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Follow 2013 General Assembly with 'UU World'

Keep up with the latest news from the UUA's annual meeting in Louisville.

By Christopher L. Walton
6.17.13

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Members and delegates from Unitarian Universalist congregations across the country gather this week in Louisville, Ky., for the 52nd General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association. UU World will provide extensive daily coverage of the UUA’s annual convention and business assembly June 19–23 as well as meetings of the UUA Board of Trustees on June 18, 19, and 24.

This year’s GA will feature the election of a new moderator of the Association on Saturday, June 22. Jim Key and Tamara Payne-Alex are competing to succeed Gini Courter, who completes ten-plus years as chair of the General Assembly and Board of Trustees. President Peter Morales is running unopposed for a second four-year term, and all other candidates for denominational boards and committees are unopposed.

Visit blogs.uuworld.org/ga for the latest reports, photographs, videos, and daily news summaries from UU World’s team. (You may also subscribe to our General Assembly feed.) Live video of business plenaries and major events will be available on UUA.org’s General Assembly 2013 page and on a dedicated channel at Livestream. Starting on Thursday, June 20, UU World will also publish a comprehensive guide to our GA coverage, which will be updated daily. Highlights of our coverage will be publicized on UU World’s Facebook page and Twitter page.

This year’s GA emphasizes environmental justice, with major presentations by environmentalists Tim DeChristopher and Wendell Berry, and multiple sessions devoted to ecological issues facing Appalachia. A public witness event featuring Berry and DeChristopher is scheduled for Thursday evening at 6:15 on the riverfront in downtown Louisville on the Belvedere Plaza.

Many events also address different dimensions of covenant, under the GA theme “From Promise to Commitment.” Eboo Patel, a Beacon Press author and founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, will deliver this year’s Ware Lecture on Friday evening. The Rev. Vanessa Rush Southern, minister of the Unitarian Church in Summit, N.J., will preach at Saturday evening's Service of the Living Tradition, and the Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz, president of the UU Service Committee, will preach at Sunday morning’s worship service.

Delegates this year will vote on a proposed Statement of Conscience, “Immigration as a Moral Issue,” which has been the focus of congregational study and action since a 2010 General Assembly vote. Actions of Immediate Witness—social witness resolutions introduced by petition—return after a one-year hiatus, although the 2011 General Assembly voted to reduce the number a GA could adopt in a given year from six to three.

Read more of our advance coverage of this year’s General Assembly:


See sidebar for links to related resources. (Photo by Nancy Pierce)

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