General Assembly

General Assembly (GA) is an annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is held in June, in a different city in the United States every year. The last GA held outside the United States was in Quebec in 2002, after which congregations belonging to the Canadian Unitarian Council separated from the UUA. Member congregations (and three associate member organizations) send delegates and conventioneers to participate in the plenary sessions, workshops, regional gatherings, public witness events, and worship services. In recent years, attendance at each General Assembly has reached over 5,500. Events The General Assembly opens with a parade of banners borne by members of and representing member churches and associated organizations. General Sessions of General Assembly consist of discussing and voting on Study Action Issues and Statements of Conscience; elections for Board of Trustees, officer and committee positions; and reports from the President, Moderator and other leaders of the UUA. A Synergy Bridging ceremony is held to congratulate graduates of individual churches' Religious Education programs. In addition, the event is keynoted by the Ware Lectures, which are offered by individuals selected by the President in consultation with the General Assembly Planning Committee; they have been held since 1922 by the preceding American Unitarian Association in honor of Harriet E. Ware, who bequeathed $5,000 to the AUA. Previous Ware Lecturers have included Reverends Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesse Jackson, author Kurt Vonnegut and Sister Simone Campbell. The most recent Ware Lecturer was Ibram X. Kendi. Since a 2011 trial run, the General Assembly has allowed for remote online participation for congregations who are not able to send delegates in person. In 2020, due to COVID-19, all in-person programming initially scheduled to take place in Providence, Rhode Island were cancelled and moved to an online and remote format, resulting in the third-largest number of delegates in attendance behind the 2003 and 2007 General Assemblies. The 2021 iteration, initially pre-scheduled for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was also moved to a virtual format. The 2022 General Assembly was held in a multi-platform format, with programming and participation in events occurring both in-person in Portland, Oregon and online.