As General Assembly approaches, I am reflecting on how a key part of our Unitarian Universalist identity is that we are a democratic religious movement. General Assembly is the annual meeting where delegates from all over the nation gather to vote on the direction our movement will take, elect representatives to the UUA's Board, and also get a chance to learn from amazing speakers, workshops and worship services.
In Unitarian Universalism, the goal is for everyone to have a voice and a vote. This year, we have three delegates serving as the voice and vote of Holston Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
Our delegates are going to General Assembly to REPRESENT YOU, which means that listening to our community is an essential part of how they do that representing.
General Assembly Forum
Sunday June 12th from 6:30pm to 7:30pm
For that reason, we are hosting a "General Assembly Forum" on Zoom. To sign up for your Zoom link, go here: https://hvuuc.org/events/2022/6/12/general-assembly-forum
During that time I will review the items that will be up for a vote, but you can learn more about them through the General Assembly business agenda that is also posted to the Event link above.
Also this year, we actually have some contested elections for Board of Trustee positions. You can read statements from both the nominated positions and those who are running through petition here: https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/elections/contest-election-2022
These are the moments where being engaged in our democracy are so vital, which you can see by the very different kinds of platforms that people are running on.
Social Justice Call to Action
Our local congregation's democratic process is no less important. We may not be having contested elections here, but we are having a chance to express ourselves on two vital social justice issues during a special Social Justice Call to Action meeting on Zoom on Thursday, June 9th, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Here's the information for that meeting: https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/elections/contest-election-2022
I am so glad that Unitarian Universalism is governance for-and-by-the-people. Our Board is democratically elected both nationally and locally. Important decisions are made by the congregations, not the ministers. And we do everything we can to make sure that people have a voice in the matters that affect them directly.
Thank you, for engaging in our democratic process with us!
Rev. Sapp, minister@hvuuc.org