Through the month of September 2020, members of the Board-appointed Task Force hosted several “cottage conversations” each week so that the congregation could meet and discuss their perspective on the church’s use of the name Thomas Jefferson.

Here is a compilation of the conversations. Thank you to everyone who participated and especially to the volunteers on the Task Force who held space for these heartfelt expressions.

Question 1: What does the name Thomas Jefferson mean to you?
Question 2: How have your feelings changed over time?
Question 3: How should our congregation respond to those who are hurt by Jefferson’s legacy?
Question 4: What other names might we consider?

Q1: What does Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church mean to you as our name? Why does the congregation’s name resonate positively or negatively, or both, with you?

I don’t have any big feelings on the current name or an emotional response except
feeling other people’s pain.

If it offends any of our population, it offends me.

The church’s name is steeped in history that doesn’t apply to us. THe words UU are not
even really in the name of the church. We can recognize TJ’s +/- without having the
church be named after him.

The name discredits the church.

At this point, having Thomas Jefferson in the name is more of a liability than an asset.

He did write the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. When I first heard the name
change idea come up, I thought, maybe we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the
bathwater. But then again, we can hold both the accomplishments and the faults.

I felt like TJ was an odd name choice until it was explained to me, and now, I’m ready to
let that name go. .

I don’t have strong feelings either way about Jefferson, but I do have a negative feeling
about the church being named for him. What are we doing now that future generations
are going to blame us for? Why would we choose to keep his name as the church’s
name?

I don’t like the word Memorial. I feel positive about Jefferson because he was a
Unitarian yet flawed.

It means that when I invited my friend who is Black to come to an event at my church,
and I told her which church it was at. My friend asked me, “Why do you go to that white
church? I wouldn’t think you would want to go to an all white church like that.” I asked
her what made her think it was an all white church and she said, “I can tell by the name!
That’s what you name a church when you want to say “This Is A White Church.”

I have never connected with the name of our church, Thomas Jefferson. I connect with
the people here, the beliefs, and the good that we want to do in the community.
At the time the church was founded, the name Thomas Jefferson would have helped
elevate the church, it attracted people and gave the church validity and legitimacy, name
recognition. Thomas Jefferson was a founding father. He was the world’s most famous
Unitarian, was how they would have thought of it at the time. The name would have
been an asset, It had positive connotations then.

I believe there will be a time when TJ will be reinterpreted. It was important when
Monticello stopped trying to deny and explain away the relationship between Sally
Hemings and TJ. It seems that we should acknowledge the contradictions.

I value keeping it as it is because Jefferson calls us to be reflective of our best and worst
selves.

To me, it means that one of my closest friends in town, who is interested in checking out
Unitarian Universalism, asked me to go out of town with her to a different UU church that
is more diverse. She doesn’t want to come visit this church because this church is
named after a slaveowner and it’s filled with white people, and she asked me, “Don’t you
all realize there is a reason for that? Not that it’s just the name, of course…” I am so
ashamed of going to a church that is a UU church, and my Black friend wants to visit a
UU church, but she doesn’t want to come to this one. We have a lot of work to do in this
congregation.

My first reaction when we moved here, was, “Why Thomas Jefferson? The other two UU
congregations we went to had geographical names. I also didn’t like that UU was just
tacked on at the end, like an afterthought, like it’s not even really part of the name.

I used to be enamored with Jefferson, I idolized him growing up. I thought of him as a
paragon of science and democracy. Then in the 1990’s when Mulberry Row (the
enslaved laborers’ quarters) were unearthed, and we learned more about slavery at
Monticello, my feelings changed. I feel like we should name our congregations for
values and ideals, not flawed individuals.

I am curious about what else we would use as a name instead.

I don’t want to go to a church named after a slave owner and rapist. She was only 14
when he started forcing her.

The rape is more important to me because I’m female.

I used to admire him, but then I realized, TJ had feet of clay. Not someone we should
hold up and revere.

I see him as a flawed person and now I have a negative reaction to the name and I think
we should change it for the Black people of this area.

The name is not equitable.

I’m embarrassed to wear my TJMC t-shirts in public for the last several years; I’m so
embarrassed that we haven’t changed the name of the church before now.

Church is associated with Christian religion. And Memorial? Wow, Virginians really care
about their history. This church is a MONUMENT to Thomas Jefferson. The emphasis
is not on community, not on UU. Is that really who we are?

