Event: 2018 0624 General Session VII 1200 EDT

**********DISCLAIMER**********
THE FOLLOWING IS AN UNEDITED ROUGH DRAFT TRANSLATION FROM THE CART CAPTIONER'S OUTPUT FILE. THIS TRANSCRIPT IS NOT VERBATIM AND HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD. TO DO SO IS AN EXTRA FEE. THIS FILE MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SPEAKER(S) FOR ANY CLARIFICATION.

THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED TO ANYONE ELSE UNLESS YOU OBTAIN WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE OFFICE OR SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT IS PROVIDING CART CAPTIONING TO YOU; FINALLY, THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE USED IN A COURT OF LAW.
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>> OFF-SITE I INVITE YOU TO SAY YAY WHEREVER YOU ARE. AND I HOPE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ELECTED FEEL THE LOVE AND WE WILL BE INSTALLING YOU LATER. [APPLAUSE]
>> CAN WE GET THE WORD SLIDE ON THE DECK?
>> EVERYBODY --
>> I THINK YOU ARE STARTING US OFF,  YES?
>> SURE, ALL RIGHTY. YESTERDAY FOR SOME OF YOU WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CONVERSATIONS, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I'M GOING TO SAY TWO THINGS. SO I'VE BEEN HERE A VERY LONG TIME AND ONE OF THE THINGS I APPRECIATED BY YOUTH WORK AND YOUNG ADULT WORK IS WE HAD DEEP CONVERSATIONS WITH EACH OTHER. WE HAVE DEEP DIALOGUES, MIGHT NOT OF ALWAYS AGREED BUT WE BUILT VERY DEEP RELATIONSHIPS. THE ONLY WAY TO BE IN A MENTAL PLACE IS TO DO THE SERMON TOGETHER, DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? OTHER NOT AS COULD HAVE YOU GET, YOU GET UP AND GO ON. THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS MEANS. ONE THING I RECOGNIZE WHILE HERE, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE ON THIS STAGE IS I WENT TO THIS THING IN 2005 CALLED OPEN CENTRIC, I LOOKED AROUND HALF OF IT IS IN THE BUILDING. WHILE WE WERE DEALING WITH A WHOLE BUNCH OF STUFF AROUND WHO WE WANT TO BE AS A YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY, WHAT IT MEANT TO DO RADICALLY INCLUSIVE, SPIRITUALLY ALIVE WORK, WE DID DEEP, VERY PAINFUL, SOMETIMES VERY LATE NIGHTS, WORK IN WHICH WE TALKED TO EVERYBODY PRESENT. WHICH MEANT WE BUILT RELATIONSHIPS EVEN IN THE MIDST OF STRUGGLE. SOMETIMES IN ADULT COMMUNITIES WE DO NOT DO THE SAME THING. SO WHILE WE WERE DOING IT IN OUR YOUTH WORK AND IN OUR YOUNG ADULT WORK SOMETIMES, WE WERE NOT ALWAYS DOING THE SAME WORK WITHIN OUR ADULT COMMUNITIES. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY? SO BECAUSE OF IT WE ARE NOW DEALING WITH THE IMPACTS OF HAVING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE BUILD COLLECTIVELY WHERE WE ARE TRYING TO GO TO WHERE WE ARE ACTUALLY IN RELATIONSHIPS, WHERE WE ARE LISTENING TO EACH OTHER FOR REAL AND AT EVERY STEP OF THE WAY MOVING FORWARD. AND SO THAT'S WHERE THIS PROCESS IS ABOUT TO GO, HOW DO WE REIMAGINE OUR BY-LAWS, WE DON'T HAVE A MISSION, WE DO. BUT YOU DON'T KNOW IT, THAT MEANS WE HAVE WORK TO DO, RIGHT. AND SO THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ABOUT, TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE ARE ALL WORK ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER. I'M SORRY TOO, THAT WAS ABLEIST, HOW WE ARE MOVING ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER TO MAKE IT HAPPEN, WE ALL MESS UP BECAUSE I JUST USED ABLEIST LANGUAGE AND I APOLOGIZE.
