Asked by Theresa Novak of Ogden, UT

Thank you for asking about the Annual Program Fund (APF) - I was delighted to wear the Ten+ Year Honor Society button at GA this year. The APF is an important part of our Unitarian Universalist Association and my congregation has been consistently supporting the Annual Program Fund for over a decade. (You can see a report on congregational giving for last year, 2006 -2007, at http://www.uua.org/documents/uua/071107_annualreportongiving.pdf .  The First Unitarian Church of Dallas is listed on page 7.  An updated list for 2007-2008 should be posted in the fall.)

We were able to do this because it is an important part of our stewardship policy. While we have the same financial stresses and strains on our budget as any growing congregation, by inviting our Board of Trustees to define the "ends" (the purposes for which we exist) our governance process made it clear to us the growth of Unitarian Universalism is much more than about our congregational experience in Dallas -- it is very much about the progress of the greater Unitarian Universalist Association.

As President, I think the best ways to encourage right relationship with the APF and the UUA are: first, to set a good example of stewardship at all levels and second, to herald the many exemplary congregations which make their honor society status with the UUA an ethical commitment. Interestingly, once committed to this path, most congregations are able to fulfill their APF contribution, increase it to the fair-share level over time and find it aligns with their local stewardship programs in supporting meaningful growth at home.

I must say, I could not in good conscience put myself forward as a candidate for President of the UUA without being in right relationship with the Annual Program Fund and the UUA. It's that important.

   Asked by Brian Reed of Washington, DC

Bryan, I am touched you are listening to my sermons in Washington DC.  For those readers who, like Brian, might want to hear what I am saying on Sundays in Dallas, please go to www.dallasuu.org .  Also, my book Reaching Deeper: Selected Sermons has just been published and will soon be available on the www.dallasuu.org  website as well as on my campaign website, www.laurelhallman.com .  The book contains a wonderful Introduction by the Rev. Dr. Kendyl Gibbons who describes my preaching in ways that both surprise and delight me! 

The issue you are asking about is whether I will continue to preach to the heart of things while serving as UUA President. My duties, as well as the possibilities for my voice to be heard, would naturally increase when I am elected. I believe you are asking if I will be able to continue to preach in the midst of all the other responsibilities of the Presidential Office?  It is a good question.

I do plan to preach at least once a month at the chapel services at “25 Beacon Street.” I believe it will be an important way to provide worship-centered leadership for our staff and visitors. I also expect to continue the UUA Presidential practice of preaching at worship services within and outside our tradition as one way to claim our place in the religious world. I plan to make sermons, as well as other pastoral letters, available on the web. So, yes, I will to continue to speak to the heart, the purpose and the hope of our Association of Congregations through regular messages on the Internet. 

It is also my dream that in the next eight years, not only will my voice be accessible on the internet, but so will the voices of the best preachers in our tradition. Many of our ministers already have sermons streamed from their own church’s web sites. I want to further lift up their voices, their wisdom and their power for all to hear. 

I will lead with my own voice and vision in the Presidency.  And I will find ways for even our smallest congregations and fellowships to gain access to streamed sermons on the Internet in the same way A. Powell Davies used the telephone to preach beyond the walls of his church in the last century.  

Brian, I believe you will hear more from me, not less, after the election.

 

Read more...

   Asked by Alex Podner, Chicago IL

I’m glad you asked this question, because the version you have heard of what happened is not correct.

The example to which you refer was posed to me, not stated by me, by a person who attended my UU University Class on Stewardship last year. In a written question, someone asked whether I thought it was a good idea to color code nametags according to level of giving. The example they gave, as I remember it was "like red for the top quartile, blue for the second, yellow for the third, and black for the bottom quartile."

I said, in response, I would never make any public reference to levels of giving in my church. What we sought to establish was a culture of generosity, not a hierarchy of publicized levels of giving. I certainly wouldn't color code any levels of giving on nametags and I would never recommend it.

After the meeting I was approached by a member of Allies for Racial Equity who said she thought I had missed a "teachable moment" in that having black as the bottom quartile was highly insensitive and I should have pointed it out. We had a good and open conversation. I told her I had thought the whole question had been insensitive and thought my answer had made my feelings very clear.

I do support the work of the Right Relationship Team at GA 2007 which continues to support our efforts at building the Beloved Community—in spite of the messiness of the work—an effort I hold dear and to which I fully subscribe. I should also mention I have found Jacque James’s work on language very helpful in challenging messages inherent in our everyday language.

The work at my church with Crossroads, with Journey Toward Wholeness, with Visions, with training from the Southern Poverty Law Center, and with my colleagues and friends of color, has continued to teach me ways I 'don't get it,' and how the work continues in and around me. Had I received the question today I would have given the answer I did, and then followed it up to point out that color coding nametags according to level of giving contributes to classism and elitism, just as putting black at the bottom quartile contributes to racism.

