strategic, liberal religious people."

She said that she was less concerned with people coming through the front doors of our churches. "It is our back door where the challenge is most evident," she said, because our congregations are not spiritually deep enough to meet many people's needs.

Supporters of each candidate approached delegates throughout the convention center, handing out literature and buttons. Morales supporters wore yellow T-shirts with the slogan "We can be the religion for our time" on the back" and handed out fans with the motto "I'm a Morales fan." Hallman supporters wore turquoise T-shirts that said "It takes more . . . ."

At the start of the candidates forum, the incumbents running for reelection to the offices of UUA Moderator and UUA Financial Advisor also spoke. Moderator Gini Courter and Financial Advisor Dan Brody are running unopposed.

After the conclusion of the candidates forum, Morales and Hallman jointly lit the chalice to start the Synergy worship service and bridging ceremony.

Board wants broad conversation about new Principles

Should the UUA revise Article II of its bylaws (the Principles and Purposes)? The Commission on Appraisal has proposed a revision [pdf] following several years of denomination-wide input and review, and this year's General Assembly will take the first of two votes on the revised text.

At its Tuesday, June 22, meeting in Salt Lake City, the UUA Board of Trustees discussed how to present its support for this year's vote, which will take place during Saturday afternoon's plenary. The board will urge delegates to vote for the revision this year, not because the board has taken a position on the substance of the Commission's new text, but because they want congregations to spend the next year deciding whether they approve of it. If a majority votes Yes this year, the revised text will appear on the agenda of the 2010 General Assembly, which would need to to pass it by a two-thirds majority.

Moderator Gini Courter told the trustees that several groups of Unitarian Universalists have been raising objections about the process or the substance of the revision. Many are frustrated that the revision cannot be amended or voted on in sections. (The UUA bylaws do not allow the General Assembly to amend proposed changes to Article II; see Bylaw XV:C-15.1c.) She said she is meeting Thursday morning with UUA legal counsel Ned Leibensberger and parliamentarian Gordon Martin to clarify the process set up by the UUA bylaws.

Courter said that Martin, a retired Massachusetts judge who has served as GA parliamentarian since 1969, told her that the bylaws were getting in the way of the conversation UUs want to have about the proposed text.

To help UUs at GA and throughout the Association talk about the new text, a miniassembly will be held in the plenary hall on Friday evening (event #3014, 6:45-8:00 p.m.). The miniassembly will use an open-microphone format and the proceedings will be streamed live and captured on video so other UUs can see it as congregations discuss the proposed text.

"This hasn't been a process that has pleased anybody," Courter said.

For background on the Commission on Appraisal's review of Bylaw II, see these stories from UU World:

• Commission offers second draft of new UUA Principles (January 12, 2009)


• Commission revises UUA Principles and Purposes (September 15, 2008)


• Commission outlines process for reviewing Principles and Purposes (May 12, 2008)


• Reexamination of UUA Principles announced (April 21, 2006)

The Commission on Appraisal described the process it followed in drafting the revised text in a report to the Board of Trustees in January 2009: Report of the Commission on Appraisal on the Mandated Review of Article II of the UUA Bylaws [pdf].

UUA apologizes to Utes in reconciliation worship service

The opening worship service at the UUA's 2009 General Assembly Wednesday night focused on the themes of world community and reconciliation. It was equal parts joyful and somber and featured representatives from around the world.

The first half of the worship service focused mostly on “common threads that bind us.” It began with a slideshow of photos from UUA President William G. Sinkford’s November 2008 trip to Africa, set to drumming and music led by Dr. Ysaye Barnwell. (One photo featuring Sinkford and a giraffe got a big laugh from the audience.) Two Unitarian leaders from Africa, both in the United States for the first time, were introduced: the Rev. Mark Kiyimba of Uganda and the Rev. Olufemi Matimoju, the general secretary of First Unitarian Church of Nigeria.

In his invocation, the Rev. Thomas R. Goldsmith of First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City introduced the other major theme of the night’s worship—reconciliation—saying that “it is vitally important for us to invoke the honest memory of history and build a healing bridge between the past and the present.”

The opening hymn was Carolyn McDade’s “Spirit of Life,” sung in four different languages: Spanish, Hungarian, Khasi, and English. The Rev. Endre Nagy, minister of the Gyergyoszentmiklos fellowship and the Csikszereda church in Transylvania, led the song in Hungarian, and the Rev. Helpme Mohrmen, minister of the Unitarian Church of Puriang in the Khasi Hills of India, led the song in the Northeastern Indian language of Khasi.

