General Assembly Journal
A Personal Experience by Dan Harper

	Dan Harper

Monday June 24

Yesterday night, I got on the bus at about 11 p.m. to head back to Laval University, 3 miles away, where I am staying. When I got on the street, there was a strange electric feeling in the air. A large group of people stood at the bus stop, but when the bus came few of them got on. From the bus windows, I could see people standing along the street, some waving the blue-and-white Québec flag. I had a safe ride back, but couldn't figure out what it was all about.

Today, though I'm not a morning person, I got up in time for an 8:30 a.m. workshop on campus ministry. It was led by Joseph Lyons and Jesse Jaeger. Excerpts from my notes: "Lyons asked, what are current things going on in your congregation that can serve students? -- last year's study action plan on economic justice has already attracted college students to one church -- in another church, students are involved in gay/lesbian/bi/transgender group -- someone from a california church: they have Spanish worship service, give Spanish-speaking students who are homesick a place to feel at home." Hearing about keeping college students involved in Unitarian Universalism was a great way to start the morning.

I co-led a workshop with Devin Krugman, a youth, on youth empowerment. We had a blast. I loved hearing how people are making youth empowerment happen in their congregations. We ran into one problem, though. We had everyone sit in a circle so we wouldn't be these disembodied voices coming from somewhere behind a lectern. But presentations at General Assembly are taped. When we sat in a circle and didn't use the microphone at the lectern, they couldn't record the workshop. For better or worse, Devin and I came down on the side of emphasizing the experience of the people that we were face-to-face with. But it's an open question -- is General Assembly information shared and business transacted with all Unitarian Universalists, or is General Assembly the people who are actually present?

Devin solved the mystery of last night for me. Apparently, today is "Québec Day," a celebration of Québec nationality and identity. That's why people were out on the streets when I was on my way home. Devin said last night proved troublesome for the youth at General Assembly. Many youth are staying at a youth hostel a few blocks from the convention center, and they were uncomfortable walking home late last night. Devin told me the youth worked with adult allies to arrange an escort system.

As I walked to lunch with my friends Rosie, Lee, and Ann, we found many restaurants were closed because of the holiday. I noticed quite a few young men with blue-and-white fleur-de-lys painted on their faces. My lunch buddies told me that a few years ago Québec Day erupted in political demonstrations against globalization. Another reminder of how different Canada and the United States are. I cannot imagine anyone painting the Massachusetts state flag on their foreheads on our Patriots Day and rioting to protest globalization.

On the long drive home, I had time to reflect on General Assembly. It feels as though the vote for the separation of the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is the biggest institutional event for us since the consolidation of the Unitarians and the Universalists in 1961. I'm sad that our Canadian friends separated from the UUA. But Canada is indeed a foreign country, and I can understand the need for an independent CUC.

Sunday June 23

If you're like me, you like to go to worship services on Sunday mornings. I love Sunday morning at General Assembly, because that's the time of the main worship service, the Service of the Living Tradition, where we worship together and honor our professional ministry.

I watched with interest as the new ministers walked up and were recognized in the worship service. I knew a couple of these new ministers, and knowing their stories made the service more powerful. One woman, for example, is a single mom who began preparing for the ministry nearly a decade ago. She has raised her child, worked (often full-time), and studied, and finally she has finished. I'm a New England Yankee which means I'm not much of a hand at showing emotions, but that kind of dedication to an ideal is enough to bring even me to tears.

Just in front of me sat a father with his 13- or 14-year-old daughter. During the offertory, she lay down across two chairs to take a nap with her head on her dad's knee, a girl poised between childhood and adulthood. I like a father who helps his daughter come to worship services, even ones she may not be interested in. It reminds me of my own mother, an old-school Unitarian who went to the nearest Unitarian church whether or not she liked the minister because she knew in her bones that being a part of a religious community means that sometimes you do things that are boring, or even hard or unpleasant. Though taking a nap with your head on your dad's knee doesn't sound all that bad to me.

