The delegates at UUA GA 2024 will conduct the final vote on replacing the Seven Principles and Sixth Sources (which are in Article II). At last year's GA (General Assembly, 2023), the delegates were encouraged to vote for the proposed changes, with the argument that a "yes" vote would enable UUs to "continue the conversation" in the coming year.

I wish that the UUA and UUMA had truly encouraged congregations to hold deliberative conversations, to discuss both sides of the issue, in preparation for selecting GA delegates. Instead, the UUA/UUMA have been mostly either promoting the changes, or have been assuming that the changes are a done deal (for example, in the preparation of new religious education (RE) materials). Personally, I feel the whole process has been manipulative, and at odds with encouraging the democratic process; the UUA/UUMA have not encouraged congregations and individual UUs to form wise and responsible opinions on the matter.

The situation is so bad that many UUs are still blissfully unaware that their beloved Seven Principles may well be voted out, in just three weeks. If it happens, it will be a surprise to too many.

One congregation that held a deliberative conversation was UUCJ (Jacksonvile), which held a workshop in which presentations were given on many aspects of the issue. The church has made their presentations available here. The result of their their vote was summarized in a letter to other congregations; PDF version here.

Other resources are: the Save the Seven Principles website and Facebook group; UU the Conversation; and the UUA's promotional/RE material.

The GA vote will be held in about three weeks--this is worth becoming a delegate to vote on, or discussing with your congregational delegates to GA.

EDIT: changed "One of the few congregations to hold a meaningful conversation ..." to "One congregation that held a deliberative conversation..." In my view, if the "conversation" is merely a one-sided presentation of promotional material, and doesn't involve deliberation and debate, so that people can discern the issues at hand (and then vote or otherwise reach consensus), then it isn't very meaningful.

There's a townhall meeting this Wednesday (4/24/2024) evening to discuss the upcoming GA vote to replace the Seven Principles with the Six Covenants (+ Love). It's at 8:00 PM Eastern, 7:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM Mountain, 5:00 PM Pacific.

Register at "UU the Conversation".

The website also has a video library discussing the changes. One particularly informative video is Much Ado About Article II: "The video explores the “why” behind the changes to Article II ... The answers are in the years of UUA reports and working group recommendations ... This video provides easy access to that information."

https://uutheconversation.org/

The topic is the upcoming GA vote to replace the Seven Principles with the Six Values (+ Love). The first planned town hall web meeting is March 27.

https://uutheconversation.org/index.php/town-hall-meetings/

(Note that there was a Fifth Principle Project announcement about this. I am unsure of how coordinated this effort is with the "Save the Seven Principles" website and Facebook group.)

https://naunitarians.org/project/left-vs-left-whats-happening-here-aint-exactly-clear/

The talk starts at 4:00. The first 45 minutes are a general discussion, contrasting identity liberalism with traditional (enlightenment) liberalism. An overview of how this is affecting UU begins at 48:50. And then a specific discussion on the UUA Article II begins at 59:10.

The motion to change Article II (which will replace the Seven Principles with Six Shared Values ), was passed provisionally at GA 2023. The final vote will take place next summer, at GA 2024.

EDIT: the title wording should have been "... and the upcoming vote to replace the Seven Principles," because the Principles will not be replaced unless this is approved by 2/3 of the delegates to GA 2024. Regardless of how you feel on this issue, this is a good time to get engaged with the delegate selection process in your congregation.

"Final approval of the Article II proposal requires a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the 2024 General Assembly to adopted [sic] the revision as the new Article II of the UUA bylaws."

https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/article-ii-study-commission

A proposal to replace Article II of the UU Bylaws (which in turn will replace the Seven Principles and Six Sources) will be voted on by UU delegates to UU General Assembly in June. The agenda for Article II is outlined here.

...

EDIT:

The proposal of the Article II Study Commission is a significant rewrite of Article II in the UU Bylaws. It fact, it does replace both the Seven Principles and the Six Sources.

More information can be found on the Study Commission website. They are currently accepting feedback through an online form, until April 30.

The website with essays is: https://savethe7principles.wordpress.com/. (And to correct an assumption some people made, I had nothing to do with the creation of the website.)