Responsive Resolution Regarding Report of President Peter Morales 2011 Responsive Resolution

WHEREAS President Peter Morales’s Annual Report referred to communities with a “spiritual hunger” that can be fed by Unitarian Universalism, he referred to the need for multicultural competence in serving these communities, and he cited the Strategic Review of Professional Ministries, which states in part:

“Our UUA President, Peter Morales, believes that vibrant multicultural congregations are essential for a thriving Unitarian Universalism of the future”

and

“Our ministers, religious educators and musicians must be equipped with strong multicultural competence"

and recommended that we should

“Strengthen RE and music credentialing and continuing education”;

WHEREAS some fluency in a second language is one of the paths to multicultural competency (as our Latina/Latino/Hispanic colleagues have already demonstrated) and enhances our ability to engage effectively with diverse communities,

WHEREAS the 50th Anniversary of the consolidation of Universalists and Unitarians offers a powerful challenge and opportunity for our meaningful presence in the future,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the General Assembly strongly urges members of congregations and religious professionals to engage in continuing education programs in the Spanish language, beginning as early as July 2011.