GA and the next UUA president

Some of you will recall that the UU General Assembly (GA) happened in St. Louis in 2006.

About 4,000 UUs invaded downtown for four days of workshops, worship, networking, singing, and so forth. There are tremendous opportunities to learn more about all aspects of church leadership from the best and brightest in the denomination.

This year, the GA is being held in Salt Lake City, Utah. So far, the only people going I know about are my family, Jan Chamberlin (music director) and Leon Burke (choir director). We will go to learn, and to contribute, and to bring back creative ideas for Eliot for the coming year.

Every great once in a while, a really important election happens at the national level of the Unitarian Universalist Association. This year there will be an election for the next UUA President. Two UU ministers are running: Peter Morales and Laurel Hallman.

Peter’s web site is at: http://www.moralesforuuapresident.org.
Laurel’s website is at: http://www.hallmanforuuapresident.com.

Much like the United States, the UUA national organization is at a critical time in its discernment for the future. It is important that Eliot make its voice heard in such an important decision.

Only congregational (and minister) delegates get to vote at GA. Delegates are apportioned according to congregational size, with a ratio of one delegate per 50 congregational members. Because of our membership size (576 as of this writing), we get 12 delegates. Normally, those delegates would only get to vote if they were physically present in Salt Lake City.

However, the UUA bylaws allow for the provision of absentee ballots in elections. This means, we as a congregation can figure out who we want to be president, and send in all 12 absentee ballots accordingly.

Since delegates are representatives of a local congregation, they should vote the will of the congregation, not their own will; otherwise they are representing themselves as individuals, not as a messenger from the congregation. The difference here is between representative democracy and direct democracy.

So, here is how we can accomplish this at Eliot. At our annual meeting in May (or perhaps sooner), I will have the two candidates information available, probably as an order of service insert, along with a ballot of our own design.

I will answer any questions you may have about the process and tell you who I am endorsing as president. Then, we will collect the Eliot ballots and with the help of 12 volunteers, apportion the UUA absentee ballots according to how the congregation votes. So, each candidate got half the vote, we would send in 6 ballots for one candidate, and 6 for the other.


This system ensures it is the will of the congregation-- not the opinion of particular individuals-- who decide the votes. It also ensures we vote all of the absentee ballots we are entitled to. This system ensures any congregational member can have input simply by showing up to a meeting after church. It allows you to be more informed as to what is going on at the national level, it gets far more people informed about the candidates, and it insures the congregation as a whole (and not just a few elite) gets a chance to participate in the election process of GA.