REV. DR. MICHAEL TINO Lead Ministry Team, Church of the Larger Fellowship
Recently, I’ve heard more and more people wondering what is the place of covenant and accountability in Unitarian Universalism. In some circles, they have become almost dirty words–signs that we are somehow abandoning the individualist faith that so many people mistakenly think we are. And yet, both of these concepts are central to our faith.
Covenant consists of the sacred promises we make to one another. It is not a fixed set of beliefs, but rather a living understanding of how we are in community together. Covenants define the practices of Unitarian Universalism as well as what we are striving to create together.
As a faith movement, our congregations are bound to each other in covenant. That covenant is expressed in Article 2 of the Unitarian Universalist Association by-laws. It lives there because covenants and by-laws, unlike creeds, are meant to be changeable. As our understanding of our faith deepens, as our understanding of our world develops, and as the circle of our faith widens to welcome in those who have too long been marginalized, we must adapt the promises that hold us together.
And so it is that our covenant has been updated recently. Rather than
simply asking our congregations to “affirm and promote” principles (a phrase that I came to see as the faith analog of the meaningless phrase “thoughts and prayers”), our new covenant asks us to engage in specific actions to live our faith in the world. It asks us to understand power, how it is abused to lead to oppression and exploitation, and to actively work to dismantle those things in our world. It asks us to commit to changing, growing, and repairing damaged relationships. It asks us to create fully accessible and inclusive communities, and to embrace our differences as we learn from one another.
These are good promises, solid promises that, if we keep them, will help us center our faith in love and live from the values we claim: justice, equity, transformation, pluralism, interdependence, and generosity.
But what if we don’t keep our promises?
That’s where accountability comes in.
In 1646, the congregations in the New England colonies brought delegates together to discuss how they would be governed. The 1648 Cambridge Platform has served since then as the basis for what we call “congregational polity,” the way in which Unitarian Universalist congregations still come together. Even in
“We are collectively responsible for the covenant of our faith.”
rev . dr . michael tino
On Covenant, continued on page 5 in this issue
ON COVENANT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Rev. Dr. Michael Tino
COVENANT
Multiple authors
WHEN COVENANT BREAKS
Frances Koziar
INTRODUCING OUR NEW LEARNING FELLOWS
Donte Hilliard & Katherine Hofmann
COVENANT
What does covenant mean to you? How have you seen covenants used in community?
LEIF REDWOLF
CLF member, incarcerated in TX
Covenants are promises between two parties, each beholden to the other. Popularized by Christian scripture, covenants exist everywhere. An oath given by an initiate to his High Priestess, for example, and the reciprocated oath for her to him. The main difference between a
JACOB
CLF member, incarcerated in AR
The dictionary defines covenant as a binding agreement. To me this is too simplistic. To me, covenant means an agreement or pact that one embarks on with a person or group of people to help shape/change/improve themselves, though at times it is used for protection as well. A true covenant is beneficially helping all parties. The best covenants I have seen are those that religious groups enter to help each other learn, grow, heal, and service (minus the hateful or extremist bents). Seeing these helpful covenants in action is truly amazing and inspiring. ¢
promise and a covenant is that both sides promise something. To use Christian Scripture, Abraham swore his life and his faith to Yahweh, and in return Yahweh promised that Abraham’s seed would be multiplied greatly. Both parties are committing in a covenant.
I will share an example from my own life. I am a member of the High -
er Order of Magick, and a Dominatus. This is the third degree, and the beginning of the priest class. I am in covenant with those also of the Order, in that they swear to learn and be good examples of incarcerated pagans, and I swear to teach as best I can, while living in such a manner as one wearing the title “priest” should. ¢
PHOTO BY HANNAH DOMSIC ON UNSPLASH
Covenant: A Sacred Oath of Obligation
GEORGE P.
CLF member, incarcerated in TN
As a pagan Unitarian Universalist, I have formed many covenants. I covenant to my pagan circle, to be a spiritual leader within our community. This is not to attract followers or friends, but to honestly help others to discover their spiritual path, and how to best follow that path. To call them on their BS when they are playing games with their spirituality. To be open-minded and non-judgmental. To be approachable and easy to talk to.
As a Unitarian Universalist, I covenant to be open-minded and willing to learn about all spiritual paths. To be all-inclusive and non-judgmental. To
take every opportunity as a learning and growing opportunity. And to always be uplifting to others. To be honest and fair.
