In pursuit of brainstorming and then coming to consensus about our new name, we offered the following process as our first step:

Conversation Questions:

1. What about our faith community brings you joy or is essentially us?
2. Should we include “Unitarian Universalist” in our name?
3. What organizational structure describes us in our name? e.g. church, society, fellowship, congregation, community?
4. What is the naming element that is important to you? e.g. a value, physical location, geographical feature, inspirational person?
5. Do you have a suggestion for our name? *These names will be shared with the congregation to vote on their top choices*

Twelve conversation groups met engaging 51 people using 7 facilitators and scribes. 11 Elders were interviewed individually. The YRUU teens discussed the questions and came to some consensus with their contributions. Submissions were also received from the January 31rst Chapel and Faith Development.

The overall, nearly universal, response to what is essentially us, was the relationships with people, and after that our engagement with social justice issues. Every conversation was nearly unanimous that Unitarian Universalist should be in our name. That it is our identity. The most consistent organizational structure which folks felt was appropriate was “congregation” especially if there was one participant in the conversation who described why “church” was off putting to them, due to its Christian connotations. Those participants were universally swayed to want our name to be appealing to everyone from any hereditary faith tradition. In the two conversations where “Fellowship” came up and a retired minister was in attendance, it was explained that our UU tradition of a Fellowship, is that it insinuates that it is a small congregation without a minister, and it developed into a legacy of indicating that the congregation was opposed to having a minister. Neither of those groups proposed naming us a “Fellowship.”

It should be noted that there is already a congregation named Unitarian Universalists of the Blue Ridge in Sperryville, Virginia. Also, there is an All Souls Church in Washington, DC. Therefore we are not offering these names. Interestingly there is a Unitarian Universalist Congregation and it is in Blacksburg, VA.

The largest group of suggested names are by value. It is worthy of note that the group whose member suggested the variants of “beloved community” inspired an interesting discussion about whether that is appropriation, since it is a term strongly associated with Martin Luther King, Jr. It was thought that it might also imply that we have a significant membership of African Americans in our congregation. The last grouping are names which are two-line names, with a tag line.

Many people preferred what they referred to as a “simple” name. Names like Unitarian Universalists of Charlottesville and Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville were frequently mentioned. One participant explained this preference as “Our name is our signage. Clarity of the name helps give answers without raising more questions.” Another noted that “aspirational names and inspirational people might go out of date over time.”

Text of the Actual Survey Used

Name of survey taker
Welcome. You are invited to participate in this survey to help our church to choose a name. The survey will take 3 minutes and your response will be confidential. In the spirit of brainstorming, nearly every name suggested is listed.

All congregants may vote, including children, and we trust each person to be honest and vote only once. We are asking for your name on the survey so that everyone in your household may vote. If you have a friend who is a regular congregant in our community, who does not have internet, you may use your computer to help them.
Please choose up to 5 names from the list below. The form will not let you choose more than 5, but before you rank them you can change your mind. You will have the option to rank your choices on the next screen.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville
Unitarian Universalists of Charlottesville
Charlottesville Congregation of Unitarian Universalists
Unitarian Universalist Community of Charlottesville
Unitarian Universalists of Greater Charlottesville
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Charlottesville
Unitarian Universalist Family of Charlottesville
Unitarian Universalist Circle of Charlottesville

The Unitarian Universalists
Unitarian Universalist Community
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship House
Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse

Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Ragged Mountains Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Rivanna River Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Rivanna Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Rivanna Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Unitarian Universalists of Central Virginia
Central Virginia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Central Virginia Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Hill Crest Unitarian Universalist Congregation
High Point Unitarian Universalists
Summit Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Summit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Spirit of Life Unitarian Universalists
Spirit of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Open Minds Unitarian Universalists
Unitarian Universalist Open Mind Congregation
Unitarian Universalist Circle of Life Fellowship
Beloved Community
Beloved Community of Unitarian Universalists
Beloved Unitarian Universalist Community
Beloved Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Independence Unitarian Universalists of Charlottesville
Emancipation Congregation
Free People Congregation of Charlottesville
Freedom Unitarian Universalists
Peace Unitarian Universalists
New Hope Unitarian Universalists of Charlottesville
Amazing Grace Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Unitarian Universalist Charlottesville Seekers
Unitarian Universalist Life Spirit Fellowship
Unitarian Universalist Life Center
Unitarian Universalist Center for Peace
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Love and Giving
Star Magnolia Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Dogwood Unitarian Universalist Congregation
Diversity of Light
Thoughtful Living
SUUmmit
Rainbow Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville
Tooth Jar Memory Church
Unitarian Universalist Seekers; of Truth, Meaning, Justice, and Community
Spirit of Life Congregation; Unitarian-Universalists of Charlottesville, Virginia
Congregation for Truth, Justice, and Meaning; Unitarian-Universalists of Charlottesville, Virginia

In the results of this survey, we expect a few names to rise to the top. From these top names, we will organize small and large group conversations to discuss and come to consensus about our name. Hopefully this will result in fewer than three names for a vote on our name at the Annual Congregational Meeting on June 6th.