May 2007
If it is true that April showers bring May flowers this should be one glorious month. By the end of this month I expect to have retired the snowblower for the season — I haven’t dared to quite yet. I’ve seen a few intrepid souls bicycling on the rare dry day but have yet to take my bike off the indoor trainer. It will get nice again. At least, it always has before.
May is the month we hold our annual meeting. Our fifth principle, The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large affirms our religion as one of which we are in charge. It is a radical departure from pre-Reformation practice. Ours is not the only church to adopt congregational polity but most still do not. Most denominations have maintained some kind of authoritarian hierarchy but the UU way is to place all power and authority in the hands of members. There is a condition. You must be present to have your voice heard. Every member has one voice, one vote, and our 5th Principle calls us to abide by the results of that vote even when we are in the losing minority. It is what we say we believe. But you know this.
In some years some potentially controversial matters come before the membership. Ironically, one cannot always predict what that will be. These votes are binding. I certainly hope you do not vote to withdraw from the Unitarian Universalist Association and seek fellowship with the Assembly of God or the Jehovah’s Witnesses. But you have the power to do that. In the early 19th century, several New England churches voted to engage the Unitarian Controversy and become Unitarian to the dismay of some of their more orthodox fellow church members. I do not anticipate anything that controversial at this year’s annual meeting, but maybe you should be there just to make sure. Participatory democracy has its own caveat. You must be present to participate.
Amities and love,
|
|
