As I write this blog, seven of your PWR staff team members are among the many Unitarian Universalists and friends who have returned from our UUA’s General Assembly (GA) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Some of us were eager to get back to our residences, while others were off to other journeys before going home. For example, I visited a dear friend in Connecticut before going up to Montreal to join with another friend there and attend a bit of the city’s annual Jazz Festival. I arrived back in Colorado Springs July 2.

The theme of this year’s GA was “Faithfully Becoming”. To me, it pointed to the idea that we as individuals, congregations, and an association are constantly evolving, but in that evolution, we endeavor to be true to our best and highest ideals. It ties into the concepts behind Theodore Parker’s famous sermon on the “Transient and the Permanent in Christianity.” We seek to retain ways of being we wish to pass on, and to release those that seem to have served their purpose.

Of course, none of us has a list of things we’d choose to hold onto that’s identical to anyone else’s. Each of us emerges from distinct periods of time and particular place and unique circumstances, such that the meanings we bring to our lives and our culture will be specific to each of us individually. Not all of what each of us loves will be part of the future of our faith. There will be loss associated with letting go of some of what was familiar as we bring our focus to the path that lies ahead.

At this GA, we said farewell to Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray in her role as UUA President after six very challenging years in the history of our Association, of the United States, and of the world. I am so grateful to count her as a friend, and to have been part of her extended team during her historic, impactful tenure.

We also joyously welcomed Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt into her new role upon her election as the next President of our UUA. Rev. Dr. Sofía has close ties to the Pacific Western Region, as a graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry and as a former member of its faculty, in addition to having served as minister at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton and interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno.

With regards to the work of the Article II Commission, the process of revising our statement of purpose goes forward…The General Assembly delegates voted to continue the conversation for another year. A final vote on Article II will take place at 2024’s online General Assembly. We invite you to engage with the process on the Article II Commission pages.

Meanwhile, the work of the Pacific Western Region Transition Team continues to be about what Unitarian Universalism in the western parts of the country is becoming. Because of the faithful work of Bob Meiss, Mary Nordhagen, Keith Strohmaier, Libby Fitzgerald, and Rhoda Whitney, along with Rev. Ian Evison and myself in conjunction with UUA Executive Vice President Carey McDonald and Director of Congregational Life Jessica York, we are closer than ever to completing the documentation and legalities of becoming a unified region within our Association. We give particular appreciation to all the members of the district boards for their faithfulness. Stay tuned for further announcements and details about what happens next.

As we close chapters in the life of our Region and our Association, we open new ones. May we continue to be responsible stewards of the legacies we have inherited.

In faith,
Carlton