State Of The Association Key Highlights
“Ours is a mission of shared leadership, prophetic justice, and communal care driven by love of neighbor itself.”
Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, UUA President
On Monday, March 30th, the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt — delivered the first-ever “State of the Association” speech, premiering on Facebook Live. These landmark remarks denote the halfway point of President Sofía’s UUA presidency and were designed to give Unitarian Universalists (UUs) insights into both the challenges and opportunities facing the religious tradition.
You can read a full copy of the speech at UU World and watch the video of her remarks at YouTube.
Key Highlights
Associations and institutions are important
Quoting beloved Unitarian Universalist minister and theologian James Luther Adams, President Sofía highlighted why institutions are important, especially during a period of mistrust in them.
“Adams argued that our voluntary associations, the freely chosen institutions we support in our lifetimes, allow us to fully live into our shared values. They are the instrument by which we align ourselves with the greater meaning of our lives,” she said to open the speech.
As this relates to the UUA, she said, “Ours is a mission of shared leadership, prophetic justice, and communal care driven by love of neighbor itself. We are a people who show up; warriors for love and justice in the world, and we do not back down. Not in the face of rising tyranny, nor in the suggestion that individualism is somehow enough and we could do better without the covenant that has long held us together in common cause. So how might we think institutionally together?”
So is community
President Sofía also spoke “of the power and responsibility of religious community.” She pointed out that UU congregations, affiliated organizations, and the UUA itself all share a belief in the importance of community.
“That call to mission… centers us in our core values and our sense of responsibility to one another in our everyday, faithful living,” said President Sofía. “I think it also offers us a unifying strength.”
Mission Critical Work
Reconnecting and working in partnership with other religious leaders
President Sofía highlighted the way that the UUA has reconnected and rebuilt relationships with other religious denominations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples of these fruitful collaborations include the partnership between the UUA and the United Church of Christ in publishing the Our Whole Lives (OWL) curriculum, including signing a new Memorandum of Understanding; joining a multifaith lawsuit challenging ICE’s “sensitive locations” policy; taking the lead on a landmark statement signed by 12 heads of major American religious traditions in calling for the love, support, and protection of transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people; and celebrating the ongoing commitment of UU the Vote to reimagine democracy.
Justice and Repair
An important part of that multifaith work is showing up for justice-oriented and reparation efforts. President Sofía spoke of the work the Texas UU Justice Ministry, in collaboration with other faith leaders, to be in “prayerful solidarity with children and parents protesting from within the immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas.”
Additionally, she explained that the UUA is in “the early stages of exploring how best to enter into the reparations movement” and is working to transform the recommendations at the 2025 General Assembly made in connection to Climate Justice into commitments. She emphasized that work of this nature is already happening at the congregational level.
Structures and Systems
Improving structures and systems
President Sofía acknowledged that the work of sustaining Unitarian Universalism today – and preparing for its continued growth – requires shifting systems and structures, especially within the UUA.
In speaking of the work that goes into improving the systems that sustain the faith, she asked Unitarian Universalists across the country to be a part of this work. “We need you to be in this time of institutional transformation alongside us at the UUA. We need to know that this work is ours to share across the whole ecosystem of the faith,” she said.
Meet the Moment
One way that the UUA is working to create institutional transformation is through the “Meet the Moment” initiative. In addition to being a framework that is helping UUs to “analyze, discern, and take values-based action in response to today’s religious, cultural, generational, and political realities,” Meet the Moment “is also a place of deep connection with UUs who have wisdom to share about a wide range of needs and hopes for the faith going forward,” according to President Sofía.
She said that the cohorts involved in Meet the Moment are helping to inform and shape the UUA’s work, as well as letting staff and leadership know where the UUA needs to emphasize information and resource-sharing.
Supporting UUs
Centering youth, emerging adults, and family ministry
President Sofía made a special point of discussing the work that the UUA is doing to center youth, emerging adults, and family ministry. She said that the UUA knows “we need to strengthen the containers for this ministry at the congregational and local level in order to ground ourselves for more strategic thinking about the future.”
She emphasized the participation of LREDA in the creation of a lifespan and whole church faith development curricula series about which UUs will learn more at this year’s General Assembly. Additionally, she highlighted the development of the Mosaic Lifespan Antiracism curriculum, the Deeper Joy framework, and the ongoing impact of OWL as important work that is being done in this area.
Supporting ministry and congregations
A key missional component of the UUA’s work is supporting congregations and ministry, and President Sofía focused on the efforts the UUA is making to improve systems that support both congregations and ministers in the formation, search, and settlement processes. This includes the formation of the Transitions Review Task Force (TRTF), which is, she said, “charged [with designing] a constituent-driven process of both listening and assessment that will lead to the reimagining of our ministerial transitions system.” She also touched on the Widening the Pathway process, which is being asked to do similar work on ministerial formation and training.
Financial health
President Sofía highlighted that the UUA is updating its financial management to more modern ways of doing this work, as part of the overall system changes underway at the UUA. Additionally, she touched upon the important work that the UU Common Endowment Fund and how improvements “in our processes that build trust and confidence, [have already resulted] in an additional $25 million investment in the fund.”
“Your UUA exists to make that covenant real; to ensure that our congregations are not alone, our values are not fragmented, and our faith has continuity, credibility, and a future.”
Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, UUA President
President Sofía ended this historic speech by talking about the structural importance of the UUA as both a steward of Unitarian Universalism and a foundation upon which the faith can grow. “Unitarian Universalism is a covenantal faith. It is built on relationship rather than hierarchy, on shared responsibility rather than centralized authority. That covenant has always required structure. Your UUA exists to make that covenant real; to ensure that our congregations are not alone, our values are not fragmented, and our faith has continuity, credibility, and a future,” she said.