The Next Chapter of Our UU Legacy. Inspiring News From the 2025 General Assembly. While I did not attend General Assembly in person this year, I tuned in via Zoom for the business meetings in order to participate in elections of Moderators and members of the UUA Board. Other essential functions that occurred during business meetings of our Unitarian Universalist Association were selecting Actions of Immediate Witness (AIW) and a Congregational Study/Action Issue (CSAI). Both AIWs and CSAI are submitted by UUs, congregations for the CSAI and congregations or individuals for AIWs. They are not handed down from the UUA, but rather submitted and eventually voted on by us. There is much to be done. Let us bring our minds, hearts and spirits to this work.

An Action of Immediate Witness (AIW) is a statement about a significant action, event, or development in the world that necessitates immediate engagement and action among UU member congregations and groups. The statement provides a framework for Unitarian Universalist congregations to respond quickly to social issues identified as urgent. Adopted AIWs include meaningful actions that Cedars and other congregations can take and who they might consider partnering with in those efforts.

If you want to study AIWs from past years, they can be accessed HERE. I find the Action of Humanitarian Work and Climate Change to be a particularly clear example of what an AIW is trying to accomplish.

AIWs selected in 2025 are:

We Declare and Affirm: Immigrants Are People Who Have Inherent Worth and Inalienable Rights.

Faithful Defiance of Authoritarianism, a Call to Action: Reaffirming Our Covenants for Democracy and Freedom!

Defending LGBTIQ Freedom Amid Funding Crisis: A Call for Global Solidarity

CSAIs are Congregational Study Action Issues. The UUA explains: “They are issues selected by Unitarian Universalist member congregations for three years of study, reflection and action. The purpose is to provide congregations of the Association with an opportunity to mobilize energy, ideas and resources around a common issue. The end result will be a deeper understanding of our religious position on the issue, a clear statement of Association policy as expressed in a Statement of Conscience, and a greater capacity for congregations to take effective action.”

UU congregations will study the 2025 CSAI for a three-year period of time that will culminate in a vote at GA 2028. This year’s CSAI begins: “The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) comes to the issue of abolition based on our accountability to the almost 2,000 incarcerated Unitarian Universalists who call our congregation their spiritual home. We believe that engaging the study-action process on this topic will be transformative for our members, our congregations, and our communities.” The CLF shares with us that time and time again they have heard from their formerly or currently incarcerated partners in BIPOC communities that it will not be enough to abolish the prison-industrial complex. Rather we must abolish the process of dehumanization that made them possible in the beginning. The CSAI is propelled and uplifted by a calling for the change of hearts, minds, systems, and spirits.

The entire text of the Abolition, Transformation, and Faith Formation text can be found HERE.