Out of the five Founding Fathers, they all owned slaves. I don’t have a problem with the
name. I think we should keep the name. I look at Jefferson more for what he has done.
Just look at the Jefferson Bible. He was a man of great faith.

My first reaction was accepting, but more recently I have seen that the name has
problems in the community. I’m ready to change it.

The word Memorial is very disconcerting. Confusing.

I do respect TJ’s ideals, then, there is the inexcusable blight of slavery. I see the
contradiction. He had a vision greater than what he was able to live up to. He was a
person of his time.

For the last five years I have avoided saying the name of the church in public events
because of the history.

When I moved here I was thrilled that I could go to a church named after Thomas
Jefferson, thrilled! It was thrilling that I could go to his house. I liked him so much. Now
I’m somewhere in between. I do think he was a person of his time. I feel guilty messing
with him. He was so… HUMAN. Flawed, like all of us.

TJ had a core inside him that inspired people, but he didn’t live up to his ideals. He was
not a Unitarian. There’s no reason for his name to be on our church.
I felt more shame about the name after I did deeper research. “History remains the same
but heritage is what you live with.”

Jefferson was a hero for me as a young person, but particularly over the last 20 years I
have been moving away from anything linked with slavery.

The name is terribly dated.

I don’t know why you would name a church after a person, especially someone who was
not a founding member of the church itself.

I didn’t really think much about the name at first, we moved here, we are UUs, so this is
where we’re doing. But as I thought about it, the name struck me as odd, to name a
church Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church.

I think the meaning of the name has shifted. I liked it at first and I thought it was “cool.”
But recent events have changed my mind.

I would like a non-TJ name, and I am afraid of the name turning people away.
I have never liked the name. I always felt it was off-putting.

I feel like we are deifying Thomas Jefferson by having his name on the church. It feels
strange to have our church named after him. I’m in favor of changing it. Why didn’t we
do this 15 years ago?

I’m glad the name change is happening. When I first moved to Cville in the ’70s, I talked
to a black friend who said TJ still rules from the mountain top. That affected me greatly.

10 years ago I thought the name was odd. Found out the name was revered in
Charlottesville. After research, I found Jefferson had issues and now I would like to
change the name.

I Think our church needs to be reflective of the community and that we should try to
reach out to the community.

I feel we should accept the name we were given.

It took me a long time to come to terms with the name. I feel the negative connotations ofthe name means we need to change it.
Not changing the name will have negative ramifications.

I was a history teacher and I feel that Jefferson was a great man and that we should
keep the name.

I have mixed feelings, I feel ambivalent.

Being called the “Thomas Jefferson Church” says very little about our identity or our
values. We’re hiding our UU faith.

I’m proud of the name. Without Thomas Jefferson we would not be here.

I want to keep the name. I feel the church tried to get rid of Wik (previous minister Rev.
Erik Walker Wikstrom) and now it wants to get rid of Jefferson.

He owned humans. He was a rapist. TJ was not a saint of Unitarian Universalism, and
he does not reflect our values.

I feel like the name is insensitive to enslaved people’s descendants in town. Their
ancestors matter too.

White supremacists gathered around Thomas Jefferson’s statue on August 11th; I feel
like the name has become linked with their values not ours.

I have good feelings in general about Jefferson. Creator of the Democratic party, a
founder of democracy, but I understand the name change needs to happen.

If the name prevents African-Americans from joining, we should change it.

I haven’t studied enough history to feel strongly about it but I support the name change.
I feel like we are stuck with a name from the past that may have been a good name at
one point, but is no longer good now.

The name does us a disservice in the community.

It is a symbol that no longer reflects who we are. We should not name ourselves after
flawed humans.

I’m uncomfortable with and embarrassed by the name, and the stigma associated with
the name. As a place for spiritual growth, the church should not be named for a person.

The name does us a disservice particularly when we are doing racial justice work.
I have mixed thoughts on TJ- He did both good and despicable things. This is why I think
we should not make a church after a human. The word Church has good connotation
personally but it may be important to change this in order to appeal to non-Christians.
Catholic churches are named for saints/people.

I grew up thinking TJ was wonderful and I feel like it is unfair to consider a person evil for
acting in accordance with the culture they lived in.

I’m neutral about the name and the name change. I don’t want to repudiate TJ; he
contributed things of great value. I”m not opposed to the name change but doesn’t think
it will solve any problems- it will not bring in more African American attendees.

Perception of TJ has changed over time as the way he has been presented by
institutions has changed.

