by Michelle Hunt, Co-chair, Right Relations Committee

We need our faith community to discover who we are and who we aspire to be. Our covenants weave clarity and mutual understanding into our relationships. Recently, members of the Right Relations Committee (RRC) have come to understand the value of creating covenants using new guidelines. RRC will continue to collaborate with individual committees and ministries to share what we have learned. The following is RRC’s recently approved covenant.

RRC Covenant February 22, 2022

We covenant, we promise:

To promote right relations among our committee members and among members of our faith community:

By listening without interruption and with respectful reflection of the thoughts and feelings of others;
By listening to the thoughts and feelings within ourselves, even the difficult ones, and expressing them in a way that honors others’ realities;
By responding compassionately when we disagree and discussing these disagreements only at our meetings;
By recognizing that imperfection is part of the learning process.

To offer guidance and support to ministries and committees in developing their own covenants:

By listening to their needs and recognizing their work and intentions;
By sharing what we have learned about developing covenants.

To connect the concepts of Right Relations to the larger UUCWC community and to the outside world:

By communicating with UUCWC (e.g., CrossCurrents, announcements, discussions);
By presenting relevant RRC issues to the UUCWC Board or Council meetings;
By collaborating with other ministries and committees for action that is congruent with the UUCWC mission.

To support and implement UUCWC Board policies dealing with both Out of Covenant (OOC) and Disruptive Behaviors:

By using Restorative Justice Principles;
By creating an emotionally safe place where the aggrieved and the others can discuss covenantal issues respectfully;
By coordinating with the Minister on Disruptive Behavior Issues and consulting with the Board.