Hello, Beloved Church Family,

Summer is upon us! We’re getting those hot days now, and the kids and teachers are getting into their summer schedules.

We had more work days on May 6th and 13th, and by the time you read this, I believe the fence along our north side will be standing and functional again! Many thanks to Daniel Cobb and all the other folks from our congregation who worked on it. We also scraped, sanded and painted some of the front hand railings, power washed the patio in the garden, trimmed and weeded the front gardens, and deep cleaned the bathrooms. Working together is such a wonderful way to feel like a real church family!

Our excellent Finance Team has completed the church budget for next year, the Board has reviewed and approved it, and it was approved by the congregation at our Annual Meeting on Sunday, May 21st.

One new and interesting thing that was on the ballot was the question of adopting the Eighth Principle. Although the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) has been working for several years on revising, updating, and replacing the Seven Principles (written back in the 1980s), and may soon recommend a new way to communicate UU Values, the Eighth Principle was initially drafted 10 years ago, and formally adopted by the UU Church of the Restoration in Philadelphia in May of 2017, at which time they recommended that the UUA formally adopt it. You can read more about it at https://www.8thprincipleuu.org. Since that time, over 50 UU Congregations have independently adopted it, and at our April Board meeting, our Board members agreed to recommend it.

At our Annual Meeting, we discussed adding an Eighth principle so that we can make some of our values about Justice and Beloved Community more explicit, the way “Black Lives Matter” is more explicit than “All Lives Matter.” In words from the website, we can each easily believe that we are being a “good UU,” and follow the “7 Principles without thinking about or dealing with racism and other oppressions at the systemic level.” “For people identified as white, it is too easy to ignore these issues, which is exactly what keeps the system of racism in our society alive, and in fact worsening right now.”

I deeply believe that as a “majority white” congregation, we need to be more mindful of and more involved in the work of recognizing our privilege and attempting to make a safer and more just Beloved Community. Explicitly stating our goal is the first step.

During the meeting we discussed the wording of the Eighth Principle at great length, and although there were no stated objections to the philosophy or need for it, there was enough discussion about how to word it that we tabled the decision of adoption to enable us to work on  the wording. Watch your email for a word-crafting 2nd hour, tentatively scheduled for June 4th.

The idea is to come up with several versions for the congregation to vote on, with another option not to include it at all, just to be fair.

Many thanks again to all of you who attend church and participate! If you haven’t been with us lately, know that we miss you and want you back. If you haven’t been to a service yet, please know that we will welcome you with open arms!

In Love and Fellowship,

Laura

Laura Keith King