Committee on Right Relations
About Right Relations
Relationships are at the core of everything we do and stand for in Unitarian Universalism. We’re all part of an interconnected web of being, and each of us is worthy of love, respect, compassion, and connection.
At UUCE, we define “right relations” as “ways of doing relationships with integrity and respect.” Our covenants give us guidelines for how to do that. We also acknowledge that conflict is a natural part of any relationship. While experiencing conflict can be difficult, painful, and sometimes harmful, resolving it in loving, compassionate, justice-based ways can be transformative and make us and our relationships stronger.
The Committee on Right Relations—or CORR for short—tends our covenants and is here to help when we experience conflict.
About the Committee
CORR was established in 2023 to serve two primary purposes:
- help congregants and groups resolve conflicts
- provide education and resources on right relationship.
We’re all new to this and learning together!
Five voting members are elected by—and report to!—the congregation to serve three-year terms. The minister is a non-voting member, and when appropriate, our ministerial intern is, too. Voting members work on policy and education and conduct mediations when they’re needed. The minister and intern advise but do not participate in mediations. Though the Board oversees CORR policy (just like all UUCE policies), CORR operates independently. Its policy requires any committee member, voting or non-voting, to recuse themselves when they’re part of a conflict CORR is helping with. Putting it all together, this means that CORR is a safe place to ask for help if you experience conflict with the Board, the minister, a group, or another congregant.
It may also be helpful to know a few things that CORR isn’t.
- We don’t handle conflicts between staff members or congregant conflicts with staff members who aren’t the minister. Those situations are governed by different policies, and you can reach out to the minister directly for help.
- We are not the police! Being invited to participate in a mediation doesn’t mean someone is bad or in trouble. Nobody gets called to appear before a committee. When a mediation is needed, we’ll choose two voting members to be the mediation team based on who’s right for the situation.
- We aren’t judges, and they don’t punish. Everything we do is based in Transformative Justice. We’re a place to seek justice and be held in loving community in times of conflict.
There’s a lot more information about all this in our charter and policy, and we’ll keep adding more as we learn and grow. Please reach out if you have questions, concerns, or would like to learn more.
CORR@uueugene.org
Members
Kimberly Nies
Kim (she/they) has been with UUCE since 2020 and served on the provisional CORR team. She’s a seminarian at Meadville Lombard Theological School, where she focuses on right relations theology and policy. They live in Eugene with their partner, pets, and an alarming amount of yarn and books.
Jeanne Marie Moore
Jeanne Marie is interested in helping our congregation become more familiar with handling situations of difficulty within our covenant. Her experience has been broad, and her biggest challenge is living and learning to be patient with this entire process.
Eileen Waters
Eileen has been a member of UUCE since January, 2018. Previously, she was active in the North Unitarian Universalist Congregation, (Lewis Center, OH.), serving as Board President. She recently ended her 33-year career as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Supervisor, and has shifted her energy towards a better balance, hoping to continue to learn and grow — cultivating her newer interests. She believes that honesty and humor are the vital inheritance from her Irish ancestors!
Robin Schantz-Mulford
Robin uses he/him/his pronouns. He has been attending UUCE for about nineteen years and has served in many roles including UUshering, wUUrship associates, and membUUrship. He believes being a member of CORR is a way to provide valuable service to our congregation and community.
Bob Cerince
Since 2019, Bob has regularly attended UUCE worship services, helped lead congregation singing, sung with the choir, and served as a worship associate. He has also participated in and facilitated Small Group Connections Circles and the BIPOC affinity group. Bob brings relevant mediator experience and skills to help congregants address conflict in a safe, caring, and predictable manner.
Rev. Jen Youngsun Ryu
Rev. Jen is the settled minister for UUCE. She serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member.