Then I would have reiterated my original point: "Don't do it."

Thanks for asking. Laurel Hallman

   Asked by Ruth Walker - Cedar Falls, Iowa

I am happy to give my understanding of the word spirituality which is simply: ways we have to foster and nurture the human spirit. In recent years spirituality has been expanded to include fostering and nurturing the spirit of the earth, which I believe is a welcome addition.
There are specific ways we can do this, and they are known as skillful means. It can be the simple practice of attentiveness, or keeping a journal of one’s gratitude and yearning. It can be spending time with a photo of your family, focusing on each one and giving space and time to cherish them. I find the practice of memorizing poetry very nurturing. Over time these practices, which are not magical in any way, can help quiet the chatter which is so incessant in our culture, and strengthen us to work in the world.
While we can, with Peter Mayer, affirm that everything is holy; it is easy to lead our lives in reaction rather than appreciation and miss much that is holy around and within us. Spirituality takes us beyond talking about what we know and helps us move more deeply into our experience of Life.
Thanks for the website of the Freedom of Religion Foundation. If you had said Freedom from Religion I would have been concerned. Please know I have no plan to exclude you and your friends from the UUA. Nor do I wish you to resign your membership in your congregation: there is much for us to do together.

   Asked by Valerie White of Sharon, MA

Actually both of your statements contain truth. I believe Unitarian Universalism is definitely a religion. It’s a wonderful alternative to doctrinally-based religions. I can’t imagine how we could claim what we have is not a religion or claim historical religious language has nothing of depth to say to us.

On the other hand, all of the various theological positions you name in your second proposition are represented by people in the congregation where I am minister. We understand we each have a partial view of truth and need each other to enrich our understanding of life as a whole. When we give away religion to the fundamentalists, and categories of faith to those who literalize belief, we deny ourselves important ways to deepen and be together in vital community.

As UUA President I will call us to give up the categories which separate us from each other and from depth and purpose... because when we use a language of the heart, historical and current, religious and secular, without category, we will be a free and open religion of strength.
 

   Asked by Elisabeth Moore, MA

You ask some good and large questions. I will answer them in segments, so please watch this website for answers to your second and third questions.
Here is my response to the first question, about my training:

My Anti-Oppression/Anti-Racism/Multi-Culturalism (AR/AO) training began almost immediately upon my arrival in Dallas. One of our long-time activist members gave me the book The Accommodation, by Jim Schutz, which traces the story of Integration in Dallas when the business leaders essentially decided among themselves how to give the appearance of integration in the 1950’s, and did so almost overnight. As a result, there were never riots or uprisings in Dallas in the 1960’s. It was an important story to know in my new city for it explains how integration has been different in Dallas than in many other southern cities. The widespread belief it was ‘a gift’ has slowed real progress in many ways.
My training is very connected with my congregation’s training, and that started as Journey Toward Wholeness in Dallas.

In 1997, the leadership at First Church, Dallas decided to begin the UUA Journey Toward Wholeness program. As the starting point, we arranged for a Jubilee Training which took place in early 1998. Seventy people came to this initial weekend. Sunday, one of the trainers, Rev. Kurt Kuhwald preached.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to continue the training and so we met with representatives from the UUA to make arrangements. They proposed three or four sessions with Crossroads, an anti-racism/anti-oppression training organization. We budgeted $30,000 in our 1999 budget, with the UUA also contributing $5,000 to the costs.

The first training retreat, with 24 people in training (including me) took place early in 1999.

While there were some important and useful parts to the training, it quickly became apparent that expectations on all sides were not being met. In our debriefing, we came to an unfortunate and painful break with Crossroads which resulted in reexamination on all parts of what it was we were trying to do. When someone says the UUA knows that AI/AO training is not “one size fits all”, it is said out of understanding the difficult learnings from those early years.

Most importantly, once we understood that good intentions and even good funding won’t be enough if you’re looking for someone else to lead you in the work. We began to own our own Journey Toward Wholeness process at that time.

The group at our church was tenacious and, for the second session of our training, they put together a program with people in the church who were directly involved in AR/AO work in our city. Then we interviewed various trainers, and selected Visions. They came three times over a period of several months in late 1999-2000.

During this period the Board appointed a task force to create an AI/AO/MC statement of intention to be put on our Order of Service and other materials. It was not an easy process as the board was not clear about what their expectations were, and the task force working on the project felt frustrated with the board’s responses to their efforts.

In the end, the statement “. . . committed to racial and cultural diversity” was put on the Order of Service, and remains to this day as a statement of aspiration. And the Journey Toward Wholeness team continued to work to raise awareness.

We have had the good fortune to have the curator of the African-American Museum in our church. He invited members of our congregation to volunteer as docents at the museum, most especially for a special exhibition of African-American history in Dallas. Being made aware of the rich history and thriving African-American business community which had existed in Dallas in the first part of the 20th century, and had been largely destroyed by a freeway that went through the middle of the city, was important ‘training’ for our congregation and for me.