One very good little girl, about 6, sat several rows in front of me. She was with what appeared to be her extended family. During Barbara Pescan's sermon, this little girl sat on the floor in front of her chair, playing quietly between her mother's and grandmother's feet. I thought about what it is that little children really see in worship services. They can't see the minister, all they can see is people's backs and people's feet. OK, I admit it, I didn't pay as much attention as I should have done to Barbara Pescan's sermon on the importance of ministry, and it was a good one, too, with wonderful stories and examples of ministry in action.

During the plenary session today, the delegates were asked to vote on whether or not to concur to the Canadian Unitarian Council's (CUC) request to separate from the Unitarian Universalist Association. One speaker in favor of the motion asked us to see it not as a separation, but as a step towards creating a new kind of relationship. A young adult, a Canadian, acknowledged that separation was pretty much a fait accompli, but he still spoke against separation saying, "My community has been shattered, my heart has been broken." Then a vote was called by moderator Diane Olson, and an overwhelming majority of delegates voted in favor of separation.

I'm with the young Canadian. Separation hurts. The last person to speak before the vote suggested that we plan to have joint UUA and CUC meetings every five or ten years. If I hold on to that hope, the separation doesn't hurt as much.

I like plenary sessions even when the votes don't turn out the way I might hope. They're not just business meetings, they provide great people watching. (Hint: never sit at the front of a plenary session, always sit back where you can watch other people.) I love watching personalities unfold and interact with each other. You sit there and people drift in and out of the hall, emotions rise and fall, votes are taken and reports are heard, in a slow, comfortable rhythm. They aren't just meetings, they are ongoing dramas where we get a new installment each year.

I had dinner with Mellen. We're both in our early 40's, we have both worked as religious educators, and we're both preparing for ministry. We went to a cafe a block from the convention center, and there we plotted the change and transformation of Unitarian Universalism into a religious movement that will be fully welcoming to children and youth, people of color, people of any economic class, people who -- well, we will be fully welcoming to just about everyone. It was a very satisfying discussion. Maybe someday our dream will come true.

Actually, knowing Mellen and some others like her, one day it will come true.

Saturday June 22, 2002

In my experience, Saturday is the crazy day of General Assembly. It's the halfway point, you can faintly sense the end is coming. Today I think tried to do way too much.

I spent a good part of the morning in the webworker's hideout on the second floor of the Hilton Hotel next door to the convention center. I had some writing to catch up on, but I also ran into networking problems. It was a somewhat trying morning, but at the same time I like hanging out with other webworkers.

As the morning plenary session let out, I ran into quite a few people I knew. I heard some strong and varied reactions to the vote on the Statement of Conscience supporting legalization of all drugs. We Unitarian Universalists do not operate by consensus. When we take a vote, that rarely means that the discussion is over. Erik said that while he voted for the statement of conscience, he didn't entirely agree with it, but he didn't want it to just disappear for another year. Another friend said that he did not agree with the statement because it "isn't nuanced enough, it's too simplistic," and for him the strength of Unitarian Universalism is that it can take on complex issues in all their complexity.

As for me, while I am not a voting delegate this year, I find I can't support a statement of conscience promoting full drug legalization. I don't agree with the United States drug policy, but I feel full legalization doesn't take into account the needs of children and youth. Most of all, I would prefer that the General Assembly not focus so narrowly on United States political issues, feeling we should have a more international understanding.

Someone has said that wherever you have three Unitarian Universalists, you will find five or six opinions on any given topic. There was some truth to that today right after the vote on the statement of conscience.

I had a delightful lunch with Chris. We walked quite a way down Rue St. Jean, beyond where most of the GA folks were, and found a quiet cafe where we were the only anglophones. Our conversation ranged from the virulent racism of Boston to what makes a good children's story.

