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

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.)

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.