>> ISN'T MISSOURI THE SHOW ME STATE, DO I HAVE THAT RIGHT? WHEN AFTER THE BREAKOUT SESSIONS YESTERDAY WE WERE LIKE YEAH SHOW ME WHAT PEOPLE SAID. FOR SOME OF US, MYSELF INCLUDED, THE VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF WHAT WE HEARD FROM ALL OF THE BREAKOUT GROUPS, IS THE EASIEST WAY TO GET SOMETHING OUT OF THE COLLECTIVE VOICE. SO SINCE WE'RE IN THIS SHOW-ME STATE, WE'RE GOING TO SHOW YOU VIA THE WORD CLOUD, SOME OF THE MAJOR THEMES THAT CAME OUT OF OUR 19 DISCUSSION GROUPS YESTERDAY. THERE WAS LOTS AND LOTS OF FEEDBACK AND IT WAS AMAZING TO SEE HOW MANY OF THE GROUPS HAD SIMILAR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS THAT ARE REPRESENTED IN THESE WORDS. IT WAS ALSO AMAZING TO SEE THE DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT. THERE WAS A CONCENTRATION OF THEMES AND THEN THERE WAS SOME RADICAL IDEAS, SOME RADICAL WORDS, SOME RADICAL SUGGESTIONS OF WAYS TO MOVE TOGETHER, TO BE TOGETHER THAT CAME OUT OF THOSE DISCUSSION GROUPS. I WANT TO THANK ALL OF YOU FOR BRINGING YOUR FULL SERVE SELVES TO THAT CONVERSATION, GOING TO HAND IT OVER TO CHRISTINA IN JUST A SECOND, GOING TO GO ON A LITTLE DEEPER. BUT THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ATTENDED, KIMBERLY AND ERIC, THANK YOU FOR STAYING UP UNTIL DAWN TO PUT ALL OF THIS TOGETHER FOR US. SO THANKS FOR THAT. [APPLAUSE] AND CHRISTINA, SOME DETAILS.
>> SO WE HAD UM, WHAT DID WE SAY 19, WE HAD 19 BREAKOUT SESSIONS. WE HAD ABOUT 600 TO 700 OF YOU ALL PARTICIPATE IN THESE CONVERSATIONS. SO [APPLAUSE] YEAH, YAY ON YOU ALL FOR HANGING OUT. ONE OF THE THINGS, TO WHAT ELANDRIA SAID AND ALSO KIND OF FEEDBACK TO WHAT CARRIE MCDONALD WAS SAYING YESTERDAY WAS THESE ARE SKILLS THAT WE'RE NOT ALWAYS IN OUR CONGREGATIONS, RIGHT. TALKING WITH EACH OTHER WITHIN COVENANT, HAVING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS, HEARING VOICES FROM THE MARGINS. SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE ARE GOING TO NEED TO PRACTICE, SO THAT WE GET BETTER AT THESE SKILLS. SO WE ARE GOING TO HEAR AND SEE MORE OF THESE TYPES OF PRACTICES FROM YOUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES IN THE COMING YEARS. PARTICULARLY, WHEN WE GET TO SPOKANE NEXT YEAR. SO BE PREPARED FOR MORE CONVERSATIONS. IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WHEN WE ARE IN COMMUNITY, CAN YOU BRING BACK UP THE WORD CLOUD, BECAUSE YOU'LL SEE COMMUNITY IS THE LARGEST WORD THERE. WHEN WE ARE IN COMMUNITY, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE'RE JUST SITTING TOGETHER LOOKING AT A SCREEN. IT MEANS THAT WE ARE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER. AND TALKING WITH ONE ANOTHER. SO WE'RE GOING TO BE DOING MORE OF THAT IN