Last month, Saturday, June 22nd, 2025 (or 80.2% of) delegates to the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly, meeting online, voted to adopt the proposed new Article 2 of the Unitarian Universalist Association bylaws. 499 (or 19.8% of) delegates voted against the proposal. This margin is similar to the vote our congregation took on March 17th, but in reverse. Approximately 70% of our members opposed the new Article 2, with 30% in favor. Because we also agreed that our General Assembly delegates would vote in proportion to our congregational vote, six of our delegates voted against the Article 2 proposal; two voted in favor.
My apologies to those of you who are new to Unitarian Universalism: I realize you may have no idea what I am talking about. In short, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is the denomination to which our congregation belongs. The General Assembly (GA) is the annual gathering of delegates from member congregations for the purpose of conducting denominational business, including making changes to the UUA bylaws from time to time. Since 1985, Article 2 of the UUA bylaws, known as “Principles and Purposes,” has been the home of the seven Unitarian Universalist principles (which I shared earlier) along with the six sources of our living tradition. For these last forty years, the principles and sources have been prominent answers to the questions such as ‘what is Unitarian Universalism?’ or ‘What do Unitarian Universalists believe?’ The new Article 2, adopted three weeks ago, known as “Purposes and Covenant,” replaces the seven principles with six values, each with corresponding covenantal language, all emerging from a central foundation of love. It also replaces the six sources with a more general statement called “Inspirations.” These aren’t the only changes, but as this new Article 2 becomes more and more familiar to Unitarian Universalists, I imagine the values will become, like the principles, prominent answers to the questions, ‘What is Unitarian Universalism?’ and “What do Unitarian Universalists believe?’
The proposal needed a two thirds majority to pass. 80% is a definitive victory. The UUA has a new Article 2. The process, at least at the national level, is over. At the congregational level, and for many individual UUs, I suspect change will come more slowly, more haltingly. Over the coming years, as the new Article 2 makes its way into UUA religious education curricula, membership materials, marketing resources, websites, local newsletter articles, sermons, etc., and as we start referring to our values rather than our principles, our inspirations rather than our sources, some congregations will fully embrace the new language—some already have. Some will reject it outright, which has already happened. Some will find middle ground, which is also happening, and which will likely happen here.
For us—members, friends and staff at UUSE—atop Elm Hill on the Manchester/Vernon line, above the Hockanum River, the Article 2 conversation has been contentious, has been divisive. It has been painful for at least some of you to find yourselves in profound disagreement with fellow UUSE members who you’ve known and loved and cared about for many years. It has also been painful for some of you to conclude that the UUA is acting in undemocratic ways, and worse, that the UUA is abandoning its commitment to the notion that Unitarian Universalist congregations are free and independent entities. And it has been painful for those of you who don’t believe the UUA has been acting undemocratically, and who don’t believe the UUA intends to assert greater power over congregations, to learn that other members of the congregation do believe these things.
And of course the contentiousness and divisiveness didn’t end with our Article 2 vote in March. It continued to shape our discussions about our UUSE Constitution and how we relate to the UUA as a congregation. We could feel that contentiousness and divisiveness at our informational meeting on May 5th and our Annual Meeting on May 19th. It has led our Policy Board—very wisely, I believe—to form our Constitutional Change Task Force and our UUA Discernment Task Force, both of which are beginning their work this month. I’m very hopeful. I trust this work will enable our internal UUSE dialogue to continue in ways that will bring us together, enable us to hear each other deeply, encourage us to heal and strengthen relationships, and assure us that the Unitarian Universalism we practice here will, in the words I read earlier from the Rev. Victoria Safford, “anchor us, steady us, challenge us, unsteady us, infuse our days with gratitude and bless our nights with hope.”
[I like ‘steady’ and ‘unsteady’ in the same list—we need our religion to do both.]
I’ve been reviewing my public comments regarding Article 2 going back to January of 2023 when I first preached on it. That first sermon was entitled, somewhat facetiously, “Have We No Principles?” I didn’t actually answer the question, in part because I thought the answer was obvious, though for many of you it wasn’t obvious at all. The answer is yes, we still have principles. Though the seven principles no longer appear in the UUA bylaws, there is absolutely nothing to prevent an individual congregation from continuing to refer to them, publish them, teach them, etc. Prior to the final Article 2 vote at GA, the UUA parliamentarian reminded the delegates that “The independence of member congregations is affirmed in proposed Article II … which provides that congregational freedom is central to Unitarian Universalist heritage, and congregations may establish their own statements of purpose and covenants. The sole requirement in Article II upon member congregations is that they may not require that their individual members adhere to a particular creed. As to individual UU’s beliefs, the Bylaws have no role in it.” Which means if any individual or if we collectively want to continue incorporating the principles and sources into our congregational life—as some of you have suggested—we can do that. As your minister, I support that. I also feel strongly we are obligated to incorporate the new Article 2 into our congregational life, but I see no reason why the principles and values cannot live side by side.
