Dear FUUSN community,

Your FUUSN Board of Trustees is prioritizing several initiatives in the coming year to support our commitment to discerning and dismantling the conscious and unconscious racism that shapes our daily experiences and is embedded in our institutional structures, practices, and culture. One of these initiatives involves centering our faith and actions more intentionally around the seven existing UU principles as guidelines for how we relate to each other and how we act in the wider world. In addition, we will be promoting a series of open conversations within the community about adopting an 8th principle proposed by the Black Lives of UU that is currently being considered for adoption by the UUA as a whole.

The proposed 8th Principle reads as follows:

“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

(For more information about the 8th Principle, you can go to the following website:
https://www.8thprincipleuu.org/)

The 8th Principle was first introduced as a Responsive Resolution at the General Assembly in 2017. Already, more than 30 congregations have adopted it.

The Article 2 (By-Laws of UUA) Study Commission (which came out of the Widening the Circle of Concern report) will be making recommendations for action to the UUA Board in Jan 2022. It’s fully expected that the 8th Principle will be part of their recommendation. There will be a vote at GA in 2022 (first vote) and 2023 (second and final vote) regarding adopting the 8th Principle.

We recognize that each of us may have different levels of awareness, understanding, and appreciation for the ways in which racism continues to play a pervasive role in the FUUSN community. The series of open conversations about the 8th Principle will ideally help to advance our common understanding, deepen our faith, strengthen our community, and liberate us from the constraints of separateness and judgment. We are hoping that FUUSN will be ready, after our own year of discussion and discernment, to vote on adopting the 8th Principle at our 2022 Annual meeting, in advance of the UU GA vote.

We invite each of you to participate in these open conversations with an open heart and an open mind over the coming year. We are looking forward to connecting with each of you and to working together to build a truly beloved community here at FUUSN.

Sincerely,

FUUSN Board of Trustees:
Chris Krebs -Chair
Christine Lookner – Vice Chair
Barbara Schmitt
Brian Hicks
Demie Stathoplos
Hattie Kerwin Derrick
Bruce Burba – Youth Rep
Siena Lerner-Gill – Youth Rep