Our principles are changing! Our principles are changing!
We are a living tradition faith. We adapt and change our principles, sources and purpose when both formal and grassroots efforts call us too. Our Unitarian Universalist Association national bylaws include a requirement that we study our principles, sources, and purposes at least every fifteen years.
Our principles and sources were last changed in 1986. The seven principles we know today were a revision of the 1961 principles that were created when the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merged. You can read the originals at https://www.uuworld.org/articles/uuas-original-principles-1961
Our Principles and Sources have received updates and proposed changes, in the years since 1986. The sixth source, naming Earth-centered traditions, was added in 1995. And in 2017 the second source was updated from the wording of “words and deeds of prophetic women and men” to “words and deeds of prophetic people.” The idea of an eighth principle to specifically address the lack of anti-racism language in our existing seven principles came from the work of Paula Cole Jones and Bruce Pollack Johnson in 2013.
The Article II Study Commission was convened in the fall of 2020 and was “charged to review Article II of the UUA Bylaws, and propose any revisions that will enable our UUA, our member congregations, and our covenanted communities to be a relevant and powerful force for spiritual and moral growth, healing, and justice.” They are charting the future of our faith and there are ways you can be part of the creation process. The Commission has submitted a proposal to the UUA Board. Delegates from our congregation will vote at General Assembly in June 2023. The final version of Article II, as amended by the Board of Trustees and/or the 2023 General Assembly, must receive a simple majority vote to move forward for a final vote at the 2024 General Assembly. It will take a 2/3rd majority vote at the 2024 General Assembly to be adopted as the new Article II of the UUA bylaws. If either vote fails, a similar proposal cannot be considered for two years.
Learn more about it at https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/article-ii-study-commission or find the Commission’s Report at https://www.uua.org/files/2023-02/article-II-study-report-2021-23.pdf
How do you feel about the proposed changes? The UUA is taking comments until April 30, 2023. Find all the details here.
In May 2023, the UUA Board will host three amendment discussion workshops. These are open to anyone, and may include A2SC members. Workshops will discuss areas where multiple amendments have been submitted, to help proposers align with each other. Click on here to sign up for a discussion session.
Change is part of being a Unitarian Universalist. Change is required to live more fully into our faith. Unitarian Universalism is a living tradition. Blessed be.
~ Carol Zimmerman, Director of Religious Education
Sources: https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/article-ii-study-commission and https://uucorvallis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/A-Living-Tradition-Nov-2021.pdf