From June 22-26, seven First Unitarian members and staff participated in the UUA’s General Assembly in Portland, OR, virtually. Rev. Kate and Kyle Gracey attended in person. Ebe Emmons, Denice Galpern, Sonia Wellington, Jim Marino, and Jean Schmidt attended virtually. Everyone also served as voting delegates to help decide UUA business.

The delegates at General Assembly passed several important decisions, including 1) beginning a process to rewrite the entire UUA Bylaws; 2) creating a new process to plan out future General Assemblies; 3) electing various officers and board members; and 4) approving Actions of Immediate Witness rejecting legal challenges to abortion, stopping the privatization of Medicare, and supporting anti-racism and reparations via restorative justice.

Next year’s General Assembly will take place at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, June 21-25. This will be a very important General Assembly, as members will be electing the next UUA President and potentially reviewing initial drafts of the new UUA Bylaws.

Rev. Kate and Kyle participated in a planning meeting to discuss preparations for Pittsburgh, GA. There is an opportunity for First Unitarian Church to earn some income by offering homestay lodging with our members. The UUA is still looking for a Pittsburgh-area resident to serve as the Local Area Coordinator. Anyone interested should contact generalassembly@uua.org.

The First Unitarian banner hangs alongside other churches in the main hall of the General Assembly. (As seen in the image above.)