Personal history
Morales was born in San Antonio,Texas. His mother,Oralia López,was of Mexican-American heritage;his father,Peter Morales,was an immigrant from Spain. His initial language was Spanish. As a youth,he greatly enjoyed baseball. As a young child,he attended a bilingual Lutheran mission church,which his mother had attended growing up. [6] When Morales was ten,his family later moved to a larger,English speaking congregation. [6] He attended Sunday school and was confirmed there,while learning what he called "fundamentalist doctrine." [6]
On graduation from high school,he attended Raymond College at the University of the Pacific in Stockton,California. Active in student government,he studied history and social theory. It was also in college,when learning about "evolution and cultural anthropology and comparative religion," that he ceased to belief in his childhood faith,and left his Lutheran denomination. [6]
Upon graduation in 1967,he married his wife Phyllis and taught school for three years. Faced with the draft during the Vietnam War,he immigrated to Revelstoke,British Columbia. There he worked in a lumber mill and as a reporter for a community newspaper. No longer in danger from the draft,he returned to the United States when he was 26 and entered a program in American Studies at the University of Kansas. Following a summer in Mexico,studying Spanish,Morales was granted a lectureship in 1976 as a Fulbright lecturer in American literature and American history at the University of Oviedo in Asturias,in northern Spain.
However,while in Spain,his son (born in Canada and then four years old) was diagnosed with cancer,necessitating a return to the United States,where the son was treated at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. Faced with daunting medical bills,Morales accepted a job in 1977 working for the California Department of Social Services in Sacramento where his second child,a daughter,was born. He worked there until 1985 on tasks related to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.
In 1985,Morales ventured into newspaper publishing as the owner of community newspapers in Rogue River and Cottage Grove,Oregon,being a pioneer in the use of desktop publishing. As an experienced and innovative journalist,in 1995 he was awarded one of the first Knight International Journalism Fellowships and spent 5 months teaching and advising at La Industria de Chiclayo in Chiclayo,Peru.
Unitarian Universalism
Morales first became involved in Unitarian Universalism at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Eugene,Oregon. Very active,he served on the congregation's board of trustees. He enrolled in Starr King School for the Ministry,a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Berkeley,California and on graduation in 1999 was called to the Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden,Colorado. Active in liberal evangelism while still in seminary,under his leadership the Jefferson Unitarian Church grew rapidly. The leadership of the Unitarian Universalist Association in 2002 asked him to serve as Director of District Services for two years,returning to Jefferson Unitarian Church in 2004. In 2008,in an address to his congregation,he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Unitarian Universalist Association on a platform of inclusion and growth. [7] [8] [9]
Presidency of the Unitarian Universalist Association
On June 27,2009,Morales was elected president of the Unitarian Universalist Association at the General Assembly of the Association in Salt Lake City,Utah. Morales received 2,061 votes from delegates to 1,481 for his opponent,Dr. Laurel Hallman. [10] [11]
Two themes defined the Morales presidency,2009-2017:collaboration and innovation. [12] These were the driving forces behind the accomplishments of his administration. Within the UUA,Morales restructured staff groups for more efficiency,effectiveness,and outreach. [12] [13] Beyond the UUA,Morales formed deeper partnerships with other Unitarian Universalist organizations,such as the UU Service Committee,to form the UU College of Social Justice. [12] [14] He also partnered with the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association to create an entrepreneurial ministry program following the creation of an interfaith pilot program with leading business schools. [12] Morales was a staunch supporter of multifaith collaboration. [15] [16] Morales sought to position the UUA as a convener for multifaith collaboration,most notably with the United Church of Christ,the Union for Reform Judaism,and the NAACP. [17] Morales was unrelenting in his efforts to increase Unitarian Universalist presence and involvement on issues such as marriage equality,racial justice,immigration,and climate change. He was arrested twice for his convictions. [18] [19] [20] Seeing moral issues as global issues,Morales engaged in,and promoted,international relationships and efforts for equality in many parts of the world including:Japan,India,Guatemala,Mexico,and Africa.
