Are you interested in participating in Beloved Conversations? There are two opportunities!
Beloved Conversations—the signature offering of The Fahs Collaborative at Meadville Lombard Theological School—is a program for Unitarian Universalists seeking to embody racial justice as a spiritual practice. In Beloved Conversations, we are here to heal the impact of racism on our lives, in order to get free together. Learn more from our past articles here and here and here.
Within
For those who haven’t participated yet, or wish to again, you can sign up for Beloved Conversations Within. This program focuses on you as an individual and has small pod gatherings, and virtual activities, readings, and more. For those wishing to participate, please register directly here… and don’t wait! Early Bird Registration: get 10% off by using code FALL21BCVEB at checkout (through 8/14).
Among
In this second phase of our program, we take our learnings from Within and focus them on institutional change in our congregations. In spite of our own, personal efforts to end racism, white supremacy culture still thrives in our congregational systems- in the way we make decisions, in the ways we worship, in our efforts towards social justice. What would it look like to work together to dismantle systems of oppression in our own congregations and build communities that center liberation?
In Among, participants will work with a dedicated coach and a core group of up to 20 Within alums from their congregation for 8 months to:
better understand the ways dominant white culture is woven into the congregation’s systems
explore possibilities for change in up to two chosen areas of congregational life
learn from examples of others who have made bold changes
center the spiritual needs and voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
create a plan for change that fits the congregation and context
Together, we can move our congregations closer to all our values and a vision of the Beloved Community. We are excited to work with congregations who are looking to transform! With that aim in mind, congregations joining the program must have a demonstrated commitment to anti-racism, a majority of lay and professional leadership who have taken at least one term of Within, and can point to ways their congregation has been accepting of change.
You can register for Among here. Please note, this group MAY become a Board Task Force in which case all participants will need to be an ESUC member and be approved by the Board.
On Sunday, July 11, East Shore was honored with members of the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey who arrived in the afternoon for a blessing celebration of this year’s 20th anniversary journey. The 5,000 pound, 25 foot totem pole was carved from a 400-year-old cedar by members of the House of Tears Carvers in Bellingham. At the end of the journey across the U.S., the totem pole will be gifted to the Biden Administration and stand outside the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian before being transferred to a permanent location.
This year, the carvers have dedicated their travels to bringing awareness to social justice issues such as the need to protect indigenous sacred lands, the threats of the climate crisis and extractive industries, the impact of centuries of generational trauma, and the power of healing strength and community. Images represented on the totem pole depict Native heritage, stories, and mythologies. For example, the full moon at the top signifies Grandmother Moon as she watches over the earth’s waterways. The eagle symbolizes power and strength, and the Chinook salmon signals its important role in the lives of the indigenous people throughout our region.
At about 3:00, an audience of approximately 140 people burst into applause as the Red Road to DC crew pulled into the north parking area. As the crew organized their display, people were able take a close look at the totem pole and talk with other attendees. Mural painting, music and song, picture-taking and writing cards to the Biden administration added to the afternoon of inspiration and celebration!
The two-hour blessing celebration opened with a welcome to all by Rev. Steve Furrer as well as Board President Mike Radow. At the close of the event, Rev. Jennifer Alviar offered another blessing to send the Lummi off in a good way.
Duwamish elder, Ken Workman (Yayustubsh) then welcomed the Lummi onto Duwamish land in English, Lushootseed, and other languages spoken by Pacific Northwest tribes.
Lummi participants, Freddie Lane (Phreddie Xwenang Lane), Doug James (Sit Si Kadem) and Siam’ewlit, spoke eloquently of historical trauma and the need to protect indigenous sacred sites as well as the land, air and waters. Elected officials Lynne Robinson (Mayor of Bellevue), Patty Kuderer (WA State Senator, 41st District), Representative Vandana Slatter (48th District) and Janice Zahn (Bellevue City Councilor) responded by acknowledging that government must consult with the tribes more effectively and urgently address climate change along with other environmental challenges. Melanie Schambach, a social artist from Guatemala who is accompanying the Red Road to DC Journey, provided an 18’x18’ foot canvas mural she had created on which children and adults painted images and wrote messages.
