The Results of the HUGs Meeting at Mystic Lake

June 23, 2009

To: the Executive Council, the Collegium, UCC Coalition, UCC Disabilities Ministries, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, CCM and COREM

Meeting in Minneapolis MN on June 16-18, 2008, those present (see groups represented below) prayerfully make the following recommendation and statement. We hope this recommendation and statement will be taken with seriousness and responded to with the gravity these words hold. 

We thank the GFT for their work on the previous restructure documents. Yet we believe that our mandate to be a just peace church that is multi-racial, multi-cultural, open and affirming, and accessible to all, requires that more attention be paid to issues of representation and justice. We also believe that there are many unanswered questions that should be addressed without any further delay. 

After three days of prayer and discernment, we have realized that the reconstituted GFT process is in effect a consolidation of power in the church. The experience of many of the marginalized groups in the church has been that whenever streamlining takes place our voices, presence, history, and humanity are diminished. As a result of our meeting in Minneapolis, we request that the Collegium, the chairs and vice chairs of the Covenanted Ministries and Executive Council suspend the GFT process. We further request that the collegium, chairs and vice-chairs convene sacred conversations across the church so that we can re-establish trust and be reconciled to one another before moving forward with any structural change. We further request that the Collegium, the chairs and vice chairs of the Covenanted Ministries and the Executive Council convene a process that will address the issues raised about restructuring forwarded by the Covenanted Ministry Boards, Executive Council, and offered by HUGs and Others group. We ask that these concerns be addressed before any configuration of the reconstituted GFT commences its work on a restructure proposal. 

Present at the June 16-18, 2008 Minneapolis MN Meeting: COREM Bodies, UCC Coalition, UCC Disability Ministries, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, two members of CCM, and a vice moderator of the General Synod. At the time of the vote of affirmation to this statement two people had left to go home. All who remained agreed to the statement. There was no dissenter to the statement. 32 leaders were present at this historic gathering.