NOTE: The changes described below were accepted in the Congregational Meeting on June 9, 2024.
OUUC members will have the opportunity to vote on changes to the OUUC covenant in the congregational meeting on June 9, 2024. You can find the proposed changes here and embedded below.
In the Fall of 2022, OUUC began the process of revisiting the current covenant and considering the addition of a behavioral covenant. You can find a timeline of the OUUC Covenant Project here.
Why change the covenant?
First, the current OUUC covenant contains ableist language that assumes walking is the norm when it is clearer to say that we travel or journey together.
The current covenant also includes ministers and staff, while containing expectations that do not apply to minsters and staff, such as financial support for the congregation.
Why add a behavioral covenant?
The current OUUC covenant is a lot of words and general in its language. It also uses “we will” which indicates unity and diffuses responsibility.
Many UU congregations have a behavioral covenant which clearly states the behaviors expected by individuals who participate in the congregation. The writing team that drafted the behavioral covenant also created concrete behaviors to illustrate the expectations of the behavioral covenant, which you can find here.
How do we change the covenant?
It has been many years since OUUC adopted the current covenant and no one clearly recalls how it was done. In the Spring of 2024, the OUUC Board of Trustees decided unanimously to ask the congregational members to vote on covenant changes in a congregational meeting. These changes are proposed to be voted on in the congregational meeting on June 9, 2024.
You can find a summary of the proposed changes here and embedded below.
If you have any questions, please contact Rev. Mary at minister@ouuc.org