Thanks to Eric Lane Barnes for making a video of all the photos submitted by East Shore members and friends in attendance.
We would like to acknowledge the special role that Beth Brownfield and Deb Cruz of Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship have played in amplifying the reach of Lummi efforts to engage the wider community. Through their efforts, members of East Shore and other Unitarian congregations in the Northwest and beyond, have learned from and connected with the Lummi. In addition, East Shore members have developed relations with other tribes, most notably the Duwamish on whose lands East Shore is situated. Our Land Acknowledgement recognizes this relationship and our responsibility to their homeland. In committing to the 8th principle, we hope East Shore will continue to strengthen our relations with local tribes and learn more about indigenous issues. Watch for future book groups, film showings, speakers, and programs which will help deepen our understanding and attain our goal. Bearing witness to the Red Road to DC journey is an important step in that direction.
A special thanks to the staff and congregants who shared their time and energy to make this a very special afternoon for all as we gathered together to honor the Red Road to DC Journey. Also to the East Shore Earth and Climate Action Ministry Team who endorsed the journey and is recognized on their page.
If you would be interested in getting more involved in exploring indigenous issues here at East Shore, please contact Lynn Roesch or Marilyn Mayers.
To learn more about the Red Road to DC Totem Pole Journey or make a donation, you can go to redroadtodc.org or watch this YouTube video.
Two recent articles about the Totem Pole Journey are:
Many events over this past year have highlighted injustices addressed in the wording and spirit of the 8th Principle. A proposed addition to Unitarian Universalism’s seven faith principles, the 8th Principle calls for UUs across the country to join together to remove the systemic barriers and oppressions preventing the Beloved Community.
The 8th Principle text was revised by the ES Board of Trustees to include our name in the text:
We, the members of East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, WA (ESUC) covenant to affirm and promote journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other forms of oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.
The 8th Principle was developed by BLUU to embed racial justice work into our core principles. Each congregation in the country has the opportunity to approve it as a statement of principled action toward dismantling white supremacy. With every affirmative vote, the 8th Principle moves closer to ratification as a national priority to be voted upon at General Assembly in 2022 (and again in 2023 to make any change final). As of the writing of this article, 47 congregations have already passed the 8th Principle.
Currently, East Shore is engaged in learning about the long history that lead to the ideals expressed in the 8th Principle, what it means personally and institutionally, and how it will intensify our commitment to anti-racism as well as other forms of oppression. We believe it vital that every East Shore member become educated about this principle and vote your support at our June 2021 Congregational meeting. In order to achieve this goal, the Pathways to the 8th Principle Ministry Team has been providing a variety of opportunities for congregants over the past months.
Ongoing opportunities that are available for review include:
Ongoing Zoom Opportunities to attend that are not recorded:
Community Circles
Town Hall discussions
Coffee Hour after Sunday Services
Sermon, May 16th: Paula Cole Jones and Rev. Stephen Furrer
Final Opportunity before the June Congregational Meeting:
June 6 Town Hall right after church. If you haven’t had a chance to understand this Principle fully, or get your questions answered, this is the time! Join us right after church in the main zoom room to hear and share final thoughts about this commitment to racial justice and anti-oppression.
If you would like further information or have questions about these events and articles, please feel free to contact a member of the Pathways to the 8th Principle Ministry Team, listed below.
In addition to team members and many congregants who support the 8th Principle, the Rev. Steve Furrer supports the 8th Principle and its passage at East Shore. The Board of Trustees approved the 8th Principle unanimously as well as voting, again unanimously, to place a resolution adopting the 8th Principle on the agenda for our June 2021 Congregational meeting.
Thank you for your ongoing support of the 8th Principle as we take another step toward creating spiritually engaged practices that will reflect the values embedded in our Unitarian Universalist tradition. We are excited to be on this transformative journey with you!
