October 2008: The Commission met in Boston to consider the feedback from the online and paper surveys of its draft on Article II. It began creating a second draft, which will be submitted along with a report to the Board for its January meeting. The Commission also discussed possibilities for its work on the Article II project between January and GA.
August 2008: The Commission met at a retreat center in Arizona to discuss and interpret all of the input that it has received on Article II so far. Based on this, the Commission created a draft of the changes that it will propose to Article II at the 2009 General Assembly in Salt Lake City, UT. A copy of this draft, along with an online survey opportunity to give thoughts on it, can be found here. Full minutes here
June 2008: The Commission met briefly during the UUA Genearl Assembly in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on June 27th and 28th. The meeting took stock of the input received at GA 2008 and was used to make plans for maximizing openness moving forward with the final stages of our work on the Article II project. Full minutes are available here
March 2008: The Commission met in Chicago from March 27th - 30th in Chicago, IL. The Commission discussed issues of publicity and message in regards to the Article II project, considering how to best communicate the workings of the process to the UU community. The Commission considered further proposed changes to Article II and charted a path forward for crafting its ultimate recommendations to the UUA Board. Lastly, the Commission made decisions on the types and timing of reports and documents it will issue in conjunction with the Article II project. Full minutes are available here
January 2008: The Commission met in Boston from January 24-27th, 2008. At the meeting the Commission received the reports of two working groups which had been formed to study potential and suggested chages to Article II. The Commission considered several more rounds of "macro questions" relating to the general direction of the Article II project and also decided that due to lack of funding the Symposium as planned would not be possible. Full minutes are available here.
October 2007: The Commission met in Boston on October 18-21, 2007. The meeting was devoted largely to studying and dicussing "macro questions" that will frame the way the commission approaches its work on Article II. The commission also decided to break into working groups to study proposals and suggestions for Article II, coming out of the work of the Commission and the input of the congregations. Full Minutes are available here
June 2007: The Commission met briefly at General Assembly in Portland Oregon. The main purpose of this meeting was to bid departing members a warm thank-you for their work and presence and to welcome new members on to the commission. Some logistics were also discussed concerning the transition of responsibilities from old to new members and other matters for the continuing project. Full minutes are available here.
The Commission met in San Diego, CA on January 18-21, 2007. Work groups established at the October meeting reported on their work to date. A number of outside written sources and some interviews conducted by Commissioners were examined and discusses, as were reflection papers by Commissioners about the process of the Article II review. A well-attended hearing was held at the First UU Church of San Diego on Saturday morning. Plans for meetings and interviews at the April meeting in Denver at at the Portland GA were discussed. The three senior Commissioners met as a nominating committee to discuss recommendations for officer positions beginning at the conclusion of GA. More detailed minutes are available here in PDF format.
On Oct 19-22, 2006 the Commission met at All Souls' Church in Washington, DC. We spent some time in deeper analysis of the data collected at our St. Louis GA hearing, as well as discussion of responses solicited from selected members of the UUA staff regarding the role of the Principles & Purposes in their work on behalf of the Association. A public hearing was held, but was not well attended. The major task was work on a congregational reflection process, which will be published and distributed to all UUA congregations for their use in early 2007. More detailed minutes will be added following their approval by the group. More detailed minutes are available here in PDF format.
The Commission had a busy General Assembly at St. Louis on June 21-25. The "Annual Reports" book distributed to delegates includes a written report from the Commission. We also made a plenary report during the Thursday plenary session. Our well-attended workshop on Saturday afternoon introduced the subject of the Commission's review of Article II of the UUA Bylaws and invited attendees to participate in an Appreciative Inquiry process in which people paired up and interviewed each other about their feelings concerning the Principles.
The Commission met at First UU Church of Columbus on April 20-23, 2006. This meeting was held jointly with the Ohio-Meadville District Annual Meeting. The first hearing on the Article II review was held at this meeting, and was well attended. While in Columbus the Commission took advantage of the opportunity to meet with Ohio State sociology professor Dr. Korie Edwards concerning her research on racial integration in religious organizations. The Commission welcomed its newest member, Jacqui C. Williams, who replaced Arthur Morrison. Commission chair Jim Casebolt participate in a minister's roundtable on "The Unity Underlying Our Theological Diversity," in response to the Commission's last report. Commissioners also discussed how to handle unsolicited communications regarding the Article II review and worked on planning for General Assembly. More detailed minutes are available here in PDF format.
Commission members James Casebolt and Orlanda Brugnola participated in a "synchronization meeting" organized by UUA Moderator Gini Courter. The meeting was held in Orlando, FL on February 3-5 and was attended by UUA President Bill Sinkford and by representatives of the UUA Board, Commission on Social Witness, and Nominating Committee. Among other business, the Commissioners were able to address the issue of replacing the member of the Commisson who resigned in January.
The Commission met at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, FL on January 19-22, 2006. A public hearing was held on Saturday afternoon, and 24 members of Florida District churches attended. More detailed minutes will be added soon. Commissioner Arthur Morrison announced that he will not be able to complete his term for personal and professional reasons. According to the UUA's Bylaws, a replacement to serve through the next election (GA 2007 in Portland) will be recommended by the Comittee on Committees (with input from the Commission about qualifications) and appointed by the UUA Board. More detailed minutes are available here in PDF format.
