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The Board of Trustees and others within the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) are looking to designate General Assembly 2017, in New Orleans, as a justice-focused GA, with more worship, witness, and service opportunities with local partners than the typical GA.
To that end, the Board voted at its meeting on February 25 to move to amend the UUA bylaws to suspend the Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) process during GA 2017, in order to open up more time for social justice work and related witness.
Delegates at GA 2016, in Columbus, Ohio, June 22-26, will vote on whether to accept the board’s motion to suspend AIWs during GA 2017. There will be no suspension of AIWs during GA 2016 in Columbus.
In addition to the Board, the General Assembly Planning Committee, the Office of Multicultural Growth and Witness, the Commission on Social Witness, and the Center for Ethical Living and Social Justice Renewal, in New Orleans, support the motion to suspend AIWs during GA 2017, noted UUA Moderator Jim Key.
An AIW is an action taken by delegates at a General Assembly that is concerned with a significant event or development, where, due to its urgency, waiting for the longer process required by a UUA Statement of Conscience is inappropriate.