UUCJ Article II Review Task Force Educational Program Rationale and Approach

UUCJ Article II Discernment Process – Rationale and Resources 240610-2

Rationale

Several UUCJ members attended the 2023 General Assembly (GA) and returned to our congregation with deep concerns about, among many, the changes that were being proposed by the UUA leadership to its Bylaws Article 2; the research methodology that had been used as the basis for making the proposed changes; the underlying language being adopted as the rationale for the changes; and importantly, the lack of widespread, comprehensive, extensive, and thorough dissemination of information and educational attempts by UUA.

Approach

Our congregation knew very little of what was going on with UUA’s proposed changes to its Bylaws Article 2, so upon the request of several UUCJ members the Board established the 2023 A2RTF, approved its first charter, and charged it to establish a process for educating the congregation on the issues.

The focus of the educational program was designed to study the following: polity; current Article 2 language and intent; the work of the UUA Fifth Principle Task Force; the COIC; the Eighth Principle TF work; the Article II Study Commission; and the final proposed changes to Article II.

The A2RTF was re-chartered by the Board in 2024 to continue the educational program.

The A2RTF was, and is, comprised of 14 member volunteers who had a range of views on the proposed changes. From the topics to be reviewed, each member was charged to choose at least one topic to study in depth, become an “expert” on the chosen topic(s), author an essay or summary paper to include pros and cons, and be ready to present their findings to the congregation in an open townhall format. The presentations were to be based on factual information from a variety of sources and intended to educate, not persuade.

Townhalls were made available to the entire congregation both in person and by Zoom. Participants were encouraged to question, comment, disagree, and be skeptical. Q & A sessions were provided. Additionally, e-mails were sent to the congregation with relevant information including related links they could access on their own. Considering that some members could have been uncomfortable with speaking in front of others or disagree in public, a link to a digital safe space was created where comments, disagreements, questions, etc. could be left anonymously.

The A2RTF educational program culminated in a Congregational Meeting where, by secret ballot, the congregation could vote to either approve or reject the UUA proposed Article 2 changes. The TF provided early voting, voting by proxy, or dropping an early ballot by proxy at the Congregational Meeting. The voting result was: 80 members voted to reject and four to approve the proposed changes.

Our UUCJ Bylaws require that GA delegates vote the conscience of the congregation, so our three delegates will vote to reject the proposed Article 2 changes at the 2024
General Assembly.

You may find our presentations and resources here.

Activities

First Town Hall, October 22, 2023

The 45 UUCJ congrega0on members present were asked what was important to them about UUism. The Seven Principles received nearly all the votes. A three-page report on this town hall is available online at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nm9IGBas6yi3425dPjlDF3qbg_BRpM35/view.

Second Town Hall, January 14, 2024

65 UUCJ members attended including 45 in the room and 20 on Zoom. Presentations covered the following topics and resources:

Third Town Hall, February 11, 2024.

40 UUCJ members were present and 20 attended on Zoom. Two thorough presentations addressed both sides of the congregational polity issues stated and implied in the proposed revisions to Article 2.

Fourth Town Hall, March 3, 2024

42 UUCJ members attended in person and 20 on Zoom. Three presentations addressed:

Fifth Town Hall (on Zoom), March 20, 2024

25 UUCJ members attended. Presentations were as follows:

  • Two Approaches to Achieving Social Justice.
    Presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nx_yl3-wINwmamyYWuaaCfJsEwhLcH94/view Resources utilized included: personal experiences of the presenter; The UUA Journey Toward Wholeness; Joseph Barndt, Deconstructing Racism: A Path toward Lasting Change; Widening the Circle of Concern; William Barber: The Third Reconstruction; and personal experiences of Bruce Knotts, director of the UUA office at the United Nations, 2208 – 2022.
  • UUCJ’s 25-year active participation with Jacksonville’s Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation, and Empowerment (ICARE).
    Presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ohLY8LeVgq8RuBUVeXXfJZOL1PuDJuaz/view Resources used: the history of UUCJ; personal experiences of the presenter; and William Barber: The Third Reconstruction.
  • A presentation soliciting input and volunteers for future social justice projects at UUCJ.

Background Resources

Web-Based Resources

Books

  • Barndt, Joseph. Deconstructing Racism: A Path Toward Lasting Change Casper & Kiskel. Used to be UU: The systematic attack on UU Liberalism.
  • Cycleback, David. Against Illiberalism: A critique of illiberal trends in liberal institutions, with a focus on Unitarian Universalism.
  • DiAngelo, Robin. White Fragility: Why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism.
  • Eklof, Todd. The Gadfly Papers: Three Inconvenient Essays by One Pesky Minister.
  • Eklof, Todd. The Gadfly Affair: A 21st century heretic’s excommunication from America’s most liberal religion.
  • McCarty, Dennis. A gadfly report: Examining unitarian universalism’s reactionary fringe.
  • Kendi, Ibram X. How To Be Antiracist.
  • Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped from the beginning: The definitive history of racist ideas in America.
  • McWhorter, John. Woke racism.
  • Morrison-Reed, Mark. Revisiting The Empowerment Controversy: Black Power and Unitarian Universalism.
  • Spears, Steven. White fragility is a very dishonest book: Or who’s afraid of DiAngelo’s Wolf (A critique of CRT through the lens of humanity).