In March 2017,a controversy broke out regarding the UUA's hiring practices as they pertained to institutional racism. [4] Charges spread on social media that the leaders had chosen a white man over a qualified woman of color. [4] In a letter to staff addressing the controversy,Morales called for “more humility and less self righteousness,more thoughtfulness and less hysteria.”Later he realized that the letter “made matters worse”and that he had “clearly lost the trust of many people.” [5] On March 30,2017,Morales announced he would resign as UUA president,effective two days later. [5] [21] His term had only three months left. [4]
The International Council of Unitarians and Universalists (ICUU) was an umbrella organization founded in 1995 comprising many Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist organizations. It was dissolved in 2021 along with the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council to make way for a new merged entity. Some groups represented only a few hundred people; while the largest, the Unitarian Universalist Association, had more than 160,000 members as of May 2011—including over 150,000 in the United States.
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both Protestant Christian denominations with Unitarian and Universalist doctrines, respectively. However, modern Unitarian Universalists see themselves as a separate religion with its own beliefs and affinities. They define themselves as non-creedal, and draw wisdom from various religions and philosophies, including humanism, pantheism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam, and Earth-centered spirituality. Thus, the UUA is a syncretistic religious group with liberal leanings.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religious movement characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth. Unitarian Universalists do not have an official, unified corpus of sacred texts but rather draw inspiration and guidance from the Six Sources: personal experience, prophetic utterances, world religions, Jewish and Christian teachings, humanist teachings, and spiritual teachings. Unitarian Universalist congregations include many atheists, agnostics, deists, and theists and have churches, fellowships, congregations, and societies around the world.
Unitarianism is a Nontrinitarian branch of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the unitary nature of God as the singular and unique creator of the universe, believe that Jesus Christ was inspired by God in his moral teachings and that he is the savior of humankind, but he is not comparable or equal to God himself.
The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans is an independent affiliate of Unitarian Universalists who identify with the precepts of classical or contemporary Paganism: celebrating the sacred circle of life and guiding people to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. CUUPS members foster the development of "liturgical materials based on earth- and nature-centered religious and spiritual perspectives" as well as encourage "greater use of music, dance, visual arts, poetry, story, and creative ritual in Unitarian Universalist worship and celebration." Many members of CUUPS embrace the cycle of seasons and beauty of all life forms found in nature. Unlike many mainline religious sects, Unitarian Universalists and Pagans both value the "sacredness in the present world rather than on an afterlife." CUUPS is a community open to all Unitarian Universalist members and those who support the tenets.
Flower Communion, also known as Flower Ceremony, Flower Festival, or Flower Celebration, is a ritual service common in Unitarian Universalism, though the specific practices vary between congregations. It is usually held on the last Sunday of worship in late May or June, as some congregations recess from holding services during the summer. Some congregations hold the ceremony earlier in the spring, sometimes coinciding with Mother's Day or Easter.
The Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) provides a ministry to isolated Unitarian Universalists (UUs). Its mission also includes growing Unitarian Universalism by supporting small congregations and new UUs around the world. The CLF also offers resources to Unitarian Universalists active in local congregations.
The Rev. William G. Sinkford is a Unitarian Universalist minister who served as the seventh president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (UUA), from 2001 to 2009. His installation as UUA president made him the first African American to lead that organization, or any traditionally white religious denomination in the United States.
Unitarian Universalism, as practiced by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC), is a non-Creedal and Liberal theological tradition and an LGBTQ affirming denomination.
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The Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (ERUUF) is a Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation located in Durham, North Carolina. In 2018, over seven hundred people were members of ERUUF, making it the largest UU congregation in NC and one of the largest in the UUA. It sponsors the UU campus ministry program at Duke University, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship @ Duke.
Susan Frederick-Gray is president of the Unitarian Universalist Association. She is the first woman to be elected to the office.
First Parish in Malden, Universalist is a Unitarian Universalist ("UU") church in Malden, Massachusetts and a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It was gathered in 1648 to support the establishment of the city of Malden. It is one of the oldest churches in Massachusetts. The current minister is the Rev. Otto O'Connor, who was called to be the congregation's minister in 2017.
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