The Unitarian Universalist History And Heritage Society And UUA Clergy Sexual Misconduct Cover-Up And Denial - What's The Connection?

How about this announcement from the Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society that I found on this UU Studies Network page announcing that Lóre Stevens was-is the winner of the UUHHS's 2020 History Research Prize for Future Leaders:

2020 HISTORY RESEARCH PRIZE

The Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage Society is delighted to announce the winner of our 2020 History Research Prize for Future Leaders: Lóre Stevens, for her essay, “‘Strong at the Broken Places’: A History of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, 1992-2019.”

Stevens is a queer Latinx atheist, a second-year MDiv candidate at Harvard Divinity School, and a member of the congregation that is the subject of her essay. Her analysis of one congregation’s grappling with secrecy and transparency in the face of ministerial misconduct is a historical account that affects ministry in this moment. Even as the UU Ministers’ Association is revising its bylaws to make ministers more accountable to one another and to their congregations, stories of misconduct continue to be actively repressed by ministers and laypeople. As Stevens points out through first-hand observation and through detailed sources, clergy sexual and emotional abuse must be uncovered, brought to light, and recorded in order for it to stop and for healing to begin. We applaud her for being brave enough to present this paper for the record.

This year’s contest was highly competitive, with outstanding entries from seminarians from several different schools, with topics that creatively link UU history with Jewish, queer, African American, and Korean American history. Many contestants, including Stevens, conducted groundbreaking research on how national and denominational issues played out at the level of local congregations. We commend them all for their active commitment to putting historical research at the service of our movement’s ongoing transformation. We are also grateful to our outstanding panel of judges for their hard work and careful attention to each entry.

Next year’s UUHHS prize will be for the three best new entries for the Dictionary of Unitarian Universalist Biography. Contestants will need to select their biographical subjects in consultation with the DUUB’s editor; details of this process will be forthcoming on the UUHHS website in the fall.

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I dare say that it is quite refreshing to see the Unitarian Universalist History Heritage Society not only bestowing its 2020 History Research Prize for Future Leaders on Lóre Stevens, but even expressly and publicly acknowledging that, even in 2020. . . stories of Unitarian Universalist clergy misconduct "continue to be actively repressed by Unitarian Universalist ministers and Unitarian Universalist laypeople.

What more could I ask for?

Well I suppose I *could* ask the Unitarian Universalist History And Heritage Society to publicly acknowledge that even in 2020, to say nothing of 2021 and 2022. . . stories of Unitarian Universalist clergy misconduct, that includes "such despicable crimes as pedophilia and rape" continue to be actively repressed by Unitarian Universalist ministers such as UUA President Rev. Dr. Susan Frederick-Gray and UUA Co-Moderator Rev. Meg A. Riley, and Unitarian Universalist laypeople.