Elect Laurel Hallman Unitarian Universalist Association President

I congratulate Peter and to his campaign staff on having won, and I thank all of you who have paid attention to this election, participating in candidate forums all across the country, reading and commenting on Election-L and on various blogs.

I believe that you have heard what we have been saying, and that Peter has too: we believe the issues we raised influenced Peter’s campaign—in fact, we believe the campaigns influenced each other, forcing each candidate to think through the implications of what the other was saying. All this can only be good for our faith.

While this campaign has been a joyful journey,  I will be happy to put it behind me: happy to re-gather our liberal religious movement together from two hard-working campaigns back into one free faith, one association of congregations, all of us united by our love for Unitarian Universalism, by our determination to widen its reach and strengthen its impact, and by our wish for as many people as possible to experience the saving power of this free faith that has saved so many of us.

I am grateful to Peter for having lifted up the issues he has and for being good company as we toured the country together, telling all of you our dreams for this faith that all of us love. Many people have told us they feel lucky that Unitarian Universalism had two people so dedicated to our faith who were willing to campaign for and serve as president.

And I am more grateful than I can say to the people of First Unitarian Dallas and all the colleagues and friends who urged me seek the presidency and supported me every step of the way. I couldn’t have done it without you.

I have been enriched by the journey and I thank you.
 

Faithfully,