The East Shore’s Pathways to the 8th Principle Ministry Team currently includes Paul Buehrens, Grace Colton, Maury Edwards, Ryam Hill, Marcy Langrock, Milly Mullarky, Lynn Roesch, and Louise Wilkinson, with Nicole Duff and amanda alice uluhan as staff.
This year, as in years past, the Lummi Nation’s House of Tears Carvers led by Master Carver Jewell Praying Wolf James, is embarking on a “Totem Pole Journey” as a way of drawing attention to Native struggles to protect sacred places and waters threatened by dams, climate change, and resource extraction.
On July 14th, the Lummi will begin a national tour, transporting a newly carved Totem Pole across the country making multiple stops to promote the protection and restoration of sacred lands, landscapes and waterways. These stops include Nez Perce traditional lands, Bears Ears Monument; the Grand Canyon, Chaco Canyon, the Black Hills of South Dakota and where the Dakota Access Pipeline crosses the Missouri River. The journey will end in Washington DC on July 29th when the Totem pole will be presented to the Smithsonian Institution and the Biden administration.
The 24 foot Totem Pole, carved from a 400 year old cedar, includes figures of salmon, a wolf, bear, and eagle- symbols common to many tribes. A grandmother figure prays for a native child held in a cage, torn from family at the Mexican-American border. At the base of the Totem Pole is a river. Through the Totem Pole Journey, the Lummi call on all of us to share responsibility for protecting the sacred lands, waters and rights of indigenous peoples.
Before heading on the 5,000 mile journey across America, the Lummi will have brought the Totem Pole to West Coast tribal communities and other sites. They held ceremonies in Seattle (May 22nd) and Bellingham (May 24th) attended by several East Shore members.
Speakers spoke of the violence perpetrated against native peoples in the past and in the present, noting in particular the ongoing issues of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The gathering honored the memory and family of John T. Williams, a native carver killed in 2010 by a police officer in Seattle near Pioneer Square.
The Lummi ask for our blessings and support on this historic Totem Pole Journey.
To help cover the cost of food, gas and lodging for the 6-15 person crew, please consider donating to this communal effort: DONATE HERE!
You can also view a video of Jewell Praying Wolf James describing the imagery and symbols of this year’s Totem Pole
Keep your eye out: A June Zoom gathering is being planned about the history and significance of the Totem Pole journeys through East Shore.
As a member of your Board of Trustees, I am writing to talk about a “milestone” congregational initiative. The Board is to be considering this initiative to support ESUC in its journey of becoming an anti-racist church through a congregational vote on the adoption of the 8th Principle in June of 2021:
“We, the members of the East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, Washington, covenant to affirm and promote journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”
More than forty UU congregations have already voted to adopt the 8th Principle. The UUA is currently assessing the existing seven principles and the addition of the 8th Principle at the national level with a report out scheduled for January, 2022. However, we believe recent current events call us to consider acting immediately.
Why should we adopt this principle? What does it offer that the other principles don’t? And why now?
History of Evolving Principles
Our Seven Principles have always been evolutionary, not set in stone like the Ten Commandments. As new truths emerged, those learnings and experiences have been reflected in our adaptive principles. Our seven denominational principles were revised in 1984, 1985 and most recently amended in 1995. UUA bylaws require periodic reassessment – we’re in the midst of one right now.
Commitment
The existing Seven Principles “don’t go far enough” in expressing our commitment to a multicultural, anti-racist anti-oppression vision for our congregation. “The other seven principles do not explicitly express the ethical and spiritual thread that we need to live into a multicultural anti-racist anti-oppression vision for our religious communities and our world. Otherwise, we would already have made a lot more progress.” Rev. Dr. Sandra Fees, First UU Church of Berks County, PA (January 2020).
Accountability
The 8th Principle is a mechanism that will help hold ourselves, each other and our congregation accountable. The phrase, “…accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions…” is unmistakably clear. The Board believes it is no longer enough to “do no harm” when it comes to racism and other oppressions, or “treating everyone the same” in how we live into the First Principle. The 8th Principle empowers us to dismantle such behaviors in ourselves and our institutions; our congregation is capable of much more.