Regardless of what we do here, the UUA now has a new Article 2. Change is upon us. Another point I made in that January 2023 sermon—to which I don’t think we’ve paid enough attention here, and to which I don’t think the UUA has paid enough attention either—had to do with grief. In that sermon I said “There’s a lot I can say about why I like the proposed new Article 2. But I don’t think any of it actually matters until we acknowledge, reflect on and live with the grief that many of us will feel if this change goes through. The UUA adopted the current seven principles in June of 1985…. They have been the center of my faith ever since. They have been my response to the question, What is Unitarian Universalism? For better or for worse, they are in my bones. They are in my heart, my spirit, my soul. The rabbi preaches in response to the Torah. The Christian minister or priest preaches in response to the Christian New Testament. The Imam preaches in response to the Koran. I preach in response to the principles. I anticipate experiencing grief and a sense of loss if they go away.”
Further, I said “I’m mindful that a majority of you became Unitarian Universalists after 1985. For you, the seven principles have been the only center of this faith you’ve ever known. So yes, we will experience grief and loss if they go away. It will feel strange learning the new language of our center. It will feel strange referring to values, rather than principles. It will feel strange referring to inspirations rather than sources. It will take time to change.”
Grief is certainly not the only emotional dimension of the Article 2 debate here, and I don’t want to suggest that all the divisiveness we’ve experienced is only due to unacknowledged grief. But there also is unacknowledged grief. For some of you, this change marks a profound loss. Ignoring grief rarely works out well for people, families or communities that have experienced a loss. Religious entities are uniquely situated to conduct grief work. I am hopeful that our upcoming UUA discernment process will enable us to acknowledge and process this grief together.
In February of 2023 I preached on the New Article 2’s emphasis on love at the center of our faith. It had always been my greatest lament about the seven principles: no mention of—no reference to—the enduring, healing, transformative, relationship-building, justice seeking power of love. I always engaged the seven principles as if love resides at the center of our faith, even though it didn’t appear in writing. In that February 2023 sermon, and still today, what inspires me most about the new Article 2 are two phrases: “Love is the power that holds us together” and “We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love.” Yes, we construct our Unitarian Universalist faith out of many essential components: reason, the right of conscience, democratic processes and decision-making, trust in the scientific method, a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, the embrace of mystery, acceptance of change, a commitment to pluralism, the goal of a more just and equitable society, covenanted communities, and more. But a central, foundational, underlying love—love for ourselves, our neighbors, our communities, nature, the earth and all existence—gives our faith its power, its endurance, its sustainability, its resilience, its courage. Love animates our faith. Love gives our faith its warmth, its intimacy, its connectedness, its fire, its passion, its vision!
I said in that sermon I don’t know exactly what a spiritual discipline of love is. I still don’t know for sure. But I want to know. I want us to know. I said it then and I repeat it today, I “look forward to figuring it out, exploring, experimenting, testing, practicing … with you.” I really mean that. I feel there is a potent opportunity for us to deepen our individual and collective spiritual lives as we define and practice a spiritual discipline of love.
Again, none of this is to say that the seven principles and the six sources of the previous Article 2 are no longer relevant or necessary. And none of this is to say that members of our congregation who have ongoing concerns about the UUA should now put those concerns aside. Later in the summer or early fall, our UUA Discernment Task Force will bring us a process for talking to each other about concerns, fears, anger—about our grief—and about our hopes for the future of our congregation and the future of Unitarian Universalism. The goal of discernment, as I understand it, is not to debate, not to try to convince each other that one position or perspective is correct and another is wrong or ill-informed. The goal is to listen to each other, to listen deeply; to accept and honor each other; and to seek common ground in how we want to be in relationship with the UUA and with Unitarian Universalism. I may be describing our own spiritual discipline of love.
The goal is to have our disagreements, to learn to be comfortable with them, and in that comfort continue as a vibrant, multigenerational, joyful, searching, justice-seeking, earth-protecting congregation here, atop Elm Hill on the Manchester/Vernon line, above the Hockanum River which eventually feeds the Connecticut River. Here, where we say ‘enter, rejoice and come in.’ Here, where we sing prayers to the ‘Spirit of Life.’ Here, where we chant “Love is the spirit of this church.” Here, where we raise our children, volunteer for committees, agree to serve as leaders, bake for the fair, contribute generously to the annual appeal, provide meals, rides and visits to those in crisis. Here, where we build lasting connections, friendships, community. Here, where we know who our neighbors are and it’s not some kind of dream. Here, where we give voice to and sustain the things that matter most to us. Here, where we know and trust and believe there is more love, always more love, always more love.
Amen and blessed be.
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