The Commission met at Eliot & Pickett House in Boston on October 20-23, 2005. This was the first meeting since the election of three new Commission members. Much of the meeting was focused on team-building and revising our basic working documents (including our mission statement and handbook). Rev. Tracy Robinson Harris from the UUA staff facilitated some of this work. We also met with UUA President Bill Sinkford concerning his response to the Commision's last report, Engaging Our Theological Diversity, as well as his perception of current and future challenges to the Association. We also began discussions about future directions and study topics. More detailed minutes are available here in PDF format.
During the 2005 General Assembly in Fort Worth, the Commission gave a presentation during the Saturday evening plenary (see text). We held a workshop on Monday morning, which included a presentation on and discussion of the new theological diversity report as well as open time for attendees to raise other issues of concern concerning Unitarian Universalism and the UUA. We also welcomed our newly elected members.
The paragraphs below summarize the meetings of the Commission while it was working on its last study, published under the title Engaging Our Theological Diversity.
During April 21-24, 2005 the Commission met at Picket-Eliott House in Boston. We held discussions with UUA Moderator Gini Courter and with outgoing Financial Advisor Larry Ladd. Much of our time was dedicated to planning for the presentations on the report, to be made at GA in Fort Worth. New officers were selected for the next two years. We reviewed and adopted a number of changes to our operational handbook. We also planned for the incorporation of three new Commissoners into the group following this summer's elections at GA, and began to set our meeting schedule for the next two years.
In lieu of its usual winter meeting, the Commission held conference calls in December 2004 and January 2005, at which we discussed needed revisions to the text of our report and began the planning of its release at the upcoming General Assembly.
The Commission met at Picket-Eliott House in Boston on October 20-23, 2004. We continued to work on our upcoming report, brainstormed potential titles, met with our editor Mary Benard, and worked out the content of the final chapter, developing a process for the writing of conclusions and recommendations. We also spent an evening in our ongoing efforts to attend to anti-oppression issues by watching and discussing a film.
On August 10-13, 2004 the Commission met at Picket-Eliott House in Boston, MA. During this meeting we refined the structure of our upcoming report, reviewed drafts of report sections written by individual Commission members, met with our UUA/Skinner House editior Mary Benard, and discussed CoA procedures in light of the policy on transparency and openness in UUA operations passed at the 2004 GA.
In June of 2004, the Commission met during General Assembly in Long Beach, CA. In addition to a brief plenary report, we presented a worshop in which we previewed some of the content of the upcoming report. In our meeting time we continued to refine the content and structure of the report and assigned the writing of sections of the report to specific members of the Commission. Looking to the future, we spent some time brainstorming a list of potential topics for future studies. We also met with representatives of the Nominating Committee regarding skills needed for future Commission nominees.
In January and April, 2004 the Commission met at Picket-Eliot House in Boston. During these sessions we met with:
On October 23-26, 2003 the Commission met jointly with Collegium, an organization of UU scholars, at a Franciscan retreat facility near San Jose, CA. In addition to continuing our own work leading to our next report to the General Assembly, we took advantage of the opportunity to meet with Starr King School for the Ministry President Rebecca Parker, several Starr King students, and a number of Collegium attendees on issues relevant to our current study.
At the 2003 General Assembly in Boston, the Commission was very active:
The Commission was in the Chicago, IL area on April 3-6, 2003. We met with a group of students and faculty from Meadville-Lombard Theological School on Friday morning and held individual meetings with Rev. Dr. Thandeka, M/L professor of theology, and Ken Oliff, editor of the Journal of Liberal Religion. A very well attended hearing focusing on the current study topic was held at the Unitarian Church of Evanston as part of the Central Midwest District Meeting.
In January of 2003 the Commission met in Portland, Oregon. A focus group was conducted at First UU of Portland with a group of local young adults. A hearing was held at the Atkinson Memorial Church in Oregon City. It was well attended by members of several Portland-Vancouver area congregations. The Commission continued to plan the data gathering for its current study.
The Commission met at Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham, Mass. on October 22-27, 2002. A substantial portion of the meeting was dedicated to working with Rosemary McNatt and Charlie Ortman to examine the events of the 2002 General Assembly and reconsider the processes used by the Commission -- please see below for background. A very well attended and successful public hearing was held at First Parish Old Ship Church on Saturday morning.
The Commission held a workshop on the theological fragmentation study topic during the 2002 General Assembly in Quebec City, Canada. Over 200 people attended, and the discussion was lively -- click here to see notes from the hearing. During the plenary sessions, a report on the Commission and its work was delivered by its chair Dr. Janis Elliot. The Commission has issued an apology to the delegates of the General Assembly for the format of its annual report, which some who were present found objectionable.
In April 2002 the Commission met at Community Church of New York in Manhattan. The opening worship service was presented by Rev. Roberta Finkelstein. The Commission further refined the issues relevant to the study and began the planning of the methodology to be used. A Saturday morning hearing was held to provide an opportunity for UUs in the New York City area to respond to the study topic. A meeting was also held with Kay Aler-Maida concerning the UUA's efforts to become a more anti-racist and multicultural organization.
At its January 2002 meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, the Commission selected as its next topic the issue of the theological fragmentation of the Unitarian Universalist movement in North America. This decision was based on review of several suggested topics, information provided by many UUA staff and departments, and material collected at open hearings. The Commission will spend the next several years in detailed and thoughtful study of the question, "Where is the unity in our diversity?" The next Commission report is expected to be presented to the 2005 General Assembly.