News: Unitarian Universalism in the News

A Letter From UUA President Peter Morales

By Peter Morales

Peter Morales, smiling in a formal headshot.

Newly-elected UUA President Peter Morales

Friends,

As you know, I have just been elected President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). I have trouble expressing how profoundly I am touched by the confidence people have placed in me. I can only say, in the Spanish phrase, mil gracias, “a thousand thanks."

I am humbled and grateful. The challenges before us are great. We continue to live in a world where fear and hatred cause suffering and violence. Greed and acquisitiveness threaten life on our planet. We are surrounded by millions of people seeking a spiritual home that is free and open. We face historic cultural and ethnic change in America.

We must learn to express our love and values in new cultural contexts. We will build on the great achievement of President Bill Sinkford in social witness. Ours will be a presidency passionately engaged in the great moral issues of our time: economic justice, peace, and human rights. I would like to thank and praise the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman, the other candidate for president, for her deep insights and inspiring contributions to our faith. Her concerns for spiritual depth, covenantal relationships and stewardship are values I share.

To Laurel's supporters, I offer my warmest welcome. There are no divisions in our movement, only complementarities. Your call for spiritual depth has always been a call that leads us to work together to make a better world. Together, we are answering the same call heard by Servetus, Ballou, Channing, Parker and Susan B. Anthony—a call to leave behind what is outmoded and to let compassion guide us as we shape a future together.

The challenges we face are great. However, together we have the passion, the spirit, the determination and love to face the tests of our times. Together, we can grow our faith and help heal the world. We can be, we must be, the religion for our time. Together we are beginning an exciting new chapter in Unitarian Universalism. We are on a journey of faith together.

—Peter Morales

About the Author

Peter Morales

The Rev. Peter Morales was the eighth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). He was elected in June 2013 to a second four-year term and resigned in March 2017. Morales grew up in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of the Pacific in Stockton,...

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