Has not given a lot of thought to TJ as a name/inspiration. A church’s name doesn’t feel
terribly important- what we do is more important than our name.

Sounds like we worship Thomas Jefferson. Name is outdated, too long. I prefer
“congregation”.

If the name offends, let’s change it. We shouldn’t idolize people. Let’s focus on what we
do.

There has been a fine tuning of our understanding of history in recent 5-10 years- the
idolatry of TJ has thinned.

Questioning and reframing history is important. We have a history of controversy over
the name and changing the name, going back to the Thomas Jefferson District name
change debate, which started when the Distrcit was planning to host a period dress ball,
where white UUs were completely blind to the racial implications of the name. A group
of Black UUs asked if their costumes should involve rags and chains.

The name of the church is less important than what we do, but I would like a name that
is current. We would never choose this name if starting a congregation here today.

We should have a name that reflects our current self. Rethinking what we call ourselves
every so often could be helpful. Everything us up for debate and change in UUism.

I think the name is elitist and old-fashioned.

One person on the church’s mailing list wrote to us (she did not attend a Cottage Conversation):
“I will sever all my connections (since 1955) to TJMC if you join in the name-changing
madness that is currently in vogue, which will be ridiculed in the near future.”

At the conclusion of the YRUU high school youth group Cottage Conversation, facilitated by
Caroline Landis (who is a Name Change Task Force Member and is herself a high school
student), the high school youth group members, advisors, and those parents who attended that
particular cottage conversation, were all unanimously in favor of changing the name of the
church.

Q2: Have your feelings or knowledge about Thomas Jefferson and/or the church’s name changed over time?

I have learned more about TJ since joining, but I haven’t had to think about it much.
Recently in the past year, I say UU Charlottesville instead of TJMC when I’m talking
about our church..

Before I knew the truth about Jefferson owning slaves, I used to feel a sense of pride
that our church was named after him. Now I’m ashamed of the name of our church.

I listen to the youth and follow their lead.

Now that I’ve studied a lot of Jefferson’s history, his image is tarnished for me. It’s
important to see him as a real person and be cautious in judging him.

It’s a tenuous connection between him and Unitarianism in any case. There’s quite a
heavy dose of TJ in this town, and some of the honor may be undeserved. It feels
inappropriate in our time.

I used to be an All Lives Matter person, but now I understand the importance of Black
Lives Matter.

I have now learned a lot about slavery, and racism, and how the THomas Jefferson
name has a heavy negative connotation. Substantial. I think the name needs to be
pragmatic, and positive. I think the name really needs to go.

I grew up Southern, I had a lot of Southern thinking. My feelings have most definitely
changed, esp in the past 12 years with learning more about Sally Hemings.

I am actively seeking to be in communities with people of color, for new experiences.
My thoughts have changed over time. I never revered him, like some people in
Charlottesville had; I thought he had many bad qualities and good ones. I have evolved,
as many people have.

My feelings about TJ haven’t really changed. I just accepted the name, but I’m looking
for a change now.

Oh yes, absolutely. Since this country has been through this reckoning (referring to
Black Lives Matter, the protests across the nation, etc.) it is now even more off putting
that we are still named Thomas Jefferson. We need a name that is welcoming, that
invites people in.

I grew up in Charlottesville, and TJ was always presented in a positive light; I had never
heard of the negative aspects of TJ. Had to learn from other sources growing up.

The people who named the church didn’t have any sensitivity and now thats changed

I was never enamoured with the name, but as time has passed I’ve become more strongly
in favor of changing it. I don’t see anything in our mission or covenant about raising up
a historical figure. When you name a place after someone, you are raising them up.
We are not about that. We should have a name that is about who we are.

It’s good that people have heard that leaders in our community have found it offensive
even though I haven’t found anyone who has said that.

We need to change the name, but also I don’t believe people of color will come running,
but at least one barrier is being removed.

I was a student at UVA before becoming a member. I remember coming to the church
and the name at that time was unremarkable. I remember having an awareness of the
‘ideals of the Founding Father’ aspect.

Changed over time to recognize that he was a slaveholder, but it didn’t affect me
personally. Then I became aware of how the name affects the people of color in the
community.

I was affected by Pastor Bates who recently changed his mind on the name change. At
first he was saying not to change the name, but now he wants us to.

I used to think the foyer with the bust of Thomas Jefferson @ Monticello with quotes
from Jefferson about Unitarian values was great, but learning more about his slave
ownership has changed my mind.

