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The Seven Eight Principles
  1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

  2. Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;

  3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

  4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

  5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;

  6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

  7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part

  8. And our Eighth Principle... We affirm and promote the following 8th Principle:

    Journeying toward spiritual wholeness by building a diverse, multicultural Beloved Community that by our actions accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.

Board Covenant | July Board Minutes | Annual Meeting Minutes
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From our Acting Moderator

August/September always feels like a time for new beginnings. Ever since 1956, when I attended kindergarten in a Quonset hut connected to Pearl Harbor Elementary School, September became my "new year." And it remained so for each year after that, all the way through my college years. August and September were for organizing my school supplies, then my class schedules and finally the course syllabi. Without skipping a beat after graduating from college, I then went on to being a teacher. Augusts and Septembers were devoted to planning and preparing for my students and the year we would have together. It was always a time of excitement with a bit of trepidation thrown in for good measure.

I have been a retired teacher for a decade now but still find myself with the same desires to plan and create schedules and programs! As we begin our new program year at UUsMA, I feel the same anticipation and excitement and worries. The unknowns of the pandemic continue to provide challenges for us. But I know we will do this.

It is a time for looking at old practices from pre-pandemic times and assessing how they might be revived or modified and renewed... such as the book table in Fellowship Hall where we shared our books and chipped in funds that went to support the church (perhaps to pay for the coffee hour supplies?)

And it is a time to figure out how to build on practices that we created during the pandemic for supporting our community such as the Friday Night Live interviews and conversations. We have new congregants who came to us during this period that we want to get to know better and folks from before who have been present but not active in the ZOOM world. We need them all! As we figure out how to safely reenter the building and worship together we must remain cognizant of our family who will not be able to walk through those doors, and continue to include them as much as we can.

We have lots of opportunities to grow as we navigate this new territory as a community. We will learn from and with each other as we go. We know we want our family; our children, youth, young adults, full adults, and elders; to be able to participate, to see each other, to share our experiences, knowledge and memories, and to all enjoy this special Beloved Community.

I am grateful for this time of growth and opportunity and welcome your ideas and involvement as we go forward together.

Sincerely, Fern Culhane
Assistant Moderator

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