A
May Update from David Fisher,
Our District General Assembly Coordinator
- The tempo is picking up, plans are coming into focus, and excitement is upon us!
Sue Boone, our Volunteer Coordinator, has sent out acceptance (yay!)
emails/letters. All chosen volunteers will automatically be registered by the GA
Conference Services offices. You will be notified of your registration from garegistrar@uua.org (617-948-6413).
- Sue will be sending "sorry" (many thanks for being willing to volunteer) missives
to you who have not been chosen, in time to register on your own before the rate
increases May 1, 2008. We had more applications than positions to fill, but perhaps
another GA will have a place for you.
- The various task area Coordinators will be following up with their welcome
messages by mid-May. Thereafter plans will be made for sending orientation/training
messages and for attending on-site orientation/training sessions on June 24 or 25,
Tuesday or Wednesday.
- Our Information Services Coordinator, Scott Severance, has asked to be relieved
of his duties for personal reasons. We are both disappointed with this and I wish him
well. Fortunately, I'm very pleased to announce that Janet Schwartz from the River of
Grass UU Congregation in Plantation has agreed to take on this position. She'll build on
Scott's good work in the remaining months before GA to create a warm, hospitable
presence for all attendees.
- Although I am not involved in the programming, I'm pleased to let you know
what some of the highlights are:
- Wednesday night opening ceremony will feature the Reverends Kendyl Gibbons
and Jason Shelton's Sources, a seven-song cantata that excitingly presents the roots of
Unitarian Universalism. When performed at the UU Musicians Network annual
conference in Clearwater last August, the capacity audience gave it standing ovations.
- Thursday night's Service of the Living Tradition's sermon will be given by the
Reverend Victoria Safford, award-winning sermon writer and minister at the White Bear
UU Church in Minnesota. This event is free and open to the public.
- Friday afternoon President William Sinkford will be the lead speaker for the
Public Witness Event Valuing ALL Families-including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender families and immigrant families. That evening the Contemporary Worship
service will be multigenerational and inspirational, celebrating our faith for every age and
stage of life.
- Saturday's Ware Lecture features Van Jones, co-founder of the Ella Baker Center
for Human Rights in Oakland, California. Its Books Not Bars campaign helped reduce
California's overall youth prison population by more than 30 percent. Jones and the Ella
Baker Center worked with Congress to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007.
- The Reverend Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister at the Tulsa, Oklahoma All Souls
Church, will deliver the sermon at the Sunday morning worship service. This event is
also free and open to the public, as will the Exhibit Hall be on Sunday morning.
- Plan to attend a day or all five days. "Hone your talents in our workshops, lift your spirits in our worship, thrill to visionary speakers at GA here this year!"
Contact me at fdfisher@bellsouth.net
or 954-567-2677.
David
Fisher—District General Assembly Coordinator for GA 2008 in Fort Lauderdale
