Thursday, January 29, 2009

Purpose, Principles, and the Commission on Appraisal

Fourth in a series of posts about the January UUA Board meeting

Included in the January Board packet was one of the best reports I have seen about what can be a delicate and difficult process: a review of our purpose and principles, as required by our by-laws. The Commission on Appraisal (COA) was asked to do this review. Led by Barbara Child and Orlanda Brugnola, this team got feedback from over 1700 individuals and congregations on what we might change – and had the audacity to suggest we actually do that. Some of you may have seen an earlier report put out by comment by the team in September – referred to as the “kitchen sink” report, this version included essentially most major suggestions made and came across that way.

You will find the most recent Commission on Appraisal Report, received by the Board and placed on the General Assembly agenda with one minor change, a very different document. Changes are minimal, and the logic reiterated by the COA for these changes is compelling. Other than putting this on the agenda, the Board has taken no official position on it, and will participate, as you will, in a two year process to discern if this is what we should do as an Association. The Salt Lake 2009 GA delegates will discuss the document, and if a majority passes it, it will be placed on the 2010 GA agenda for a 2/3 majority to pass. No amendments are allowed in this two year process.

My gratitude to the COA for their dedication and work on this.

Next post: Sustainability and White Privilege

1 comment:

Language Lover said...

Thank you for posting that link, Linda. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I did not participate much in the review process because of previous frustrating experiences with wordsmithing, but I'm quite impressed with the report. It's clear that the Commission gave tremendous thought to this project and came up with a result that truly appears to be worth the effort. Hurray for the COA!