by Mike Roberts, Church Historian
Some of our membership recently attended the General Assembly in Columbus and, undoubtedly, shared their experiences with other members of our church. Twenty-three years ago, a report was filed by Board of Trustees President, Loren Curtis, recounting his experiences at the General Assembly of 1993. Here is that report:
Sara and I were Heritage’s delegates to the 1993 General Assembly held in Charlotte, North Carolina, from June 24th to June 28th. It was great fun to see and experience the broad range of UU humanity represented there. Some of the highlights included:
The opening ceremony on Thursday when church banners were carried in and put up around the large hall. They just kept coming. Gorgeous cloth creations from congregations everywhere. All were beautiful, especially the ones from Honolulu and Berkeley. We were sorry we did not have one to carry. Surely we can make one by 1996 in Indianapolis.
A Shinto Ceremony of Purification. Two intense young Japanese men in white starched robes and elegant, tall black hats. They bowed, chanted and offered up evergreen boughs for the benefit of the Kami (spirits), for the blessing of those present, and to bring about peace in the world.
The CUUPS (Covenent of UU Pagans) keynote lecture by Winona La Duke, President of the Indigenous Womens’ Network, and herself an Anishanaabeg from Northern Minnesota.
A workshop on sacred movement in which, among other things, we experienced singing “Spirit of Life” accompanied by appropriate gestures from American Sign Language. We’ve got to learn how to do this at Heritage!
A Universalist hymn-sing on Saturday Night. 2000 enthusiastic people, a choir, a huge organ, and great old hymns. Wow!
A lecture and slide presentation on women drummers of antiquity, followed by a demonstration and group participation event. (Also sponsored by CUUPS). Led by master drummer Layne Redmond.
The Ware Lecture, titled “Leave No Child Behind”, by Marian Wright Edelman.
Please feel free to ask us any questions. A copy of the GA program is in the Lending Library, if you’d like to know more about what went on.
Loren Curtis
July 9, 1993
(Editor’s Note: This was also the GA that held the Thomas Jefferson Ball, an event that caused controversy.)
Image: Charlotte, North Carolina, skyline in the early 1990s.
Image courtesy of mtperry via Lost Charlotte.