The afternoon is now something of a blur to me. I know I went to hear Carole Fontaine speak on the relationship of human rights to the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Koran. Dr. Fontaine is a wonderfully witty lecturer, but beyond the sheer entertainment value of her lecture I enjoyed the absolute clarity and depth of her thinking on the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptures. I'd have to say it was the best lecture I've ever heard at GA. (Hint to the GA Planning Committee: ask Carole Fontaine to speak at next year's GA.)

I clearly remember attending the bridging ceremony, where youth "bridge" into young adulthood. I was in tears when I saw Meredith, whom I've known since she was 12, walked across that stage into young adulthood. You can read more about the bridging ceremony in the article I wrote for this website.

I remember those two things. But I know much else happened that I either don't remember, or have gotten mixed up with events of the past few days. For example, where did I eat dinner, and with whom? That workshop where I was a member of the panel -- was that today? Was it today that I talked with Keith? or with Jo?

I'm not sure I can remember. Craziness and exhaustion are setting in. Earlier today, I do remember hearing someone say, "I'm going home, I'm just so tired out." I better watch out that doesn't happen to me. I think I'll go catch the bus out to Laval University quick, before I fall asleep here in the webworker's room.

Friday June 21, 2002

The fast pace of General Assembly finally caught up with me this morning. I didn't get back to my room until midnight last night, so I overslept. I didn't get to the conference center until ten o'clock.

As I sat in the snack bar of the conference center, drinking coffee and looking out over an old stone church, my friend Jo walked up. We filled each other in on our personal lives, but inevitably the conversation turned to Unitarian Universalism. Jo is on the steering committee for the Continental Unitarian Universalists Young Adult Network (C*UUYAN), and she told me about the strategic plan they're working on, and their efforts to build connections with youth and UUs of color. Suddenly she looked at her watch and said, "I've got to go. I'm supposed to meet some people at 11, but I don't know where I'm supposed to meet them."

Next I ran into Michael, a friend and fellow religious educator. We had lunch together, and while we didn't exactly talk shop, it was good to talk with one of the few other men who is a UU religious educator. Over the years, we have faced many of the same issues.

In the afternoon, I attended the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) worship service. I've been a CLF member for a couple of years now. CLF mostly serves isolated Unitarian Universalists, people who don't live near a Unitarian Universalist congregation. But CLF also serves as a second congregation for many ministers and religious educators -- people like me.

CLF minister Jane Rzepka preached on the isolation that religious liberals can sometimes feel. Religious liberals, Jane said, can sometimes feel like strangers in the places they live, because many of their friends and neighbors may not understand their liberal religious perspective. But we can reach out to each other, build our connections with each other. Ultimately, Jane pointed out, this process can lead to lessening the barriers to understanding and acceptance that lie between all people. I feel this is part of what happens at GA. I reconnect with other religious liberals, and remember once again that the ultimate goal is to connect with all sentient beings.

Not only do you connect with people at GA, you also connect with ideas. In the evening, I ran into my friend Gail. She had been to the workshop on religious education programs for boys. Most congregations have fewer boys than girls in Sunday school -- what to do? You can get more men to teach Sunday school, do hands-on activities, ask the boys themselves what might induce them to come to church. (I remember talking to Max Moss, formerly minister at the UU congregation in Auckland, New Zealand, about this issue. He built a model railroad in the church, and kept a TV in church when major sports events were on.) But Gail and I agreed that a key part of the solution is to get the boys' fathers to come to church.

I know that General Assembly is primarily a business meeting where we transact the business of the Association. I know that the most important meetings at GA are the plenary sessions, and I still can't get used to the idea that there are now some workshops scheduled during plenary sessions. But hearing from Jo about C*UUYAN's new projects, talking with Michael about religious education, discussing boys and church with Gail -- all these things are as important to me personally as the business sessions are to the Association.

Thursday, 20 June 2002

I spent the morning and the afternoon today getting trained to be a "Good Offices" representative for my professional organization, the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA). Other LREDA members can call on Good Offices representatives for help with conflict management or for pastoral care. The training was tiring.

