Click here to hear a March 2024 message from Rev. Tricia about current happenings.

Are you curious, or apprehensive, or excited about the ongoing UUA initiative to update “Article 2” of our UUA bylaws?  (Do you know why the UUA Bylaws might matter, to you?)

Article 2 of the UUA Bylaws is where our UU Principles are found.  You can remember what the principles say at https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/principles and newsletter cover.  Many of us (including me) cite these seven principles as one reason we chose to become UU.  So, they matter!

The UU Principles are strong statements highlighting the centrality of our faithful commitments to respect life and all of humanity; to the truth that everyone, everywhere, has a right to justice, freedom, equity, compassion and peace.  They affirm the “interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”  An 8th Principle was proposed a few years ago as a commitment to build Beloved Community, as our congregations “accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”  Several hundred congregations have so far voted to adopt the 8th Principle in their own legal documents, including CVUUS.

Here’s what’s happening now: the very same UUA Bylaws that contain the Principles also call on us to review those Principles and Purposes and Sources (all of Article 2) at least every 15 years.  The wise founders of the UUA knew life does not stay the same – ideas shift, cultures modernize, and world events affect all of us, and our planet.  The statement of our core principles needs to reflect what matters most to Unitarian Universalists, today.  Sometimes, that means they need to change.

An Article 2 Commission has been working for years on a revision of our principles, with lots of feedback from UUs everywhere.  The goal is make them more inclusive of different generations and backgrounds; more focused on our lives not just as individuals but our life in community.   The central ideas of all the current UU Principles are incorporated into in a simple, beautiful design, with Love at the center.  I think you’ll come to like it as much as I do.

Do you have questions about Unitarian Universalism – where we came from, what  challenges and opportunities we’re facing now, and in the future?  I hope you do, and that you’d like to talk about it – with each other and with me!  Mark your calendars for a special Congregational Conversation after the service on Sunday, February 25, hosted by the  Council on Ministries and the Membership Team – Everything You’d Like to Know About Unitarian Universalism.  I hope to see you there! Many blessings,   Rev. Tricia

Click here to hear a February 2024 message from Rev. Tricia

Click here to see a Jan 2024 message from Rev. Christina and more on how CVUUS is exploring death and dying.

Click here to see a Dec 2023 message from Rev. Tricia.

Click below to see a conversation between Rev. Tricia and Rev Christina:

From CVVUS BOARD (July 2023): I am excited to let you know our search for a transitional minister ended successfully when two ministers, Rev. Patricia Hart and Rev. Christina Sillari signed contracts with CVUUS on Sat. July 15, 2023. Together they plan to cover most ministerial duties. Their contracts have been written for one year with the expectation that we will have another year extension, thus the plan is a 2 year term. Rev. Hart, a Developmental Minister coming to us from the  Burlington UU Church, will take on 50% of the minister’s role, while Rev. Sillari (who many of you may know from her occasional presence in our pulpit) will assume an additional 25%. Both ministers are very experienced, and we believe that their presence here at CVUUS, and their participation with all of us, will both enrich our congregational life and aid us in welcoming a settled minister at the end of this two-year period. Rev. Hart and Rev. Sillari have already begun planning  how they will share their ministry. Between the two of them, they will lead 30 worship services annually, and cover most other normal ministerial responsibilities. They will begin their ministry with us at the end of August, and Reverend Sillari will lead the Ingathering Service on September 10. 

As you will note, they will cover 75% of what a full time minister would cover. We are confident that there will be no major gaps in what we would expect from a full-time minister. However, we will need to continue the active and engaged participation for which our congregation is known to flourish. The Board believes that this is an opportunity, in this time of transition, that will help to propel us forward in our goals at CVUUS in a sustainable manner. 

Let us look at the next two years as an opportunity to learn from these two incredible ministers and to accomplish even more than we might have in ordinary times. The next two years represent a real challenge and an exciting opportunity for CVUUS. Let us take advantage of it.

The Board would like to thank the Transitional Minister Search Team, most of whom have been working since January to find a ministry solution for the next two years. Those people are Hannah Sessions, Alan Moore, Tom Morgan, Heidi Sulis, Kas Singh, and Brett Millier. An extra special thanks to Gordon Gibson of our Personnel Committee, who has worked tirelessly to ready the contracts for our two new ministers.

Kerri Duquette-Hoffman, President, CVUUS together with the Board

See the Addison Independent story about Rev. Barnaby stepping down here.