THE COMING YEARS. THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO SAY IS THAT WITHIN OUR CONVERSATIONS THERE IS ALWAYS CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE BOARD DOING LINKAGE WORK AND YOU HEARD YESTERDAY ONE OF THE PROPOSAL BY-LAW CHANGES WAS REALLY SPECIFICALLY ABOUT HOW TO ENGAGE WITH THE BOARD AND WE TAKE THAT REALLY SERIOUSLY AND WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT THAT THIS YEAR. BUT I WANT TO POINT OUT THAT WHAT WE DID YESTERDAY IS LINKAGE WORK. YOU ARE ALL PART OF OUR SOURCES OF AUTHORITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. AND US HAVING THESE KINDS OF DISCUSSION SESSIONS WITH YOU IS VERY INTENTIONAL LINKAGE WORK. THE OTHER THING I'M GOING TO SAY REAL BRIEFLY, IF WE CAN PULL, SORRY TECH DECK I KNOW I SHOULD OF JUST HAD YOU KEEP IT UP THERE. IF YOU PULL THE WORD CLOUD BACK UP THERE, THE OTHER THING I WANT TO MENTION ABOUT WORD CLOUD, I THINK SOME OF YOUR CONGREGATIONS USE THESE AS WELL. TO LOOK AT THE WORDS ON THE MARGINS. RIGHT. BECAUSE WE SEE THEMES COME IN THE CENTER COMMUNITY, WORK, PEOPLE, ACTION SPACE, AND THAT'S, THAT'S IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT, SEE WITH WHAT THOSE COMMON THEMES ARE. BUT AS DENISE WAS SAYING IF WE'RE REALLY DOING OUR JOB AND LISTENING AND THINKING ABOUT COMMUNITIES ON THE MARGINS, THEN WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE WORDS ON THE MARGIN AS WELL. WE ARE LOOKING AT WORDS LIKE SURVIVOR AND PERSPECTIVE AND UNDERSTANDING AND ALLIES AND BARRIERS AND BELIEFS AND COMPASSION. THOSE ARE THE WORDS THAT WERE ON THE MARGIN, SOME OF THE WORDS THAT WERE ON THE MARGINS. SO I REALLY INVITE YOU WHEN YOU ARE DOING THIS TYPE OF DISCERNMENT AND DISCUSSION WORK IN YOUR CONGREGATION, TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT AS WELL. ANYTHING I MISS? THANKS.
>> OKAY. SO, SO WE JUST WANT TO SAY ONE MORE THING BEFORE WE RECESS AND CLOSE. IT IS GOING TO BE HARD TO SAY BECAUSE IT IS JUST HARD. SO WE ARE ALL IN DIFFERENT SPACES, BUT THE THING WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO IS TREAT EACH OTHER RESPECTFULLY. SO THIS MORNING, I WANT TO GIVE AN APOLOGY TO, ONE THING WE WANTED TO DO WAS TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE SHIFT, HOW WE ARE ABLE TO SPEAK IN GENERAL SESSION. AND SO WE WERE HOPING WE COULD FIGURE OUT HOW FOR PEOPLE TO SPEAK THAT AREN'T DELEGATES, THEN WE WERE LIKE OH THAT'S ACTUALLY, WE CAN'T DO THAT. SO I JUST WANT TO SAY FIRST OF ALL, WE APOLOGIZE, WE SAID THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK THEN WE THEN SAID THEY COULDN'T.
>> WE FORGOT TO GO BACK TO SKY, WE FORGOT TO GO BACK TO SKY AND SAY THE STRUGGLE WE HAVE EXPERIENCED AND WE WERE WRONG.
