I’m reading a bunch of criticism of the final worship service of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly, where we installed the Rev. Peter Morales as our 8th UUA President, and it’s making me a little bit nuts. It is notable that the most vocal critics weren’t there, and that watching the video doesn’t even begin to convey what really happened in that room.

I was not directly involved with either candidate’s campaign, though I did have an opinion on who I wanted to win — Rev. Dr. Laurel Hallman. However, she did not win my support on the strength of her campaign, but rather on the strength of her 2003 Berry Street Address, “Images for our Lives,” which is something I go back to over and over again.

I didn’t have anything against Rev. Morales, except that many of his supporters drove me absolutely insane over the course of the campaign — though I can say the same for Hallman supporters. He just didn’t do much to inspire me. And honestly, neither campaign really did.

At General Assembly, the campaign volunteers on both sides were everywhere, shoving literature every which way. Most people wore buttons or t-shirts proclaiming their choice of candidate — me, too, but mostly just to keep the volunteers on both sides out of my face.

The discourse was civil, at least on the surface, but there was a definite division between the two camps, a palpable one. It was decidedly unpleasant.

Before the Ware Lecture on Saturday night, the winner was announced before a rather somber worship service billed as “Celebration of the Candidates.” My husband and I were seated on the far left side of the stage, having arrived a bit late, near a rather surly gentleman who was trying to save rows and rows of seats, actively berating people for wanting to, perhaps, sit in them, since they were near the front and empty, with no indication that they were reserved.

Just before the announcement, everyone around us got very vocally excited, in the middle of the beginning of the worship service, and there was Rev. Morales, looking prepared to give a speech. He was announced as the winner, he went up on stage rather awkwardly, because I don’t think anyone told him that he wouldn’t be speaking during this worship service, and the hubbub around us was enough to send us looking for someplace else to sit for the Ware lecture.

Being in that crowd of excited Morales supporters was not pleasant, to say the least. Even though I wasn’t all that invested in the outcome of the election, the “vibe” at that moment was one of smug satisfaction, of thumbing one’s nose at the other candidate and her supporters.

The next day, settling in for the closing worship, I was on my guard. Any sign of the same feeling I’d had the night before, and I was more than prepared to bolt out of there and go find dinner.

I am glad to say that my fears were ungrounded. The worship team did a masterful job of creating a space where we could celebrate our time together at G.A., celebrate the good things about our outgoing President, Rev. Bill Sinkford, and actively, prayerfully, and deliberately embrace our new President after a long campaign.

This was not a victory celebration. Much like a congregation installing a minister, Rev. Morales did not speak until the Benediction. The “laying on of hands” that is causing such consternation with “polity purists” was a simple, beautiful, authentic, deeply moving blessing, led by the Rev. Victoria Safford. That led into a prayer by Moderator-Goddess Gini Courter, with musical accompaniment that was exactly right for the moment, the gospel “We Pray” with choir and congregational responses, led by music coordinator John Hubert.

It was the most worshipful experience of General Assembly, for me. It was on my top 5 list of most worshipful experiences ever, really.

It was healing.

The complaint is heard that the President of the UUA is just supposed to be an administrator, not a pastor, and so what are we doing acknowledging this transfer of mere administrators with worship? When one looks at the duties of the office, vague as they are, sure, that could be true.

But that is so not the big picture. Leading our Association of Congregations is ministry, plain and simple. It’s a different incarnation than ordained ministry in the congregation, but it is ministry. And I for one would hope that the individuals who seek that office of President of the UUA are indeed called to serve our movement prayerfully, authentically, and with a deep sense of responsibility not just to the administration but also to the vision and mission of Unitarian Universalism.

Indeed, I would argue that anything an individual, lay or ordained, does in service of our faith tradition is ministry, and should be recognized as so — from handing out orders of service on a Sunday morning to representing one’s congregation as a delegate at District or General Assembly to serving as the UUA President.

And what I saw on that Sunday night on the face of the Rev. Peter Morales was a realization of just a glimpse of the sacred responsibility he has gotten himself into — something that I personally needed to see, after the campaign, whether I had voted for him or not. I truly believe that the installation service helped reinforce that the UUA Presidency, along with all of our elected offices, is not about a cult of personality, but about service and ministry.

And I am grateful for that.

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