*Note: We will continue to update this page as event details are confirmed. Please check back for more information.
General Assembly is the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association. Attendees worship, witness, learn, connect, and make policy for the Association through democratic process. Anyone may attend. The 2018 General Assembly will be June 20-24 in Kansas City, Missouri. Most General Assembly events will be held in the Kansas City Convention Center.
Registration opens March 1; rates increase May 1. Housing and financial aid is available.
GA Theme: “All Are Called”
Grounded in a deep belief that we are all prophets, Unitarian Universalists ask, “How can we faithfully meet the demands of our time?” The call to witness and act for justice in our society and in the world is clear. So, too, is the call to examine our structures and practices, dismantling and transforming those which fail to recognize the full humanity of all people and to honor the interdependent web of life. Join us in Kansas City as we dive deeply into questions of mission for our Unitarian Universalist Association, for our congregations and communities, and for each of us as individuals.
Kansas City
The City of Fountains is practically overflowing with adventure. Whether it’s the scent of smoldering BBQ luring you to a plate of ribs, the sweet echo of jazz welcoming an evening of entertainment or the spray of fountains inviting you to kick off your shoes and make a splash, you’ll sense inspiration in the air – and find it along every boulevard.
As America’s most centrally located major metropolitan area, Kansas City’s location is a huge advantage for travelers. In fact, more than 55 million Americans can get to Kansas City in less than a day’s drive. And flying there is even easier—as Kansas City International Airport is just a three-hour flight away from each coast.
Join us for the following events:
- Opening Banner Parade
- Graduate Association Breakfast
- Friendship Breakfast
- Starr King President’s Lecture
- Service of the Living Tradition
- The Racovian Catechism with Dr. Jay Atkinson
- Meet Starr King
- UU Polity Intensive Course
- More workshops featuring SKSM community members!
Opening Banner Parade
Wednesday 6/20/2018, 7:00 – 8:30 PM (arrive early!)
The gathering time and place for banner carriers is announced in GA Program
Show your Starr King spirit alongside hundreds of Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations and organizations for the procession of banners. Check back later for our gathering time and place.
Friendship Breakfast
Thursday 6/21/2018, 8:00 – 9:00 AM
Crowne Plaza — Salon A
Start your morning off proper with Starr King! This is an opportunity for the larger Starr King community to connect over a free catered breakfast and catch up on new developments at the school. Attendees will be treated to a special video premiere!
Graduate Association Breakfast
Friday 6/22/2018, 8:00 – 9:00 AM
Crowne Plaza — Salon C
Similar to the Friendship Breakfast, this is an opportunity for Starr King graduates to connect over a free catered breakfast, catch up on new developments at the school, and reaffirm their commitment to the school. Attendees will also be treated to a special video premiere!
Starr King President’s Lecture
Thursday 6/21/2018, 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Kansas City Convention Center — 3501 GH
Join SKSM President, the Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt, for the 2018 President’s Lecture, Finding our Religion: A Guide to Faithful Resistance. Our government is moving toward authoritarianism, our rights are being steadily eroded, and an ugly pseudo religion is being used to justify it all. In order to resist and reclaim our nation, we must rediscover and reclaim our own progressive religious power and use it for good.
Service of the Living Tradition
Thursday 6/21/2018, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Kansas City Convention Center — Hall C
SKSM Assistant Professor of Theology & Ethics, the Rev. Sofia Betancourt, will deliver this year’s sermon at the Service of the Living Tradition (SLT), which is open to the public and streamed online. GA registration not required.
The Racovian Catechism with Dr. Jay Atkinson
Thursday 6/21/2018, 12:45 PM (First Session)
& Saturday 6/23/2018, 12:45 PM (Second Session)
Booth #123
Join us for a brief session on the history and influence of the Racovian Catechism, facilitated by Dr. Jay Atkinson, research scholar with Starr King School for the Ministry. This session will provide a further look into the scholarship regarding this offering from our Earl Morse Wilbur rare book collection.
Meet Starr King
Friday 6/22/2018, 3:30 – 5:30 PM
Booth #123
Are you interested in training for the ministry? Have you been called to justice work? Want to know more about SKSM and the programs it offers? Come by our booth to meet students, faculty, and staff members, and speak to our admissions team about what Starr King can offer you.
UU Polity Intensive Course
6/20/2018 – 6/24/2018
Time/location/registration details TBA
Discover the mechanics of governance by observing Unitarian Universalist polity in action. We will attend plenary sessions, business mini-assemblies and worship services, as well as meet together as a class to process our observations, learn the history of congregational polity in contrast to other polity paradigms, and thus locate our polity in its theological and cultural contexts.
Additional workshops featuring Starr King community members:
The Worship Leader’s Tool Kit
1:30-4:00pm, 2103 B
Rev. Erika Hewitt (Graduate)
Risk-Taking and Law-Breaking: Faith-Inspired Civil Disobedience
1:30-2:30pm, 2501 A
Rev. Amanda Weatherspoon (Graduate)
Black Humanism in UU Context and Beyond
1:30-2:30pm, 2502 B
Rev. Patrice Curtis (Graduate)
Saying Yes and Saying No: Discernment Toward Justice
1:30-2:30pm, 3501 EF
Rev. Kathleen McTigue (Graduate)
Stewardship, Justice, and White Supremacy
3:00-4:00pm, 2105
Jessica Cloud (Staff)
Centering Theology: Conversation About Faith, Race and Liberation
3:00-5:30pm, 2501 A
Rev. Sofia Betancourt (Faculty)
Love Resists Criminalization
3:00-5:30pm, 3501 AB
Rev. Kathleen McTigue (Graduate)
Torda450 International Worship Service
3:00-4:00pm, 2104
Rev. Lidia-Emese Bodor (Balazs Scholar)
Holistic Management: Healing Systems, Spirits and Society
4:30-5:30pm, 2105
Ariel Aaronson-Eves (Student)
Friday, June 22
Called to the Intersections of Justice
11:15am-12:15pm, 2215 C
Rev. Sofia Betancourt (Faculty)
Rev. Jennifer Nordstrom (Graduate)
Rev. Kathleen McTigue (Graduate)
You’re the New Justice Chair – Now What?
11:15am-12:15pm, 2101
Rev. Chris Long (Faculty)
Moral Injury: The War Inside
11:15am-12:15pm, 2103 C
Rev. Sarah Lammert (Graduate, Honorary Degree Recipient)
Saturday, June 23
“Centering” Learnings from our Common Read
1:30-4:00pm, 3501 AB
Rev. Mitra Rahnema (Graduate)
#MeToo: Called to Challenge Systemic Patriarchy
1:30-4:00pm, 2503
Rev. Addae Kraba (Graduate)
Be Bold! Vital Multicultural Congregations and Communities
1:30-4:00pm, 2103 A
Rev. Kathleen Owens (Graduate)
Ministerial Transition: What it Teaches About Unitarian Universalism
1:30-2:30pm, 2502 A
Rev. Keith Kron (Graduate)
Testimony: Unitarian Universalism Transforms Lives!
1:30-2:30pm, 2501 B
Rev. Meg Riley (Honorary Degree Recipient)
Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt (President, Faculty)
Mandy Goheen (Graduate)
Better Coping Through Faith Community: A Support Model
3:00-4:00pm, 3501 EF
Megan Dowdell (Faculty)
Why Truth Comes First in “Truth and Reconciliation”
3:00-4:00pm, 2215 A
Rev. Dr. Natalie Fenimore (Trustee)
UUJA End of Shabbat Ritual: Havdalah
3:00-4:00pm, 2102 B
Rev. Tera Klein (Faculty)