>> RIGHT SO WE WANTED TO PUBLICLY SAY WE WERE SORRY. TWO, PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN HURT BY THE PROCESS AND WE JUST WANT TO SAY SORRY FOR THAT AND SOME OF IT IS ON US, SOME OF IT IS WE HAVE A PROCESS THAT'S COMPLICATED AND TO HOLD BOTH OF THOSE THINGS IS TRUE. AND PEOPLE ARE DOING HEROIC VOLUNTEER WORK AND CAN WE NOT YELL AT THEM? [APPLAUSE] CAN WE PLEASE NOT YELL AT THEM? I KNOW I HAVE BEEN YELLED AT. I HAVE YELLED AT PEOPLE BEFORE. ONE OF OUR COMMISSION MEMBERS WAS YELLED AT. CAN WE JUST REALLY TRY TO COME AT EACH OTHER RESPECTFUL LOVING WAYS KNOWING THAT WE ARE ALL IN THIS STRUGGLE TOGETHER AND LIKE WE WERE ALL IN OPERATING OUT OF HURT AND PAIN AND FRUSTRATION. BUT HOW WE CAN DO THAT FAITHFULLY IS REALLY WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO AT THIS TIME. [APPLAUSE]
>> ON THAT NOTE I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE TIM OFFER US OUR CLOSING READING FOR THIS SESSION.
>> OUR CLOSING WORDS FOR THIS SESSION ARE ADAPTED FROM REVEREND NAOMI KING.
WE ARE A RAINBOW PEOPLE. THE RAINBOW IS AN ARC OF LIGHT BRILLIANTLY DISPLAYING ALL
THE COLORS OF THE VISIBLE SPECTRUM, ALL THE COLORS THAT COMBINE TO MAKE THE
ASTOUNDING BEAUTY OF OUR WORLD, ALL THE COLORS THAT COMBINE TO REFLECT THE
ASTOUNDING DIVERSITY OF HUMAN EXPRESSION.
WE ARE RED PEOPLE WHO RESPECT OTHERS. WE ARE ORANGE PEOPLE WHO OFFER FAITH AND
KIND TREATMENT. WE ARE YELLOW PEOPLE YEARNING FOR LEARNING. WE ARE GREEN PEOPLE
WHO GROW IN OUR SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND MEANING. WE ARE BLUE PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN
WHAT WE ARE ACHIEVING. WE ARE INDIGO PEOPLE INSISTING ON FREEDOM, LOVE, AND
PEACE. WE ARE VIOLET PEOPLE, VALUING THE WEB THAT DOES NOT CEASE AND WE DID NOT
CREATE.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM SHOWS UP REFRACTED THROUGH THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT HUMAN
EXPRESSIONS AND EXPERIENCES, THROUGH INDIVIDUALS LIVING OUR PROMISES, THROUGH
COVENANTED COMMUNITIES, THROUGH OUR ASSOCIATIONS AND OUR ACTIONS.
WE ARE A RAINBOW PEOPLE. TOGETHER, WHAT WE GIVE HEALS AND TRANSFORMS OUR WORLD.
THIS IS OUR COVENANT, OUR BRIDGE OF HEAVEN, OUR DREAM AND OUR REALITY. THE FLAME OF
THE CHALICE, LIT AROUND OUR WORLD, IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT AND THE POT OF GOLD AT THE
END OF THAT RAINBOW. THE FLAME OF THAT CHALICE IS FILLED WITH THE LIGHT WE BRING, AND
NURTURED BY OUR HOPES AND DREAMS. WE KNOW THE RAINBOW BEGINS WITH YOU AND WITH
ME.
WE ARE A RAINBOW PEOPLE. LET US GROW THE RAINBOW AGAIN TODAY.[APPLAUSE]
>> THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE US AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCHEDULE SET FORTH IN YOUR PROGRAM BOOK OF, I DECLARE THIS GENERAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY SHOULD STAND IN RECESS UNTIL 1:30 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

**********DISCLAIMER**********
THE FOLLOWING IS AN UNEDITED ROUGH DRAFT TRANSLATION FROM THE CART CAPTIONER'S OUTPUT FILE. THIS TRANSCRIPT IS NOT VERBATIM AND HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD. TO DO SO IS AN EXTRA FEE. THIS FILE MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SPEAKER(S) FOR ANY CLARIFICATION.

THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED TO ANYONE ELSE UNLESS YOU OBTAIN WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE OFFICE OR SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT IS PROVIDING CART CAPTIONING TO YOU; FINALLY, THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE USED IN A COURT OF LAW.
*********DISCLAIMER**********

Event: 2018 0624 General Session VII 1200 EDT