A little after four, I met some friends in the lobby of the Hilton, the hotel right next to the convention center. Rebecca said, "Let's go to the Mass Bay District Ingathering." Steve and I went along. But by the time we walked across to the convention center and found the room where the ingathering was to be held, it was over. At GA, the best intentions can be defeated by logistical realities.

I went off to a meeting for those of us volunteering as webworkers. Before I knew it, it was time for the opening ceremony. I met up with most of the delegates from First Parish in Lexington, Massachusetts, the congregation I serve as Director of Religious Education. This time we got the logistics right, and we were first in line when they opened the doors for the opening ceremonies. We got seats right up near the front.

We had good people-watching while we were waiting for everything to begin. As Sally said, "It's so cool watching people greet each other after a long time apart!" We tried to make generalizations about the people we saw. Kathy pointed out that there were a lot of people wearing Birkenstocks, but we also saw everything from wingtips to hiking boots. There is more diversity among us UUs than we sometimes admit.

The Rev. Kathleen McTigue began the opening ceremony by reminding us of the momentous world events since the last General Assembly, and invited us into a moment of silence for September 11 and its aftermath. Sitting in silence with thousands of people is a powerful experience, and I was moved almost to tears. I could hear a baby crying in the back of the hall, a sound that seemed somehow appropriate.

Half a dozen children and youth ranging in age from about 5 to 16 helped light a flaming chalice. They remained on stage while Raymond Gros Louis, representing the local First Nation (or Native American) people, came forward to bless the beginning of GA. I liked that he mostly faced the children and youth who had done the chalice lighting. (Note to self: in public ceremonies, remember to face the children.)

While the banner parade began, I thought about children and religion. Some banner carriers were families with children. There were three children in the group I was sitting with, and indeed one family with three generations represented, from Pieter and Adrian (at 4 and 7), through Erik and Elisabeth, to Frank and Tina. Watching the banners from congregations across North America, I thought about how many children they represented. I feel religion that doesn't include children is empty. I like having children at GA.

Such beautiful banners we saw! I was sitting next to Sally, who is a quilter and an excellent seamstress, and she drew my attention to how well-made some of the banners are. As the last banners passed by us, Rod said, "It's an amazing sight, isn't it?" It is indeed.

Wednesday, 19 June 2002

If you drive to Québec City from the south, you have to cross the St. Lawrence River. It is an impressive river, spanned by two huge bridges, one for the highway and one for the railroad. The river flows between fairly high bluffs on either side, and you feel a certain magic as you begin to cross the bridge towards the gently lit city on the other side. The grandeur of the broad river far below, glinting in the sun, makes the arrival all the more magical.

As I headed towards the center of the city, I passed by comfortable houses, stone churches, and the occasional modern building, down the broad tree-lined boulevards to the edge of the Old City and the convention center where General Assembly will begin tomorrow.

I arrived a day early to participate in "Center Day," the annual continuing education program for ministers and religious educators. This is my eighth year as a religious educator, but this is the first time I have managed to make it to one of these programs. This year we learned about managing identity-based conflict. Identity-based conflict can be as deadly as the Israel-Palestine conflicts (and in fact, the two presenters have worked on conflict resolution in the Middle East), or as close to home as battles between humanists and pagans, or those who do, and those who do not, want to include joys and concerns in the worship service.

Just as important as the continuing education was the chance to see old friends and colleagues. I tried to catch up on all the news. One friend and colleague who had moved from Massachusetts to serve a distant congregation is now pregnant; another friend is still looking for a position as an interim minister. Phone calls and email help me stay in touch, but the chance to see and talk with someone face-to-face is not to be missed.

But I still haven't spent any time exploring Québec City. Maybe I'll go do that before it gets dark.

Reporter Dan Harper; Web Designer Julie Albanese & Anna Belle Leiserson

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