by Russ Aruajo
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has five geographic regions, and Heritage UU Church is in the MidAmerica Region. On April 19-20, 2024, Rae Jane Araujo, Russ Araujo, and Rebecca Pace acted as HUUC delegates in attending the annual regional assembly. This one was held at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, Wisconsin (in a church building designed by one of its members, Frank Lloyd Wright).
This regional assembly was like a much smaller UUA General Assembly, with program reports, participant workshops, an exhibitor area, a business meeting, and a worship service. It was unusual in that the Pacific Western Region held its own regional assembly at the same time, in Denver, and the two assemblies shared, via remote technology, the same keynote address. This address consisted of a live conversation between the Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ.
In the elections during the business meeting, Rae Jane Araujo was elected to her second term on the MidAmerica Board of Trustees. In two meetups that were organized through the assembly app, Rebecca Pace led discussions on the proposed new Article II of the UUA bylaws.
To see a map of the UUA’s regions with a brief description of each, see the UUA Regions page at https://www.uua.org/regions.
If you are interested in learning more about the region or the assembly, feel free to talk with any delegate: Rae Jane, Rebecca, or Russ.
Photo caption: Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt and Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson share a conversation for the keynote address of the 2024 MidAmerica Regional Assembly., credit: Rev. Sarah Gibb Millspaugh. Used by permission.