UUSDN History

This is what Amy Beltaine shared during the 2022 all UUSDN meeting:

See the 2007 UU World article on 5/11

2006 Jade Angelica and a group of UU Spiritual Companions came together to offer mutual support and collegial connection with one another. Eventually their email list grew to 50 participants. This led to the idea of creating a web directory. In 2007 this proto-UUSDN met with the UUMA and UUA to create the UUSDN.

2012, Maury Merkin was managing the web site and had to pass on the responsibilities due to illness. Alida Decoster and I (Amy) worked on it for a year together and then I took it on. 

Other volunteers faded away and Alida and Amy carried the basic role of the UUSDN forward: Put people on the web directory.

2017 Darcey Laine joined the team to help with a FB presence and membership mailings. She also pulled together a peer group opportunity for the membership.

During the time I’ve (Amy) been managing the web the question of how to maintain covenant with the original agreements among the founders, the UUMA and the UUA to have certain criteria for members, and how to be welcoming and inclusive prompted us to attempt to articulate the content of the covenants. The work of revising those criteria for membership has been a continuing work of the coordinating team, at first Jade was the holder and keeper of the history and the covenant, but we quickly realized that was too much for one person to hold. 

In 2020 Becky Leyser offered to help with advertising for the upcoming GA. We were delighted to have the support.

No money has been invoved in UUSDN membership or projects except for 1) taking up a collection to pay for web name registration at GoDaddy. and 2) taking up a collection to pay for tools to get the word out at GA (brochures, slides...)

In 2021 Jade discerned a call to move deeper into her work and away from leadership with the UUSDN. Shortly thereafter Darcey and I reached out to Becky to be a part of the coordinating team. And she (thankfully) said yes!

The questions of how to faithfully fulfill covenant, serve the professionalism of the organization, and the well-being of potential seekers, and to welcome non-traditional companions into membership continued to invite us into deeper reflection.

ADDED 2024 by Amy

The De-colonizing/dreaming team was formed and to work on anti-oppression and membership. A Membership team has been formed and a revised membership onboarding process has been articulated. More people have volunteered to work on the web site. Some folks have come forward to work on outreach.