Meet Our New President!

[J Bryson]

A letter from newly-elected UUA President Rev. Peter Morales:

June 28, 2009
Friends,
As you know, I have just been elected President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). I have trouble expressing how profoundly I am touched by the confidence people have placed in me. I can only say, in the Spanish phrase, mil gracias, “a thousand thanks."
I am humbled and grateful. The challenges before us are great. We continue to live in a world where fear and hatred cause suffering and violence. Greed and acquisitiveness threaten life on our planet. We are surrounded by millions of people seeking a spiritual home that is free and open. We face historic cultural and ethnic change in America.
We must learn to express our love and values in new cultural contexts. We will build on the great achievement of President Bill Sinkford in social witness. Ours will be a presidency passionately engaged in the great moral issues of our time: economic justice, peace, and human rights. I would like to thank and praise the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman, the other candidate for president, for her deep insights and inspiring contributions to our faith. Her concerns for spiritual depth, covenantal relationships and stewardship are values I share.
To Laurel's supporters, I offer my warmest welcome. There are no divisions in our movement, only complementarities. Your call for spiritual depth has always been a call that leads us to work together to make a better world. Together, we are answering the same call heard by Servetus, Ballou, Channing, Parker and Susan B. Anthony—a call to leave behind what is outmoded and to let compassion guide us as we shape a future together.
The challenges we face are great. However, together we have the passion, the spirit, the determination and love to face the tests of our times. Together, we can grow our faith and help heal the world. We can be, we must be, the religion for our time. Together we are beginning an exciting new chapter in Unitarian Universalism. We are on a journey of faith together.
—Peter Morales

 

[EverChanging]

Did Dr. Hallman give any speech of statements about losing the election? I've been searching for possible statements after the election online, but haven't come up with any.

 

[applewuud]

[For those looking at the Forums from outside, the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association is elected at General Assembly, which just happened at Salt Lake City. Delegates from UU churches vote at the GA, after a nominating process the previous years...it's a 4-year post.]

I couldn't go to GA this year, but based on what I saw at GA last year, I'm glad that Rev. Morales was elected. He seemed to have a lot of energy and good ideas; he's from outside the UUA clique in Boston, and has been running a vigorous church the past few years. It could be a very exciting time for the UUA.

My favorite quote from him was about how to increase UU membership. I don't have it exactly, but it was something like: "We've tried advertising, different kinds of campaigns at the congregational level. We've tried everything except religion." Which is to say, he understands that improving the depth of our religion, the scope of our ideas, and congregational life will matter more in the long run more than advertising on billboards or public radio.

Was anyone at GA this year? It was hard for people from the East to get to Utah, so I heard that attendance was down. Someone blogged on the UUA site the following:

"Sunday morning everyone seemed to be talking about the presidential race. That Peter Morales won was not a huge surprise, but his margin was. From the enthusiasm of the campaigns, the cheers at the candidate forums, and the number of campaign buttons and t-shirts delegates wore, no one could have guessed that either candidate would get 59% of the vote."

That's a landslide by any standard, but especially for UUs...

 

[applewuud]

Did Dr. Hallman give any speech of statements about losing the election? I've been searching for possible statements after the election online, but haven't come up with any.

She has a statement at her site:
Elect Laurel Hallman for UUA President

 

[applewuud]

That Peter Morales won was not a huge surprise, but his margin was. From the enthusiasm of the campaigns, the cheers at the candidate forums, and the number of campaign buttons and t-shirts delegates wore, no one could have guessed that either candidate would get 59% of the vote."

That's a landslide by any standard, but especially for UUs...

:sorry1:I stand corrected by this bit of data about our outgoing president, Rev. Sinkford:

Outgoing UUA President William G. Sinkford won by the largest margin of any UUA president in a contested race when he was first elected in 2001. Sinkford won that election with 67.7 percent (2,218 to 1,043).:thud:

 

[EverChanging]

Thanks