I Missed GA (General Assembly)! Should I Care?

General Assembly (GA) is our One Big

Gathering as Unitarian Universalists.                                              

How Can You Connect if You Can’t Be There? 

Why Would You Want to Connect?   

                 

  by Bill Clontz, Stewardship Consultant

As a result of an unavoidable scheduling conflict, I missed the UUA General Assembly (GA) this year, for the first time in many years. My absence led me to think about all of the Unitarian Universalists who do not attend GA in any given year.

Our colleague Barry Finkelstein shared an excellent blog with us last week relating to stewardship questions that came out of this year’s GA. No doubt, GA is an extraordinary experience I would hope everyone could attend at some time – being in the presence of 4,000-5,000 of us in one place at one time is a rare experience.

But as impressive as those numbers are, they mean that about 97% of us are not attending in any given year.  What are we missing and how do we connect? What could we draw upon to make better stewardship programs and healthier congregations?

[Tweet “You can connect with the UUA General Assembly, even if you cannot go.”]

– First, why would anyone want to attend? The reasons are obvious.First, GA is an opportunity to connect, share ideas, and learn what others are doing at a depth and breadth unmatched by other events. It’s an immersive experience in the Unitarian Universalist universe unlike any other gathering.

-Second, GA is where we make our most important decisions, including setting our bylaws, naming our priorities for the coming years, and electing our leaders. If you care about this movement, you might want to be part of the discussion and decision-making process.

-Third, attendees have a unique opportunity to represent their congregations in decision making and to bring back all they learned and sampled to share with their congregation, cluster, and region.

-Fourth, GA, like our other gatherings and assemblies, reminds us that when we refer to “us,” we should not be thinking just about our own congregation. We are part of a much larger, global community. Being reminded of that first hand is a useful thing for all of us.

Studies are ongoing to find other ways to gather that do not involve such high costs and travel time, but for now at least, GA is our primary gathering and we who are able to attend benefit greatly.

But what about those of us who cannot attend? Are we left out completely? Not at all. You have several options to make the connection and grow from that connection. Three primary opportunities come to mind:

–Be an Online Delegate: For several years now, the UUA has authorized voting delegates to be present physically or electronically. The online system has gotten better every year. Online delegates can fully participate in the plenary sessions – they can see and hear everything, they can pose questions, make motions, and vote. Many congregations and clusters bring their online delegates together for “watch parties,” replicating at a smaller scale the camaraderie of GA attendance. Want to know more? Check out the UUA information link at: http://www.uua.org/ga/off-site/registrants/delegates

–Watch the Live Simulcasts and Podcasts: Every GA provides audio-visual feeds of the opening and closing ceremonies, of the Ware lecture, of all worship service and of many other events, such as the Bridging Ceremony and the Service of the Living Tradition. Some workshops are also available on line. To see what is available from this year’s GA, check the link at: https://www.uua.org/ga/off-site/2016 . Additional video is available to registered delegates, including Online Delegates.

–Ensure Your Delegates Report to the Congregation (and cluster, if applicable). Those who have agreed to the responsibility of being delegates should consider a full feedback to the congregation as a part of their duties. Shortly after GA, your delegates should host a meeting, provide a report, and/or conduct a Sunday service to bring everyone up to speed on GA. This includes not just what was accomplished, but what the atmosphere was like, what issues came up that were unresolved, and what follow up actions are likely or needed in the coming months. What do you as a congregation want to do with this information and energy?

A lot of people work long and hard to make GA the exceptional experience it is. Not accessing all that comes from GA is a wasted opportunity. Take the time and effort to tap into this incredibly rich resource that brings us together.

Let us know, on our blog or our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/S4US1/#), about your experiences at GA, in person or online, and your thoughts about feedback processes.