{"id":27348,"date":"2026-07-23T17:38:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/?page_id=27348"},"modified":"2026-07-26T12:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T16:27:18","slug":"10forten-4","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/10forten-4\/","title":{"rendered":"10forTen-4"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-27313 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/10for10A-1024x395.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"395\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/10for10A-1024x395.png 1024w, https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/10for10A-420x162.png 420w, https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/10for10A-768x296.png 768w, https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/10for10A.png 1146w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-27316\" src=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/therm0.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"446\" \/>Day 4 &#8211; A Community Choosing Courage Together<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Dear friends,<\/p>\n<p>A few years ago, the UUSJ Board faced a difficult moment: we initially did not endorse the 8th Principle. It was painful to many, vexing to others. It challenged us internally and externally.<\/p>\n<p>What followed was a process designed to help us grow and better align with our values:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>listening<\/li>\n<li>discomfort<\/li>\n<li>reflection<\/li>\n<li>shared discernment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pablo and our Executive Committee facilitated a slowly unfolding conversation about the import and implications, and the Board did the work \u2014 with volunteers and partners helping us see more clearly. Together, we reached agreement and endorsed the 8th Principle on <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">[date].<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This was not a story of one leader. It was a story of a community reflecting, growing, and then choosing accountability and change.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>What Is the 8th Principle?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">The 8th Principle is a commitment embraced by many Unitarian Universalist congregations and organizations to explicitly name and confront racism and other forms of oppression. It calls us to build beloved community through active, accountable anti-racist work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">The principle reads, in part:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">&#8220;We covenant to dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Across the denomination, endorsing the 8th Principle has been a journey, not a single decision. Many UU congregations \u2014 large and small, urban and rural \u2014 wrestled with the same questions UUSJ faced:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800080;\">How do we name racism clearly?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800080;\">What does accountability look like?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800080;\">How do we honor discomfort without avoiding it?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #800080;\">How do we ensure this work is ongoing, not performative or symbolic?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">The UUSJ Board&#8217;s initial lack of consensus was not unusual \u2014 it mirrored the experience of many, many UU congregations. What followed was a deeply UU process of listening, reflection, and shared discernment, supported by volunteers, partners, and staff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">We reached agreement together.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Make your Day 4 gift of $10 in honor of values-rooted leadership.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.salsalabs.org\/UUSJ10for10Campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Donate!<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Day 4 &#8211; A Community Choosing Courage Together Dear friends, A few years ago, the UUSJ Board faced a difficult moment: we initially did not endorse the 8th Principle. It was painful to many, vexing to others. It challenged us internally and externally. What followed was a process designed to help us grow and better &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/10forten-4\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">10forTen-4<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27348","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27348"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27427,"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27348\/revisions\/27427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uusj.net\/wp1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}