Board Statement in Response to AUUMM Statement
This statement is a response to the Association of Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries' statement from March 25, 2020.
The UUA Board intends to continue the process of developing a memorandum of understanding with Association of Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries (AUUMM) that provides for an equitable and inclusive approach to the work of professional music leaders at General Assembly (GA). Last month, the General Assembly Planning Committee (GAPC) wrote to the Board requesting support in resolving concerns raised over the past year by AUUMM about the GA planning process. GAPC noted they had met half a dozen times with Board members of the AUUMM in the past year to address stated concerns, and that they had already taken the following actions based on those concerns:
- Committed to implementing the new musician compensation schedule recommended by the AUUMM Board
- Rewrote job descriptions for all GA music leads in collaboration with members of the AUUMM Board
- Committed to collaboration on explicit expectations among GA worship planning professionals
- Created a position of Production Manager, committed additional funds to underwrite the position, and hired a Production Manager for GA 2020
- Committed to creating and funding a position dedicated to copyright acquisition for GA 2021
- Committed to ongoing dialogue with the AUUMM
We understand that AUUMM and the GAPC had an agreement earlier this spring, but that the agreement fell apart. We affirm that both AUUMM and the GAPC approached the process in good faith, but that miscommunications and lack of trust made it difficult to sustain agreement. The UUA Board is committed to ensuring the GA planning process is inclusive and equitable, and to shifting the process as needed in the coming year to address those concerns, with a desire to building relationships that rest on common goals and understandings and with mutual trust and respect.