Minister's report part 2

[Harris Riordan]

Dear Board Members, 

Here is an addendum to my report - a response to the letter you received asking that the banner be taken down. I think this is an opportunity for a broader and deeper conversation and I would like the Board's support for creating a space for that conversation to happen.  

My thought is that we publish the letter you received and this response and invite folks into a series of small zoom meetings. I'd like to have Board members  - say 2 - present at each meeting, and find a way to report out from those meetings to the whole congregation. 

The options for publication are the next Unicorn (deadline Sept. 10th) if we think it could wait that long, or a separate constant contact announcement if you all think it would be better not to wait. 

harris

 The Board has received a request to take down the banner I hung on the front of the Fellowship. After the murder of George Floyd, I put it there as a theological and moral statement of who we are as Unitarian Universalists. Our first principle is a promise to live in ways that “promote and affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person”.

Our faith requires us to wrestle with the facts of social injustice, prejudice, and inequality, regardless of what the headlines read. Back in the days of “the old normal”, we did that work quietly and individually. We read books. We watched movies. We held workshops. We wondered aloud with folks we trusted. We pondered what actions individuals could take in our personal searches for integrity. This is essential work and difficult work. Because we need not think alike to love alike, there is no better place to engage in this work than within our own community.

There are times when we are called to take a public stance. Times when larger events take away the luxurious feeling of being able to watch and wait in comfortable anonymity and silence. Dr. King’s Call to Selma was one such time. The debate over Marriage Equality and The Parkland shooting were two such times. In each of these moments Unitarian Universalists, and members of UUFBR, found a way to engage with the social and political forces at play.

The murder of George Floyd created such a moment. In this time of Covid, the safe opportunities to live our faith, to bring our values into the public square are limited. Hanging our banner from the UUA’s On The Side of Love campaign was the option I chose.  We are a predominately white congregation, located in a predominately white neighborhood of Boca Raton. Like the letter on our web-site, this banner announces that we intend to be white allies in the struggle for racial equality.  

To live out our first principle calls us to continue becoming anti-racist to the best of our ability in a larger more public context. I know it is not easy work. I know it puts us outside our comfort zone, asks us to face and manage confusion, frustration, anger even despair. And yet, in this moment this is what our faith requires.

The covenant between us binds me to speak the truth as I understand it. And so, I consulted no one, and asked no permission to hang the banner. Some may think I have stretched my freedom of the pulpit too far, that I should have sought approval from the congregation before acting. I think that is a reasonable complaint. I am ready to hear your displeasure. Some may have other ideas of how we can bring our values into the public dialogue, and so participate in the creation of America’s new normal. If that’s the case, let’s talk.

I believe if we speak honestly with each other and listen deeply to each other our community will be large and strong enough to find the place where it is right for us to stand. I invite you to the following zoom meetings. 

[lt Nelson]

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