Dear Ones, 

     As promised, I am providing the details of the Risk Survey the congregation was invited to engage in last month. The board received a fantastic response of 80 completed surveys! Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete it. Having so much data is exceptionally helpful in determining the line that separates comfortable action from action that requires deeper discernment and broader community buy-in. 

Below you will find the visual chart of responses alongside the corresponding questions.

Overall, our congregation seems fairly comfortable with taking risks associated directly with our values. You will see that questions #2 and #7 were the most diverse responses- which feels very appropriate. 

What is not included in this document are the individual responses you provided. However I can assure you that the board reviewed each one. There were many thoughtful answers but summarizing the most prominent themes will be more concise.

Many of you expressed gratitude to the board and ministry team for providing you with an opportunity to share your feelings on the topic while others expressed caution or concern with using this tool as a prescriptive way to engage in justice work, rather than using our moral convictions in the moment. 

There were some responses that asked us to be mindful of the separation of church and state and others advocating for training and use of non-violent opposition if push comes to shove, so to speak. Many of you expressed trust in the discernment of our leadership and ministry of the congregation and wished for easy-to-access communication about ways you could join in on justice events like vigils, protests, etc. I acknowledge that there were not specific questions regarding immigration work.

 As we move forward with this feedback, I want to take this opportunity to share some reflections and perhaps answer some of your ongoing questions and concerns- especially if you were not able to make the meeting. Firstly, I want to reassure you that as your minister, I will never tell you who to vote for. To do so would be a violation of the trust you have placed in me and in the role of your Lead Minister (regardless of the IRS law that forbid such public promotion being eased in July 2025). I join with many colleagues who do believe it is not only appropriate, but essential, to preach on moral issues which often have political implications. That is because religion is inherently political. It always has been and thus there is no separating the two. There is only a responsible and principled navigation of them. I take this very seriously and would regardless of whether or not it would put our status as a 501c3 at risk.

 I ground this understanding with the lessons I learned in a course I took in divinity school entitled “The Holocaust and the Churches,” which outlined the ways in which churches, including Unitarian churches, lent their power and thus the trust of their congregations to the Nazis through either their silence or their explicit consent. Just as churches did during the genocide of Indigenous Americans, the Salem witch trials, slavery, civil rights, and the AIDS crisis. In reviewing our history, we understand now that there are simply some things too important to stay neutral or silent on.

Lastly, many of you understood that this assessment was not a vote for what I, or the ministry team, or individuals within the congregation, choose to do to tend to their moral and spiritual callings in this time. I want to reassure you that your responses were valuable because they provided a broad understanding of who we are as a congregation and what our relationship with principled risk is. This helps me know you and thus serve you better. It helps the board to know how and what to prioritize as we work towards mutual liberation within our specific context.

 I promise this is not the end of the conversation, but the board does have other topics to bring to you next. If you wish to speak about this more in depth, I welcome it and welcome you to come and spend some time with me any time you would like. 

I am so lucky to be your minister.

Rev. Charlotte

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