Beloved Community will be the topic of this coming Sunday’s (November 19, 2023) worship service, offering an opportunity for us to consider the term in greater depth. (And fun fact: the choir will sing a rousing, uptempo Negro Spiritual.)
The Board of Trustees views broad attendance at this worship service as very important to good governance. Here’s why.
In 2022 the congregation and UUCC Board began a yearlong process of developing updated Values and Mission Statements, as well as an updated Ends statement. Ends are the objectives against which we measure UUCC’s success in fulfilling its mission. The Board is responsible for articulating the Ends, and monitoring how well UUCC is meeting them.
In feedback sessions held in spring, 2023, the most talked-about End was this one:
Build a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community where BIPOC*, LGBTQ+**, and other marginalized communities find respite from racism and other oppressions.
Reactions ranged all the way from very pleased, even overjoyed, to confusion, discomfort, and even unhappiness.
The Board worded this End to express not only the congregation’s feedback about values and mission, but also congruence with UUCC’s Beloved Community resolution, adopted by the congregation at UUCC’s 2020 Annual Meeting. The Resolution includes a commitment on the part of the congregation to “educate ourselves” about the practices which can foster Beloved Community.
Whatever your understanding of, or reaction to, the term Beloved Community, we urge you to attend, as part of your personal free and responsible search for truth and meaning, as well as our shared commitment to congregational governance. Board members will, as always, be available to chat with you at the Board Corner in the Fellowship Hall during social hour. Grab your coffee or tea, and let’s talk!
*BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color.
** LGBTQ+ = lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning + other sexualities and non-binary gender
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