UUFP President
Rebecca Wheeler

Friends,

I’m writing to fill you in on the outcome of the 2021 and 2022 surveys on the proposed 8th Principle. As you know, the 8th Principle Task Force was formed and charged by the UUFP Policy Board to educate the membership about the proposed principle and then bring it to a vote in early to mid 2022. As part of their work, the Task Force distributed a pre- and post-survey.

Regarding the survey: What was it? Who took it? What are the results? And what do the results tell us?
 

The survey:

Both in spring 2021 and spring 2022, the 8th Principle Task Force survey contained two questions. The survey questions were identical but for a change in the number of churches (and organizations) having voted for the proposed principle. Here are the questions asked:

• Have you heard of the 8th Principle?
  a. Yes
  b. No

• The 8th Principle states the following: “We, [one of] the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.” Would you like to see our church adopt the 8th Principle (and celebrate that on a page on our website) like All Souls, Unitarian of Washington D.C. and at least 37/155 other UU churches (and organizations)?
  a. Yes
  b. No

Who took it?

Each survey was emailed to the UUFP membership and distributed on UUFP Facebook pages. That is, both surveys went to members, friends, former members, and potentially, the public, as Facebook reaches a public audience. 

Results:

Here’s a table with the numerical results:

Discussion/Findings:

Rev. Andrew ran a statistical analysis, finding as follows:

• The margin of error for the 2021 poll is 11.5%, and for the 2022 poll, it's 12.5%. This is the margin of error due to random sampling.  It does not include errors due to systematic factors, e.g. non-equivalent populations.
• Given the margin of error
  • Question 1 (‘has the respondent “heard of” the principle’) registers significant change from 2021-2022
  • Question 2 (‘do you support?’) did not show statistically significant change from 2021 to 2022.

In sum, the task force has succeeded in bringing the proposed 8th principle to the attention of respondents. Thank you to the Task Force for a highly successful educational effort.

Regarding question 2, the fact that the results do not show statistically significant change from 2021 – 2022 means that we do not know if the respondents’ views changed. Even so, none of these results speaks to sentiments of UUFP membership itself, as the survey went to a much broader audience — members, former members, friends and the public.

The next step will be a membership vote on the proposed 8th Principle at a Special Congregational Meeting after the Sunday service, June 5, 2022. In this meeting, we consider the issue vital, warranting a supermajority of 66% for passage. This will be a hybrid meeting and will receive votes in person, online (perhaps by Google Forms for anonymous vote), and by absentee ballot. Details about the mechanism of voting will come out later this month.

Come one, come all!
Vote your vision, as we move into the next era of our UU life together!