Monticello does a great job of being honest about TJ. Learning more about TJ makes me
feel that that is not the name we want to have as part of our church.

I liked having the TJMC acronym, but when previous staff started to call us UUCville, it
made me realize we can change the name and we can still be the same congregation.

I thought the name was not problematic at the start. I noted Wik’s efforts and our
relationship with Ebenezer Baptist Church.

In public I struggle with using the name.

Why did the Thomas Jefferson District change its name all those years ago to Southeast
District, but it’s taken us this long to even have our first vote ever on this question? It
took them two or three votes before theirs passed. We’ve been talking about this for
over 25 years. This is way overdue.

I have had a significant change in my feelings about Jefferson. I feel that we can
acknowledge the positive elements of his legacy, but I also feel that it is time for the
name of the church to change.

I have a love/hate relationship. The name speaks to the best of the ideals Jefferson
espoused, but it doesn’t resonate positively with everyone and naming the church after
him ignores the harms that he did.

Doesn’t feel that trying to determine if it was a net positive or negative misses the point
of the discussion. Yes, feelings have changed over time.

I found the church name strange when I arrived in Charlottesville. I avoided using the
name at first. I appreciated the awareness Wik tried to bring to the church.

Q3: Many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have informed TJMC-UU that they find the name Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church unwelcoming, hurtful, and alienating because it honors a slaveholder. What do we as a congregation do with the knowledge that our name is hurtful to many people of color inside and outside our church community?

We should center their feelings and listen.

We could offer opportunities for education as pastoral care.

Name makes us appear elitist. We need to present ourselves in an inviting way to the
community. In addition to a name change, we should get out in public and share who
and what we are.

Change our public image from a closed tight-knit group to a more diverse one. We are
living during a time of increased sensitivity to issues we were not sensitive to in the past,
like this one.

Although maybe owning slaves is enough to prompt us to remove TJ from our name, but
the more complete picture which we have of him now, does.

We need to change the name (The vast majority of people who elected to attend a
cottage conversation gave this answer, “We need to change the name of the church.”).

Black people have different expectations of religion than “we” do and “they” won’t attend
this church because we don’t use the Bible.

We should do more to educate them about Jefferson.

You would have to be living in a cave not to have realized the current environment
around statues and TJ.

The name change is just one thing we need to do to stop causing harm and to start
doing more to oppose racism. I find the name is an impediment to working towards
racial justice.

Just changing the name is one small act. We shouldn’t congratulate ourselves too loudly
for it. Let’s live our principles, and show who we are.

The harder question for me is the extreme whiteness of the church.

Just imagine the press we are going to get, with everything that is going on now in 2020,
in the world, all this awareness and change and progress, if we hold this vote and if it
DOESN’T pass. Our church is white enough now, people of color don’t want to come or
don’t want to stay, and we have enough of a reputation now for being unaware of race
and racism issues. Just imagine the headlines if this vote fails. We really need to
change the name.

It’s on us to figure it out.

Someone said to me recently that they know a person of color who is not offended. Of
course, not all Black people or people of color share the same opinions. But look at the
TV, read the news. How do people of color feel about slaveholders and statues and
monuments to slaveholders? It’s obvious we are alienating people with this name.
I’m impressed that these folks are looking at us and care about us, in the community and
in the denomination. I feel like the message we would get though is, “this is your
problem to solve.”

You don’t just take down the statues or names, you have to interrogate (audit) the space
and make it welcoming.

The name change feels like a reaction at this point. I wish we had done it ten years ago
so we would be leading on this, not just following. Unitarian Universalists should be
leading efforts like this.

We need to change the name to show people of color that we have their back. I know
not all people of color are offended by the name, but even if it hurts SOME people of
color, why wouldn’t we want to change it to a name that doesn’t hurt anybody? And it
hurts our congregation to be associated with a slaveholder.

I think we need to change the name and secondly we need to publicize an apology to
the people that we have offended and explain why we are changing the name and how
we feel about it.

Not sure what to do or say about the name being offensive. Wonders if we do change
the interior and the name if people of color will start coming?

It’s way more than just the name.

We need to change the name, but we also need to get involved as a whole church in
advocacy work. Removing the statue from our courthouse. Restoring rights to former
felons. Things that make a real difference in people’s lives.

I hope that our new interim minister will make a statement: We recognize that a name
change does not go far enough, but it is a step…”

TJ wasn’t being memorialized for being a slave holder but being a hometown hero and
because of indepence and religious freedom.