As a spiritual being, I covenant with the Gods, Spirits, Higher Powers (whoever you choose to call upon) to be faithful, and unwavering within my faith and conviction. To be accepting of the gifts given to me. To share those gifts with others when possible. To be honest and true to myself and my beliefs at all times, while remaining respectful of others. To always act out of love and not ego.
We make covenants with our families, friends, co-workers, and associates. The important thing to remember is that these covenants should never be made carelessly, or dismissed halfheartedly. Your covenant is your word, your bond, your acceptance of a responsibility. ¢
ROBERT
CLF member, incarcerated in MA
Covenant, an agreement to some; for me, it’s an Agreement (with a capital A), a pledge for an unbreakable bond. One should never enter into one lightly, for it is a serious matter.
When I hear the word covenant, marriage comes to mind. Love and honor, till death do you part. I entered into that covenant years ago—nearly 18 years, in fact. The easiest promises to keep are the ones that don't need you to do anything. My promise to her, to only have her in my heart, was the
easiest one I have ever made.
Alas, we are no longer together. We are now separated, possibly even divorced (I don't recall signing those last papers, but admittedly, I may have blocked it out).
Am I hurt by her actions, her breaking of the covenant we made? Yes. Do I blame her, am I mad at her for doing so? No. She did what she had to do to not lose everything we had worked for. She had to believe the lie to be true, so that our family could survive without me.
If and when I leave (for there's a saying that so long as you're in prison, you're doing life until you leave, since anything can happen), I'd still want to be with her. No harm, no foul in my mind, for if one makes bad or wrong decisions based off of false information, how can you hold them at fault? They're just doing the best they can with what they know.
What do I know? The covenant that I carry for both of us is lighter than a feather, and more precious than any jewel. Perhaps one day, she will carry it with me again. ¢
PHOTO BY EILEEN KUMMER ON UNSPLASH
When Covenant Breaks
FRANCES KOZIAR CLF member
Covenant / is a promise that we / will work together on a team we didn’t / choose, doing groupwork / we like the idea of far more / than the thing / itself; it is the radical answer / to a radical goal—at least, on paper, for our faith does not / give us answers for what to do / when covenant breaks: when we see that some / would rather cling to their patriarchy / and their White Supremacy, would make problem people of those / just asking for rights, would pretend that the promises of covenant / mean nothing unless the person is just / like you.
Covenant / is a promise between the people / of this faith, but it is also / a promise / between our self and our faith, and sometimes, nothing takes more faith / than staying.
Choosing / to speak / of your broken heart to those / who are brave enough to face / change, to stay
in dialogue / and have those hard conversations / you never wanted to have, and choosing / to be angry rather than walk / away: all of these / are holding true to your promises.
When covenant / breaks, we need to come home / to trust. To trust that there are others out there who would have supported you / if they were only there, and to trust / that our faith will always / be here tomorrow, bound by nothing / more or less / than the promises made / by people / willing to fight, like a golden web / glimmering with dew in the first light / of morning, because—
when covenant / breaks, it is a tear, merely, in a web / still holding strong, and as long / as we believe in ourselves, and in the greatness that we could become / together, then we can always / come back tomorrow, roll up our sleeves, and start weaving again.
On Covenant, continued from page 1
1648, congregations realized that one of their responsibilities to each other was to be able to hold each other accountable to the practices and ideals of their faith.
How this happens has changed a lot since 1648, but it has not ceased to be part of the relationship among congregations. We are collectively responsible for the covenant of our faith. And so, we have to be collectively responsible for asking our sibling UUs to be accountable to that covenant.
Accountability does not mean punishment, nor does it mean banishment, like so many people seem to fear. It does mean that we are allowed to ask each other to do better. It means that we are allowed to point out when each others’ actions fall short of the values we claim. Yes, it might mean that we are going to have to get used to giving and receiving constructive, loving criticism.
For too long, our faith has been mired in a hyper-individualism that is good for no one. We are not the faith where, as some claim, one can believe or do whatever one wants to. We are instead a faith where we proudly center our interdependence
with one another, a faith that insists that none of us are in this alone.
In the back of our hymnal is an uncredited (anonymous) reading that blesses us with these words: “May we know once again that we are not isolated beings, but connected, in mystery and miracle, to the universe, to this community, and to each other.”