The last twelve months of tragedies and anti-democratic politics in Georgia, Minnesota, Michigan and other states sadly reconfirm a systemic threat to our spiritual and moral health. It’s our time to come together, in spiritual wholeness, to build a diverse, safe and loving (Beloved) community inspired by the 8th Principle. What a terrific opportunity for ESUC to live into being “who we say we are” and making a congregational vow to embrace the 8th Principle and the moral power it unleashes.
The Pathways to the 8th Principle Ministry Team at ESUC is delivering a series of events and activities to support the congregation in its exploration of the 8th Principle. We look forward to sharing these opportunities to gain greater knowledge, enter into conversations, and hear each other as we build our Beloved Community together.
The 8th Principle team currently includes Paul Buehrens, Maury Edwards, Louise Wilkinson, Marcy Langrock, Lynn Roesch, Milly Mullarky, Ryam Hill, Grace Colton, and Karin Pierce, with Nicole Duff and amanda alice uluhan as staff, and with the support of Rev. Steve Furrer.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our congregation and our journey to a Beloved Community. Your ESUC leadership, both professional and lay, is ready to listen to your thoughts about this initiative – making this journey as inclusive as possible. We intend that our collective decision will ultimately account for everyone’s engaged and sustained reflection.
Recently, the Board agreed to change the date of their Board Meetings to the 4th Tuesday of every month. This change is to accommodate the bookkeeping aspect so the most up-to-date numbers can be shared with the Board.
Several folks from ESUC have been attending an ongoing series of meetings of the 8th Principle Learning Community, organized by Paula Cole Jones, an experienced facilitator skilled at organizing people for systemic change. Early last year at a nationwide meeting, 171 folks were present to learn about applying the 8th principle and the UUAs Jubilee program in RE. Testimony by kids about the importance of the 8th principle and antiracism work opened the meeting with poignant testimony about why this is important. The Community was organized by Paula Cole Jones on Facebook as a private group and has grown to 307 members across the continent. Members of ESUC can join the private Facebook group if interested by being invited in by a current member. More than 40 congregations have already voted to add the 8th Principle to the seven we all know.
Here’s the language of the proposed 8th Principle: “We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.” ESUC has a small group ministry working on this, and members of ESUC are invited to join this transformative journey. We hope to hold some town halls in the future to answer more questions. Until then, here are some FAQs.
Why the 8th Principle?
This Principle was developed by Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism (BLUU), an organizing collective within the UUA. They found the systemic racism within Unitarian Universalism to be inadequately addressed by the 7 principles. We are listening to them, as are many others.
I don’t like the language. Let’s adjust it.
The language was drafted and vetted by BLUU, and has been adopted intact by more than congregations, and counting. This is a grassroots effort to modernize and change the UUA. It is not top down. Think of it like amending the Constitution. We are voting on an 8th Principle to add it to our 7. While UUs love to wordsmith, this proposed principle will take final form when it comes before the GA via the UUA procedures, so wordsmithing it is not advisable nor necessary. The question before is: do we support what our BIPOC UUs are asking of us?
Children may recognize the 8th Principle as: “Build the beloved community, free from racism and oppression.” This was created by DREs in collaboration with Paula Cole Jones and is used widely across the country in RE programs.
Why does THIS congregation need this?
The nation and the UUA is in ferment. Marginalized people are speaking up for change. Our congregation had, last time we counted, an average age of 65 and was 96% white, while our community is already majority minority. We need social action, change, growth, and have been unable to grow using our current methods. This principle embeds racial justice work into our core principles and will become part of everything we do. We believe this is core also to retaining some of our leadership and long time members who are already committed to this work, and is a means of attracting young families who want to see social change but are relatively detached from church as a means. This is a time for rebuilding UUism in rapidly changing times. Can you think of a better way?
Where can I learn more?
There is a whole website with more information, you can find that here.