We also keep each other in covenant. If someone says I am hurting, it’s our
responsibility to respond. It’s our responsibility.

If our name is deterring people we should change it.

We should change it and celebrate it. Write a letter to Cville Times.

We should change the name if it’s hurting people.

“Change the name.” (said by the person who had indicated at the beginning that she
was planning to abstain from voting because of mixed feelings.)

“I think changing the name is a no-brainer. SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) uses
our building, other groups, programs, visitors. The name change is just a start. I’d like
to see more UUs of color giving our sermons, and more.
If we change the name, I hope we can keep the lettering in the foyer. I like those
inspiring quotes.

We have had all these antiracism seminars at our church. How can we be inviting
people from around the region to take an antiracism seminar at a church that is still
named after a slaveholder? Nothing else we do in the area of racial justice is going to
help as long as we’ve got this guy’s name on our church.

I don’t think it will bring a lot of Black people to the church but it would be a start.

Can we contact other UU churches who have a greater percentage of people of color
and ask them what they are doing to be welcoming to diverse groups of people?

We should listen to those who are offended. Now that we know what we know we should
change the name to align with our values.

We should change the name but not feel self-righteous about it. There is still a lot wrong
with our world and a lot that we are complicit in that the name change will not address.
We should change the name and erase a barrier to many before they learn more- we

need to think about the elitism of the name and the initial impression it makes.
Yes, change the name but be aware of white supremacy, white privilege and white
fragility as well. We are all white people on this call- This is only a step in the process of
both healing for the church and ending harm we are causing.

Changing the name is only a small step in addressing harm, We need to change our
culture and opportunities available to minorities. How do we address our social isolation
from people of color?

The name change feels superficial.

The name change is necessary but not sufficient. I want us to change the name, don’t
get me wrong, nut I don’t want us to stop there. We have a lot to do to look at and
examine and own up to the casual racism and unconscious white supremacy in this
church. This is just the beginning, the name change. We have a long way to go to live
up to our Principles, our mission,and our covenant when it comes to racial justice. But
we do need to change the name for sure. Just don’t pat ourselves on the back
afterwards and feel like we are done.

Need to have this process to address it. Jefferson had the association with religious
freedom that is so important with the church. This is an important symbolic option.
Changing the name is a step. It is purely symbolic and doesn’t address any of the
broader problems.

It feels necessary but seems to be an important gesture to recognize the hurt that the
name has caused.

It doesn’t matter what *I* think, it matters what the young people think. The name is a
barrier to people of color and also to all young people. My (young adult) cousin came to
visit 1½ years ago, and I suggested, “Let’s go to Monticello!” – She answered, “No, why
would we want to go to a plantation?” The young people are the future of our church. If
we don’t attract younger people, the church won’t keep existing.

Wish we could understand better the effects the name has had. Acknowledge it is a
modest symbolic step. Seek to listen. Continue on the path of identifying injustice and
addressing them as we can.

Q4:If the congregation votes to rename the church, what is your suggestion for a new name and why? What would you be looking for in a new name if the name changes?

I think it would be great if we called ourselves the First Unitarian Universalist Church of
Charlottesville. [At this point, the facilitator held up a piece of paper with that acronym
spelled out, FUUCC, and said, “Let’s Remember Our Acronyms!. Much laughter
ensued.]

I think we should name it something we can all live with, something that is geographical
and not offensive, like UU Church of Charlottesville or maybe UU Congregation of
Charlottesville for the people who don’t like Church in the name.

If we change it to Charlottesville UU Congregation, then we can be the CUUCs
(“Kooks!”) I like it!

It needs to be something geographical.

Something with the word Community would be nice. Maybe the word Peace?

I like All Souls. Too bad that’s already taken by the big church up in DC.

Please nothing weird or trendy like those single word megachurch names. I don’t want
people to think we are a megachurch. I want UU in the name, right up front. Unitarian
Universalist something.

I definitely want the word Charlottesville to be in there. UU and Charlottesville. When
you come here and you want to find a UU congregation, what are you going to search
for on the internet? UU, and Charlottesville. That should be in our name.

I’d like to see us rename it but goes beyond simple names. Not a vanilla name. Who was
Queen Charlotte? She stole land from indigenous people.

Go beyond the obvious to find something that would get people’s attention.

The goal of a church is not to have the name of it be controversial, alienating, and
unwelcoming, the goal is to invite people in. We need a name that is inviting and not
off-putting.

