President Bill Sinkford's response to the YRUU fracas can be found here.
Clearly, he has been caught off guard about all this, which only underscores the PR problem the administration is having with youth. This is all the more ironic given that he has spear headed some of the stuff around youth recently -- Consultation on Youth Ministry, etcetera.
Friday, February 15, 2008
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4 comments:
Interesting that Rev. Sinkford has been "caught off gaurd" - was he not being realistic in understanding the response or is there there a differen problem here? I suspect a bit of both...
Nick Allen brought up the idea of transparency in his very insightful post on UUlogy. This is exactly the word I have been thinking about all week. This seems to be to be yet another instance of lack of transparency in the UU machinery. I see it in our communication with youth, in our credentialing of ministers, in our treatment of congregations looking for information or help to address this lack of transparency.
I am and have been an institutionalist, but I am seeing an enormous gap between our principles and how we run our institutions. It frankly frightens me. This current atmosphere with our youth is indiciative of a larger trend that we must begin to pay attention to or I fear for our future.
We are not communicating with one another with openness, with respect, with tolerance or with understanding.
Yes, I am signing this anonymous. As someone whom certain branches of the UUA has power over, I regret feeling that if I want a future in the institution, I must for now remain behind the scenes.
I too find it interesting that UUA President Bill Sinkford has been "caught off guard" by this "fracas" that seems to have the potential to turn into yet another Unitarian*Universalist fiasco. It looks like President Sinkford and the UUA are in damage control mode now.
I am not in any a position yet to say too much about YRUU, not having had any direct personal involvement in it and not having done any research into it, but I do see yet another example of what appears to be rather questionable leadership on the part of UUA administrators, especially if the allegations of an unethical financial grab by the UUA carry any weight.
:Nick Allen brought up the idea of transparency in his very insightful post on UUlogy. This is exactly the word I have been thinking about all week. This seems to be to be yet another instance of lack of transparency in the UU machinery.
Yes that phrase "yet another" seems to be quite quite apropos.
:I see it in our communication with youth, in our credentialing of ministers, in our treatment of congregations looking for information or help to address this lack of transparency.
To say nothing of the handling of clergy misconduct complaints of various kinds, including clergy sexual misconduct.
:I am and have been an institutionalist, but I am seeing an enormous gap between our principles and how we run our institutions.
Well I haven't been institutionalized yet ;-) but I too have seen, and still see. . . an enormous gap between U*U principles and other claimed ideals and how U*Us run U*U institutions.
:It frankly frightens me. This current atmosphere with our youth is indiciative of a larger trend that we must begin to pay attention to or I fear for our future.
Not that there are not plenty of other good reasons to fear for the future of what UUA Presidential candidate Rev. Peter Morales quite justifiably calls the "tiny fringe religion" known as U*Uism.
:We are not communicating with one another with openness, with respect, with tolerance or with understanding.
Indeed U*Us are not, and not just in terms of communicating with youth. There is no shortage of close-mindedness, disrespect, intolerance and outright refusal to move towards understanding on various issues. Indeed in some cases U*Us go to highly questionable lengths to prevent any communication whatsoever. . .
:Yes, I am signing this anonymous. As someone whom certain branches of the UUA has power over, I regret feeling that if I want a future in the institution, I must for now remain behind the scenes.
Interesting. . . That says a lot about the UUA, individual U*U churches, and U*Us more generally doesn't it? Just why is it that this anonymous commenter is so afraid to speak, and to argue freely, according to his or her conscience, under his or her own real name in the oh so "liberal" religious community, or perhaps I should say *institution*. . . that pretends to be a great champion and defender of civil rights and liberties, to be opposed to censorship by church, state, or any other institution and which pretends in its evidently quite fraudulent religious propaganda plagiarized from John Milton's Areopagitica that, "We jealously guard the right to know, to speak, and to argue freely, according to conscience, within our own church and in society at large."?!
Come to think of it I specifically asked UUA President Bill Sinkford to take responsible steps to bring and end to the culture of censorship and suppression of legitimate dissent that is currently so prevalent within the UUA and the larger U*U World. Of course, to the best of my knowledge, President Sinkford did absolutely nothing to reign in UUA censorship and did not even respond to my email that yet again expressed what he once called my "obviously deep concerns" about some serious failings of the Unitarian*Universalist religious community.
Bill hasn't shown up to all the meetings.
Your comment is not that clear. Do you mean that President Bill Sinkford missed some meetings or that he did not show up at ANY of the meetings?
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