UUA Board Report for March 2015

The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Board of Trustees met in Birmingham, AL March 4-March 8, 2015. The meeting was abbreviated to allow for participation in the Unitarian Universalist (UU) Living Legacies Conference and the events marking the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights March in Selma. Board members readily agreed that the historical context was inspiring and moving.

During the board’s time for official business, it welcomed new congregations into membership with the UUA: the Open Door UU Fellowship in Owensboro, KY, and the St. Croix UU Fellowship in St. Croix Falls, WI. The Emerging Congregations Working Group also heard a report that recent staff attention to some 53 UU affinity groups has resulted in many of those groups thinking seriously about a formal affiliation with the UUA. Groups seeking affiliation but not wanting to be formally recognized as traditional congregations will be called “covenanting communities.” There may be as many as eight more groups who might be recognized as either covenanting communities or congregations by the time of General Assembly in June.

The board held several non-conclusive conversations on whether or not the UUA should respond to appeals to intervene in the recent controversies surrounding the Starr King School for the Ministry.

The also board approved a proposed bylaws change to present to General Assembly in June regarding the Commission on Appraisal. Written in consultation with that body, the changes would reduce the number of members from nine to four, and see the members appointed by the board rather than election.

The next meeting of the board will be via teleconference, on Thursday, April 23, at 8 PM Eastern time.