The Commission on AppraisalThe Commission on Appraisal
A Joint Announcement from the Board of Trustees and the Commission on Appraisal of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Article XV of the Bylaws of the UUA mandates a periodic review of Article II, the Principles and Purposes (http://www.uua.org/administration/bylaws.html#sectionC-15.1). This obligatory review is now overdue, and, at the request of the UUA’s Board of Trustees, the UUA’s Commission on Appraisal has decided to undertake the review. It must be stressed that the Commission on Appraisal is independent of both the UUA’s Board of Trustees and Administration. The role of the Commission is described in section 5.8 of the UUA bylaws (http://www.uua.org/administration/bylaws.html#section5.8). In short, the Commission on Appraisal shall “review any function or activity of the Association which in its judgment will benefit from an independent review and report its conclusions to a regular General Assembly.”
The Commission has been doing serious thinking about the Principles and their place in the life of our Association for several years and has discussed their relationship to the theological diversity of our movement in its last report, Engaging Our Theological Diversity (http://www.uua.org/coa/TheoDiversity/EngagingOurTheoDiversity.pdf). The members of the Commission are excited about undertaking the important work of this review.
The early stages of the Commission’s work will be focused on establishing a process that will maximize the input of Unitarian Universalists from across the continent. The Commission is profoundly sensitive to the implications of this review for Unitarian Universalists and is committed to carrying out this review in a way that will allow the members of our congregations to feel confident that their opinions are heard. While the timetable is not yet determined, recommendations resulting from the Commission on Appraisal review will be brought forward for consideration at a future General Assembly.
The Commission’s first review hearing will be held at the Ohio-Meadville District meeting in Columbus, OH, on April 22nd. The Commission’s workshop at the General Assembly in St. Louis will also be devoted to this issue. In addition to these in-person events, the Commission will be developing mechanisms by which all Unitarian Universalists can provide input to the Commission during the course of its work. Information on how to provide input will be distributed by the various electronic and print resources of the UUA, including the Commission on Appraisal’s website at www.uua.org/coa/.