GA Highlights Friday - Creating Peace SOC Passed!

Friday highlights from General Assembly:

- "Creating Peace" Statement of Conscience (SOC) was passed overwhelmingly after a one year delay and many revisions during work sessions and floor amendments at this GA. This new SOC grew out of the "Peacemaking" SOC of 2006-10.

- None of the five proposed Congregational Study/Action Issues for 2010-14 received a majority of votes so there will be a runoff vote Saturday between CSAI-2 "National Economic Reform: A moral Imperative" and CSAI-3 "Immigration as a Moral Issues." The sponsoring church of CSAI-4 Ending Slavery, threw its support to the Immigration CSAI in a controversial move on the floor before the vote.

-As you may have heard, UUA GA is scheduled to be held in Phoenix in 2012 and the UUA Board passed a resolution to boycott the venue soon after Arizona's anti-illegal immigration law SB 1070 was passed. But during a "mini-assembly" work session the latest version of a business resolution was worked out to merge two differing amendments that came out of Thursday's mini-assembly. UU churches in Arizona overwhelming want us to hold GA in Phoenix and witness and speak out in solidarity against the law. According to the UU World blogger Jane Greer, "The amendment calls upon the UUA board to hold a justice-oriented General Assembly in Phoenix in 2012 with a limited business agenda. It also asks the UUA administration to work with leaders in Arizona UU congregations to establish an Arizona immigration ministry;" also asks the board to work in accountable relationships with UU identity-based groups "and other stakeholders to maximize the safety of historically marginalized groups going to Phoenix; calls on the UUA board to direct economic transactions during the 2012 General Assembly towards partners and allies; and calls on the board to provide resources to build the capacity of UUs to stand in opposition to systemic racism."

Lavona