To these words, I add this: May our connection to each other be grounded in covenant. May it be a connection of mutual accountability and growth. May it be a connection that helps us all live with love at the center of our lives. ¢
PHOTO BY ERIK WITSOE ON UNSPLASH
Introducing our new CLF Learning Fellows
DONTE HILLIARD
Learning Fellow, Church of the Larger Fellowship
Dear Beloved CLF Siblings,
I am Donte Hilliard (he/him) and it is my honor and pleasure to serve as your CLF Learning Fellow for the next two years. I am so excited to explore the depths and possibilities of radical worship with you, not as a habit but as an embodiment of our vision of transformation.
As we continue to explore the theme of Justice in the month of July I have been meditating on these questions:
What does justice look like to/for those who are most marginalized by
KATHERINE HOFMANN
Learning Fellow, Church of the Larger Fellowship
Hello New Friends,
I’m so excited to introduce myself to you. My name is Katherine Hofmann (she/her), I am a lifelong UU, dedicated into the UU Fellowship of Waynesboro VA at the age of two. I have always been active in the UU community. I was a typical UU kid, actively volunteering in the nursery, singing
the interlocking systems of Global: Imperialism, Capitalism, Ableism, White Supremacy, and Hetero-Patriarchy?
Are we as UUs fully prepared to embrace and embody visions of Justice that emerge from marginalized communities, especially when they bump up against our deeply held philosophies and theologies?
As a Blaq, fat, fem, queer, gay man who identifies as a demi-theist, humanist, mystic, and practical liberation theologian, these questions are an embodiment of the complicated relationship I have with theistic/ non-theistic, and conservative/liberal forms of religion. When I think about the centuries of abuse indigenous communities around the globe have
suffered and continue to suffer, my conscience demands I rethink ideas of evil, sin, and salvation (shhh… even Universal Salvation).
I leave you with this incantation:
Let us all imagine, invite, and/or conjure a vision of a world without structural violence, and then intentionally embody/practice that world via our family, community, organizational and institutional structures; over and over until our present world is replaced by our sacred and embodied vision. This is my prayer and practice.
That we all may be FULL.
Ase, Amen, and May it be so,
Donte
in the choir, changing the Wayside pulpit message every week, and a leader in the UU youth group. In fact, my first “real” job was as the church’s sexton in the Roanoke VA congregation. Becoming a CLF Learning Fellow is a dream come true, even when I didn’t know how to name the dream.
As a justice-involved individual, I am very aware of the need for the abolition of the Prison Industrial Complex. However, as we fight towards that goal, there are still thousands of people living through the hell of incarcer-
ation. My goals during my time as the CLF Prison Ministry Learning Fellow include normalizing the discussion of incarceration in our UU community at large, offering understanding to our incarcerated members, and continuing to educate all of our members about trauma-informed psychosocial education and spiritual development.
My life goal is to provide trauma-informed psychosocial skills in jails and
Katherine, continued on page 7
Katherine, continued from page 6
prisons. Offering this education to inmates increases mental well-being, teaches autonomy, and as a result, reduces recidivism. The majority of incarcerated women have unresolved trauma. And the availability of mental health resources are limited. Therefore, teaching the women psychosocial skills through classes or workshops would give them the means to help themselves. And while men’s institutions tend to have more educational opportunities, the need for these skills is just as great. I dream of the normalization of classes such
as Art Therapy, Mindful Meditation, Yoga classes, and also other useful but often overlooked information such as how to run your own business.
As we wrap up the end of July, our monthly CLF theme of Justice continues to resonate in my heart. I hold the abolition of injustice as an integral part of my spiritual practice. My vision of living my faith includes abolition and reaching a hand out to those still suffering within the “in”justice system. I look forward to the journey we will take together over the next two years!
Katherine
FOR YOUR REFLECTION
NOTICE
Unfortunately, due to recent budget constraints, we made the difficult decision not to print/mail the October and December 2024 and March 2025 Quest issues. Instead, these issues will only be available online at clfuu.org/quest.
We are saddened to have to a reduced printing schedule again this year, and hope to return to printing all issues again soon. We appreciate your understanding as we navigate these constraints.
In this section, we offer questions for reflection based on ideas explored in this issue. You may wish to explore it individually or as part of a group discussion. To submit your reflection for possible inclusion in a future issue of Quest, tear off your answer and mail it back to us using the envelope included in the middle of this issue, or mail a longer reflection separately.
How do we hold each other accountable for our covenants? What do we do when covenants break?
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Church of the Larger Fellowship, UU
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