In 1985 the Unitarian Universalist Association adopted the “7 Principles” that have served as an important articulation of our shared values over the last 40 years. The 5th Principle is:
The Right of Conscience and the Use of the Democratic Process
Within Our Congregations and in Society at Large
Concerns and rhetoric expressed during the run-up to the 2024 U.S. elections, and that are now front and center as traditional democratic institutions face challenges and change, prompted us to plan a series of discussions to explore what we mean by the democratic process. The Fellowship sponsored three workshops (Jan 7, 28 & Feb 18) to explore the history and elements of the democratic process.
Session 1: In our first conversation we invited 3 presenters to help us start our exploration: Rev. Prose provided a historical context showing how Congregationalist church governance in colonial America established framework promoting practices of democratic decision-making in secular and public institutions; Christy Deere, a new green-card immigrant from Canada, shared some of her experience as a campaign manager in local elections trying to bridge the ‘partisan divide’; and our own Hood River Mayor, Paul Blackburn, reminded us of the constraints upon elected officials that often burden the political and moral waters of decision-making.
In Session 1 we shared personal timelines of involvement in democratic processes in small groups. These stories, ranging from grade-school elections to running for public office, were rich and inspiring. We concluded the session with an exercise to write (100 words or less) ‘what democracy means to me. These brief essays are suitable for a Facebook post, elevator speech or a brief letter to the editor!
Session 2: Our second conversation explored some of the institutional forms that shape democratic process. We discussed pure democracies, confederations, and representative/republican forms of governance and how each of these structures is reflected in the way we do business as a congregation. For examples: all members have a voice and a vote in congregational meetings; committees, teams, and task forces contribute in the manner of a confederacy; officers and trustees are elected by the members to establish policy and conduct business when the congregation is not meeting.
We then explored the elements of democratic process that keep an institution and governing body healthy. These include: determining who participates, establishing methods of deliberation and norms for speaking and listening, transparency and information sharing, importance of honesty, and accuracy. And we sang a hymn about Robert’s Rules of Order!
Session 3: In this workshop we explored several questions including:
– What are the key elements of the democratic process in society at large?
– What causes democratic processes to fail?
– How can individuals strengthen democratic processes?
We were assisted by Artificial Intelligence (Chat GPT). A heretical proposition to be sure…, but AI appears to agree with many of the suggestions and observations shared in our earlier conversations. It was then suggested that we ask AI to prepare a brief sermon about the democratic process. So, we now have a series of brief AI-generated sermons from the perspectives of UU, Episcopalian, and Baptist ministers, a Jewish rabbi, and an Islamic Imam. We will be compiling these in a more comprehensive report and sharing them with the Fellowship later this month!
Would you like to join in this conversation in the future? If so, please reach out to me at [email protected]. We are thinking about scheduling one or two more sessions this spring to 1) explore how we conduct business as a congregation in our committees, teams, congregation, and board and 2) promote democratic processes in our Mid-Columbia communities. Dick Withers, President of the Board.