A 14 year old girl
lives her values by refusing to exclude someone who is considered “undesirable”
in the culture of the country she is visiting.
A demonstrator refuses
to ignore the humanity of the policeman who is there to keep the laws that will
likely be broken during the demonstration.
A couple just “can’t
not” help someone who is physically and emotionally exhausted.
These are just a few of the over 160 stories that were
collected over the past year and a half in Gathered Here. Many more came from 70 community events
whose outputs were fed back via the UUA website – in total, nearly 1200 documented
conversations, with many more that were not documented. Led by nationally known Appreciative Inquiry
consultant Amanda Trosten-Bloom, these stories went through a process of
“meaning making” that identified attributes of our “positive core”: when we are at our best as Unitarian
Universalists.
We are at our best when we:
- Grow into our best selves and honor the divine in each person
- Practice “spiritual justice”: justice-making in faith and worship
- Embrace fellow travelers within and beyond our faith, building community together
- Proactively invite people to share themselves and their gifts
- Have such a strong sense of our religious purpose and identity that we must act on it
- Covenant together to create sustained relationship across all ages and cultures
- Transcend geographic, national, and language barriers
- Experience spiritual depth, individually and collectively
Each statement about the “positive core” is explained and
illustrated more fully in the Gathered Here Summary Report.
The October board conversation about the added value of the
Association started with Gathered Here.
We are deeply appreciative of all those who participated in the Gathered
Here conversations, and our partners and sponsors.
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