cage match: Laurel v. Peter
First, "Morales" buttons and literature appeared, then "Hallman" paraphernalia, on a table in the church entrance. Lay leaders read one of Peter's sermons, two Sundays ago (including a very gracious letter from Peter); other lay leaders will present one of Laurel's sermons, two Sundays from now. People have been asking "how do we vote?" "what other positions will be elected?" "how can we participate?"
For a congregation that sent *one* non-staff-member to our district annual assembly last year, and will send no non-staffers this year, and whose GA attendance has been largely staff-only the last few years, this election is creating excitement. The buzz after hearing Peter's "A Religion for Our Time" sermon was wonderful to see--people were talking about taking UUism not only outside our walls, but outside our town. All of a sudden, there is interest in becoming a delegate, if only to mail it in, in absentia. I expect Laurel's sermon to further energize these discussions.
For myself, I expect to vote for the Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman, three months from now. And I am most grateful to the Rev. Mr. Peter Morales, for stepping into the ring, and creating interest and debate and energy in our movement. Whoever wins, may we harness that energy and use it well.
posted by Chip @ 8:57 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I expect that Rev. Peter Morales stepped into the ring, at least in part, precisely because he wanted to create some interest and debate and energy in the U*U movement, to say nothing of create the *appearance* of democracy in the UUA. . . He clearly stepped in because he saw that nobody else was running against Rev. Laurel Hallman and she would have won by acclamation if we take his "stump speech" at face value.
:Whoever wins, may we harness that energy and use it well.
Personally I think that Rev. Peter Morales' energy should be harnessed and used well following the election. That is why I am suggesting the he should replace Kathleen Montgomery as Executive Vice President of the UUA if he loses this election. Needless to say he, Rev. Laurel Hallman, and other UUA leaders would need to be comfortable with such a post-election "arrangement". Likewise, if Rev. Peter Morales manages to actually win this election perhaps Rev. Laurel Hallman should replace Kathleen Mongomery as COO of the UUA.
Rev. Peter Morales has failed to clearly define what he means by "the religion of our time" in spite of repeated requests that he do so from your's truly. He has also failed to provide a clear plan for how he intends to "grow" U*Uism from the "tiny, declining, fringe religion" that he acknowledges that it is today into "the religion of our time" in *our* time, let's say 30 years from now at the outside and more like a decade or two for *most* aging U*Us. . . Come Peter please tell everyone exactly what you mean when you assert that Unitarian*Universalism can be "the religion of our time", unless you want some of us to consider it to be empty and meaningless campaign rhetoric. Once you have defined what you mean by "the religion of our time" please tell everyone how you intend to achieve that goal in a time frame that does not exceed thirty years and is closer to twenty years. Otherwise it's just not going to happen. Not that U*Uism becoming *the* religion of the 21st century is likely to *really* happen anyway. . .
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