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The Moderator: Our next report
is from the Journey Towards

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Wholeness Transformation Team,
created by the delegates--

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you-- in 1995.

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Welcome, Jonipher Kwong
and Wendy von Zirpolo.

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[APPLAUSE]

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Jonipher Kwong: Aloha.

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Audience: Aloha.

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Jonipher Kwong: I
can't quite hear you.

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I traveled 15 hours to hear
you say aloha, you know.

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Audience: Aloha.

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Jonipher Kwong: Much better.

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I'm Jonipher, and along with--

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Wendy Von Zirpolo: Wendy--

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Jonipher Kwong: --Walter,
Tracy, Carrie, Ben,

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Taquina, and Jackie, not
in that order-- although,

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don't you just love our selfie?

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We serve under-- yeah, Ellen
DeGeneres, eat your heart out.

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We serve on your Journey
Toward Wholeness Transformation

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Committee.

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So what we do is we basically
take selfies from time

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to time of where our religious
movement is when it comes

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to anti-racist, anti-oppressive,
and multicultural work.

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Wendy Von Zirpolo:
In recent years,

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those selfies have taken
the form of reports

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on our credentialing
process and how we select,

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support, train, and
retain volunteer leaders.

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Those reports have been made
available to those most closely

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involved with each
of those roles,

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along with affirmations
and also recommendations.

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Following our last reports,
we shifted gears a bit.

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Rather than focus on a specific
piece of our association,

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our discernment
called us back to you.

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We decided to find a
way to assess the larger

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question of how we are
doing on our journey

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with the goal of coming back not
to the board or to a committee,

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but to you.

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What we could not have
known is that some others

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were thinking along
the same lines.

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Jonipher Kwong: Some of you may
recall a responsive resolution

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at last year's GA entitled
Deepen Our Commitment

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to an Anti-oppressive,
Multicultural Unitarian

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Universalist Association.

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Or not.

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Some of you like me
may not even remember

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what you had for lunch.

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So let me refresh your memory.

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A portion of the
resolution asks the JTWTC

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to assess the financial and
staff resources currently

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devoted to this
work, including those

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who supporting
organizations that

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empower marginalized
populations.

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In other words,
show us the money.

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We were asked to provide an
analysis of these expenditures

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relative to other allocations.

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Toward that end, we are in
the process of gathering data.

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We came to realize, however,
levels of complexity involved

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in accurately
isolating funds solely

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devoted to various groups.

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The tasks will
require engagement

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with the administration and
organizations referenced

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by the resolution.

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Also, to be true to the
intent of the resolution,

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we wanted to meet with
the authors themselves.

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We want to hear more about
the experiences that led them

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to that moment at
last year's GA.

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Wendy Von Zirpolo:
We want the authors

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of that resolution and all who
supported it and you to hear

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that this new charge has
informed our current work

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and also affirmed our
supposition that answers

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about the progress on
our journey may differ,

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depending upon our
various identity groups.

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The data that we obtain--
quantitative and qualitative--

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will not be an ending
point for the JTWTC,

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but offer critically
important data

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into the question
of how we're doing.

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Beyond that resolution,
we've also identified places

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where we think that a
slice of the journey

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is going particularly well.

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Yesterday, we held
a conversation cafe

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showcasing energy centers.

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We even had a menu.

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Our energy centers were
First Unitarian Church

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of San Jose, California,
All Souls Unitarian

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Church from Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Mutual Aid from Carrboro,

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North Carolina, Awake Ministries
from Annapolis, Maryland, First

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UU San Diego, California, and
the Center for Ethical Living

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and Social Justice Renewal
in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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We'll post this menu along with
their five minute presentations

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from our cafe on
our Facebook page

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so that others may
be in conversation.

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Because this includes
contact information.

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They welcome your
questions and reflections

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as they share their stories.

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Jonipher Kwong: We're also
continuing our interviews,

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since it was such
a hit last year.

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So feel free to stop one of us
if you see us in the hallways

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and asked to be filmed.

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You, too, could become a star.

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It's actually quite simple.

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We're just asking you
three basic questions.

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One, what have we accomplished
so far on our journey

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toward becoming an
anti-racist, anti-oppressive,

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and multicultural movement?

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Two, where are we now, really?

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And three, do you
have a specific story

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you'd like to share with us?

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Here's some of what
we've heard so far.

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Julie Brock:
--accomplished since 1997

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as far as multicultural faith
community growth is concerned.

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So I think that our faith is
doing a really, really good job

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of bringing in
people's awareness

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that they need to be
active in this work.

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I think the second
thing that we done

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is an accountability process
politically, or our polity.

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The restructuring
of the board to have

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an intentional inclusiveness
of different voices is amazing.

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Rev. Dr. Monica Cummings:
One of the things

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that I think the Journey
Towards Wholeness

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Committee accomplished during
the time I was on the committee

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was helping the association
look at language

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and how important
language is in terms

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of being inclusive of
people who have identities

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that have been marginalized.

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Michael Salwasser:
Where we are now

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is it's still too
much at the leadership

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and not enough in the whole
institution being aware.

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I think our leadership
is prepared to lead,

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but I think people themselves
are where we need to be

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[INAUDIBLE].

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The members in our
congregations and our churches,

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that they really understand
what their role is

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and how they can be
part of this journey.

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Annette Marquis: As we continue
to resource congregations,

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to help congregations do the
work that they need to do,

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we see that evidence
in how they're

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able to do things
like Moral Mondays

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in North Carolina and the
world that's going on in terms

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of public protest and
partnership with the NAACP,

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and our congregation's
just doing amazing work.

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So I see that those
kind of things

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really have been the best
indicators of where we are.

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Wendy Von Zirpolo: Now
you've heard something

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of what other people have
to say, how about you?

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In 1997, the delegates
here said that we

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should be on this journey.

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Last year, the delegates here
called for re-commitment.

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Our goal is to come back to
you with an accurate assessment

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and recommendations
on how we're doing.

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We believe that there
are important stories

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and testimonies that will help
us to fulfill that charge.

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Stories of faithful success,
faithful risking, and faithful

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failure.

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We need your help.

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Jonipher Kwong: Here's how.

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Please take a moment to
take out your smartphone.

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And even if you have an
intellectually challenged

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phone, please feel
free to take it out

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as long as you can
text someone with it.

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And text your email address
to the following number.

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Area code 617-306-1422.

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That's 617-306-1422.

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I'll give you a
moment to do that.

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One more time.

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617-306-1422.

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What we'll commit to doing
is sending each of you a link

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to our online survey.

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And we really hope that
you'll take time to respond.

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You can answer online,
send us an email,

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engage your congregation in
answering these questions,

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and even post your own video
response to our Facebook page.

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And while you're there, make
sure to hit the like button,

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because we could certainly
use the validation.

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Mahalo nui loa.

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Wendy Von Zirpolo: Thank you.

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[APPLAUSE]

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