In September 1999 our Music Director did a collaborative program at the African-American museum with Ashley Bryan and Alvin Singleton on their book Sing to the Sun. The program, which included a small ensemble and a children’s chorus was performed at the museum and again at our church. It was an exciting cooperative effort which further involved our members with the African-American community.

In October, 2005, we had our Leadership Gifts Reception at the Museum, further connecting our congregation to the museum and the stories it was telling.

Early in our training, we had also become very involved with Dallas Area Interfaith, a community organizing interfaith group, which broadened our connections with diverse populations in Dallas, and strengthened my connections with African-American and Hispanic Ministers and Priests. We worked on common issues, and went side by side to the Mayor’s office to make our voices heard. This work led the DAI to suggest that I give the invocation at the installation of the first African-American Mayor of Dallas, which I did in 1997.

In 2000 I was invited to the Clinton White House for the “One America” meeting. I was one of four UUs who were there, a reflection of the work the UUA was doing in anti-racism/anti-oppression. It was a heady and exciting meeting of people who were doing the difficult work in their communities.

In recent years our Journey Toward Wholeness team has had a regular series of “movie nights”, showing movies with discussion following, on AI/AO/MC themes. I have not participated in this program, so do not count it as my personal training, but believe it has been very meaningful in the ongoing life of our church.

Our Director of Adult Religious Education brought Thandeka to our church in April, 2004 to talk on her book Learning to be White. It was widely publicized and the audience for her talk was very diverse. I participated in that event and found her book helpful in broadening my understanding of the accommodation necessary to function in ‘white’ society.

In 2007. the Adult Religious Education Department hosted a series of speakers on anti-racism themes. These included: China Galland, Love Cemetery; Michael Phillips, White Metropolis, and John Crestwell, Charge of the Chalice. In October, Morris Dees and trainers from the Southern Poverty Law Center led us in a weekend of training, including special training for our youth.

We were able to send some of our staff members to the UUA workshop led by Jacqueline J. Lewis, author of The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multi-Racial and Multi-Cultural Congregations. They came back enthused about their experience and shared their learnings to our Program Staff.

We have just added a third minister to our ministerial team, the Reverend Xolani Kacela, who is our Minister for Pastoral Care. He is African American and he brings a new dimension to our work. He emphasizes the relational nature of anti-racism work, especially how important it is to listen to one another’s stories. He is a fabulous listener and a good model for our work going forward.

We have stumbled many times over the years. We have had times of intensity and hard work, and then times when we’ve been less active.
I have learned the work is messy. Sometimes I feel stupid. It requires the ability to listen and courage to change. I know I am less afraid of making mistakes now that I know it is part of the work and the journey.

In our UU community of faith there is forgiveness for this messiness as a part of learning, there is growing knowledge and understanding, there is expanding hope and we are seeing the results as our growing congregation collectively continues the journey.

 

   Asked by Erik David Carlson of New Orleans, LA

One of the reasons I decided to run was because I was approached by a group of clergy and lay leaders whose judgment and knowledge about the UUA I deeply respect. They asked me to be a candidate and made their case for the gifts I bring being well suited to the UUA Presidency at this time. It was hard to turn them down. I had already been planning to bring my parish ministry in Dallas to an end in 2009, and my congregation was well prepared to support this next step in my career. They have been wonderfully supportive of my candidacy and have taken all the right steps to continue their tradition of excellence in ministry. This was the context that enabled me to run.

Since I announced my candidacy, I have been heartened by early endorsements from lay leaders from around the country and ministers from many of our strongest congregations of all sizes. A full list of endorsers is planned for posting on this web site the week after Easter 08. A few statements by early endorsers and a partial list of supporters are already up on this site.

You can view my growing list of supporters here >>>
You can read personal endorsements of my candidacy here>>>

Update - April 7, 2008 -  I hope you will check back frequently as the list of supporters is now updated weekly, and so are text and video endorsements.   If you are among my supporters and would like to add your name to this website, complete and return one of my I SUPPORT LAUREL cards which authorizes the use of your name for this purpose.  You can pick them up at any district meeting this month, or download, print and send the form from the website  Either way,  I look forward to hearing from you.

   Asked by Wayne Arnason, Cleveland Ohio

I have a vision of strong congregations responding to effective targeted program support from the Association as the key to our growth. When I announced my plans to run, I said that "the very future of Unitarian Universalism hinges on our ability to claim who we are as faithful individuals in covenanted congregations."

I want to be UUA President because I want to lead our members and our Association out of our isolation, by building stronger connections within and among our congregations, and within the communities where we live and serve. There's a "Letter from Laurel" in the Learn More section of this site that has more to say about why I am running. I also encourage you to check out the video of my announcement speech.