Please join the Membership Umbrella Committee and the Task Force for Dismantling White Supremacy on March 19, 2022 - virtually or in person - for a discussion of our church's Covenant of Right Relations.

who: The facilitators are members from a variety of committees and the discussion is open to everyone.

what: A facilitated discussion focusing on the usage and history of our church's Covenant of Right Relations.

where:  Virtually on Zoom or in person at 6300 A Street. Watch the weekly eblasts for the Zoom link details. If you are attending in person, the building will be open at 10 AM.  We'll honor whatever safety precautions are in place on March 19.  

when: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM Saturday March 19, 2022

why: Each year the Unitarian Church of Lincoln’s Board of Trustees chooses three focus areas for the upcoming church year. This year one of the priorities is "to continue engagement with the world through our commitment to dismantle racism, address the effects of climate change, and recertify our LGBTQA+ Welcoming Committee status.” These ideas are totally interrelated. The Board and the Task Force for Dismantling White Supremacy were looking for ways to help support this priority by offering educational opportunities. The Membership Umbrella Committee thought that focusing on our covenant of right relations was something that we could do, and it would bring people together for a conversation. By the end of our time together, we'll hopefully better understand what our covenant is and why it was created. The planners are hopeful that understanding our covenant will further our anti-racism goal. 

For more information contact: Jackie Egan - [email protected]  or Judy Hart - [email protected]


LEARN MORE about the Membership Umbrella Committee.
​Read the full text of our Covenant of Right Relations.

COVENANT OF RIGHT RELATIONS PREAMBLE:
As a welcoming congregation, our goal is to inspire a sense of awe, joy and reverence in people of all ages. We celebrate through words, music and the arts. We actively covenant to be an inclusive, diverse, and sustainable community. We each contribute to the work of the church. We provide a safe and nurturing haven for free thought. We treat each other with loving kindness. We cultivate growth and celebrate the changes growth brings.

Our Covenant of Right Relations: Within and beyond the walls of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln, we honor the principles and sources of Unitarian Universalism. We covenant to treat one another as we would wish to be treated: with respect, regard for healthy boundaries, accountability, open-mindedness, and equanimity, freely offering our tangible and sustained stewardship and engagement to realize our vision and mission.

We strive to be guided in our thoughts, words and actions by these attributes and the supporting Statements of Intent found in our handbook upon which we mutually agreed. In day-to-day practice, we covenant to begin our interactions with an assumption of best intentions, to truly listen to one another rather than awaiting our turn to talk, to assure that what is true for each of us is heard and considered, and to share only our own stories, honoring the privacy of others. These are our aspirations.

Mass Atrocities and the Responsibility to Protect
Sundays, February 20 to March 13 • 7:00PM 

Access: The Zoom link will be the same for all sessions. For the Zoom link, email Kelly at the church office at [email protected].
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Time: 7:00 to 8:30PM
Format: 45-minute lecture followed by an audience-driven Q&A.
Availability: Recorded lectures and Q&A sessions will be posted by the end of March 2022 on the Unitarian Church YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/unitarianchurchoflincoln
WLS Website: More information, including access to the speakers' bios, https://www.unitarianlincoln.org/winter-lecture-series.html

Background:
The UN General Assembly adopted wording in 2005 now referred to as R2P, the responsibility to protect. The language adopted reflects several ideas: that states through their government have a duty to exercise responsible sovereignty by, at a minimum, not allowing mass atrocities; that outside states have a duty to help other states be responsible by acting early through diplomacy to head off trends toward mass atrocity; and that as a last resort the UN Security Council can authorize use of force to stop mass atrocity. Absent this authorization, humanitarian intervention remains illegal. Notably, claiming self-defense for intervention is separate from R2P.

Most observers see the logic of R2P in positive terms. Most observers agree that R2P has not worked well in practice. Our 2022 lecture series examines the evolution of what is called R2P, the reasons for its disappointing impact on world affairs, and whether we can realistically hope for improvements in the future.

Sunday, February 20, 2022, 7:00PM. Professor Thomas G Weiss, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, will present a Zoom lecture on the history of the Responsibility to Protect (written R2P) as it was developed by the United Nations and as it was subsequently applied, misapplied, and not applied to various conflicts.

Sunday, February 27, 2022, 7:00PM. Professor Joshua Landis, University of Oklahoma, will pay further attention to the applicability of the R2P in the current conflicts in Syria and Yemen.

Sunday, March 6, 2022, 7:00PM. Professor Robert Hitchcock, University of New Mexico, will address R2P in Darfur and some other African cases.

Sunday, March 13, 2022, 7:00PM. Professor Parks Coble, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will discuss R2P in relation to the ongoing conflicts in East Asia including Myanmar and China.

After nearly two years online (except for one lovely month last summer), Coffee House will again return to in person at the church on February 25th at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome to come for board and card games as well as lively conversation.  Coffee and snacks, if allowed by the public health conditions. This is a great place for people of all ages to come and be yourself in a friendly environment.  Coffee House is sponsored by the LGBTQA+ Welcoming Congregation Committee.  for more information, contact Deb Hope at [email protected]