Doesn’t want the word church to be in it. Central VA could be used or Blue Ridge Mts.
UU Congregation of Charlottesville but that sounds boring

Charlottesville has a racist history. Queen Charlotte was part of a system that was racist.
Discusses statues and how they shouldn’t live within eyesight of the statues.
Segregation issues in Cville.

Doesn’t want the word Charlottesville used.

Likes Fellowship.

I don’t know, but if we are NOT named Thomas Jefferson, it’s not going to harm anyone.
If we ARE named Thomas Jefferson, it DOES hurt and offend people. So whatever we
change it to, I hope we do it soon.

I want something really clear, but if it’s boring… I don’t know what to say.

I don’t know what we should name ourselves, but I think this is going to be a much
bigger battle than whether or not to get rid of the Thomas Jefferson part. We’d better not
drag this out for a long time. You know how UUs are, LOL!

UU Charlottesville doesn’t sound like a winner. Likes the idea of the name knowing
where we are. The rest will follow or not.

Thought a boring name was right but also likes the idea of an inspiring name like All
Souls like in DC.

No matter what we choose, there will be someone who will love it, and someone who will
strongly dislike it. We just all need to pick something and live with it, and not let the
process of choosing a name drag on.

I like the name as it is. Jefferson was a man of faith and a man of his time.
I think if we could ask him, TJ would not want a church named after him. He didn’t want
the University of Virginia named after him. I think TJ would say, “change the name!” to
reflect the values of your church community in 2020.

Likes the idea of something that is more inclusive and would represent UU theology.
Everyone is welcome, thought process. The word community in the name would serve
that purpose as well.

UUCC, UU Congregation of Charlottesville. UUCville for short. Our website is already
uucharlottesville.org, and in terms of search engine optimization, UU and Charlottesville
are going to help the most people to find us. And Congregation because it welcomes
everybody, not just Christians.

There are some great names of Christian Churches. New Life and that sort of thing. I
have a marketing background. We will want to think about How will we want to “brand”
this church?

I like CUU. Charlottesville Unitarian Universalists. And we can do things with that name,
“See UU, See You, and so on.”

The Beloved Community – don’t name it after anyone. LIke Unitarian Universalist but can
drop saying that in the name. Someone else mentioned. Go for what you believe in.
Don’t go for what you think you can get.

What geographical identifiers could come with? Rivanna, Piedmont? Albemarle? Doesn’t
know the history. Not a lot of thoughts but l like the Beloved Community name
suggestion.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlottesville (multiple suggestions for this)
Clear, easy.
UUCC is a good acronym
Likes UU being first and placing emphasis on it.
Feels Charlottesville is important in the name due to what happened in 2017. It is
a part of us.

Unitarian Universalist is important, beyond that they are open.

Don’t have a problem with the word church, but know others do, so Unitarian Universalist

Congregation of Charlottesville.

I have two Jewish friends in town who really wanted to join a UU congregation, but they
both couldn’t come here because of the word Church in our name. One said the word
church felt too Christian, and the other said, “I just could NOT tell my mother I am going
to a Church!” She would have joined years ago if only we were called Congregation
instead of church.

Like something descriptive of the name, not love and light. Doesn’t want “church” in the
name of the congregation.

Feels like Unitarian Universalism is important. Does like Charlottesville, likes
congregation or fellowship. Thinks we should not spend too much time deciding the
name.

UU Community of Charlottesville. We don’t need Church or Congregation

I have always said UU church rather than the whole long name. In other references, we
are known as the Thomas Jefferson Church.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlottesville, would prefer Unitarian Church of
Charlottesville. C comes early in the alphabet.

Choose a name that is more equitable and isn’t a person.

I don’t like the word church. Puts me off. Likes Fellowship. Not a fan of Charlottesville,
maybe the Greater Charlottesville Area. Blue Ridge UU Gathering

Unitarian Universalist Something of Something, geographical based. Blue Ridge

Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Do not like church, like the idea of a more inclusive geographical area.

Doesn’t feel strongly about the name. Unitarian Universalist Community of
Charlottesville.

Likes other ideas. Personally thinks church still has a strong emotional pull. ‘Church’ is
where we go on Sundays.

Open to many names. Find an acronym for TJMC that recognizes the old name but has
it stand for Truth, Justice, etc.

I heard that Thomas Jefferson once looked at buying the property that Summit House
sits on. Maybe we could call our church Summit church or Suummit church with two U’s.
We need a big process for gathering ideas and then a structured system to decide on
the new name.