The Rev. Josh Pawelek and Janice Marie Johnson explained that this worship service was an effort to respond to a responsive resolution by the 2007 General Assembly that time be set aside at the start of GA to help attendees “gain insight, skills, and experience with our own individual assumptions when encountering new people, and engaging in compassionate response and witness when we fall short of our aspirations.” Their reading acknowledged the importance of this goal and the fact that we will not always be successful, but reminded us that “the invitation to love what is holy and to love our neighbours as ourselves is always there.”

Keeping the event from growing too somber, the Rev. Eric Cherry led a “Passing of the Peace,” a common liturgical act among UUs in Africa that is the “physical expression of souls touching souls.” During this exercise, attendees were encouraged to rise and greet those around them, which resulted in much hugging and general joviality before the crowd returned to their seats for another song.

President Sinkford spoke on the topic of truth and reconciliation, describing the American Unitarian Association’s involvement as U.S. government agents with the Ute Indians in the late 19th century. (We'll have more on this story, which has not been widely known, later during our GA coverage.) He said, “reconciliation is about relationship” and “offering reparation for the harm done where that is possible.” To that end, Sinkford offered a formal apology to the Ute people on behalf of the Unitarian Universalist Association for past crimes against their people. “We ask for your forgiveness," he said, "and we promise to stand with you as you chart your way forward.”

Forrest Cuch of the Ute Nation accepted the apology, welcomed the General Assembly to Utah, and updated the audience on what the Ute people have been up to since GA was last held in Salt Lake City in 1999, notably participation in the Olympic Games and a five-part PBS documentary series. Ute elder Clifford Duncan offered a prayer in the Ute language.

The service wound down with a homily by ministerial candidate Angelica Herrera and a benediction by the Rev. Sean Parker Dennison. Herrera said that we are not preaching the gospel of disbelief but are “a community of believers, and what we ask you to believe is that you are already holy,” and charged the audience “to persist in building the beloved community.”

President Sinkford delivers final report

In his final presidential report to the General Assembly, UUA President William G. Sinkford reviewed the key initiatives of his eight-year administration, urged Unitarian Universalists to commit themselves to becoming a multicultural and multiracial faith tradition, and announced a new public witness and social justice campaign called "Standing on the Side of Love."

Sinkford highlighted his work to make Unitarian Universalism better known to the general public, from press coverage of his election as the first black leader of the UUA in 2001 to the UUA's marketing and growth campaigns. He said that Unitarian Universalists had matured spiritually during the eight years of his presidency, engaging his invitation to reclaim a "language of reverence" even as they sometimes criticized his own vocabulary.

And he celebrated widespread UU support for same-sex marriage rights: "No issue has defined our life together in the last eight years than marriage equality," he said. "Unitarian Universalists have been in the forefront of the most important civil rights journey of our generation . . . And we are committed to standing on the side of love until marriage equality is legal in California and every state in this great nation."

Sinkford announced the successful completion of the $50 million "Now Is the Time" capital campaign. More than 24,000 individual UUs contributed to the campaign, which raised $21,084,956 in cash gifts and $30,410,309 in planned gifts over the course of the six-year campaign.

And he introduced a new UUA public witness campaign, "Standing on the Side of Love," which will offer a variety of ways for UUs and others to support hate crimes legislation and to spread the word that the mission of Unitarian Universalism is to "stand on the side of love." "We want our message to go viral," he said, describing ways that the campaign will engage everything from postcards to social networking media on the Web. He directed people to the Standing on the Side of Love website to join the campaign.

Volunteers passed out Standing on the Side of Love buttons and postcards, and banners with the campaign logo were hung throughout the convention center.

Sinkford also made his first statement about the turmoil in Iran, where hundreds of thousands of people have marched in the streets challenging the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which has responded with violence and repression: "Let me ask you to hold the people of Iran in your hearts," he said. "May the violence in that land come to an end, and may the will of the people there finally be heard."

He concluded his report by thanking Moderator Gini Courter for her shared leadership of the Association, his wife and children for their support, Executive Vice President Kay Montgomery and the UUA staff for their work, and finally the thousands of Unitarian Universalists who have responded to his calls to action. The General Assembly responded with a long standing ovation.