My friend got back to me on all of this. This is from his email:
"It's not a rumor: the UUA board did not grant CUUPS independent affiliate status in the coming year. It didn't grant IA status to *any* theological group (Christians, Buddhists, Humanists, etc) nor to other groups either. They've changed the criteria for IA status -- they're looking for groups to build coalitions of common interest so that the UUA can be in more effective relationship with the various groups. For example, all the theological interest groups could form an organization that promotes theological study and support for congregational theological work. All the groups that deal with issues of gender and sexuality could group together. The UU camp and conference centers have already done this, creating one organization that works with the UUA, rather than the whole mess of them trying to do it independently.
The process for this change hasn't been communicated well, and has left a lot of people feeling like they were the only group "kicked out." In reality, that's not the case. It's just a major institutional change that was done less than clearly. CUUPS, in fact, has been in close conversation with people at the UUA, and we've been repeatedly and sincerely assurred that this is not a strategy to remove us or any other theological group. It's just change done imperfectly."
So, there you have it. Sounds more like they are just calling it something different.
no subject
"It's not a rumor: the UUA board did not grant CUUPS independent affiliate status in the coming year. It didn't grant IA status to *any* theological group (Christians, Buddhists, Humanists, etc) nor to other groups either. They've changed the criteria for IA status -- they're looking for groups to build coalitions of common interest so that the UUA can be in more effective relationship with the various groups. For example, all the theological interest groups could form an organization that promotes theological study and support for congregational theological work. All the groups that deal with issues of gender and sexuality could group together. The UU camp and conference centers have already done this, creating one organization that works with the UUA, rather than the whole mess of them trying to do it independently.
The process for this change hasn't been communicated well, and has left a lot of people feeling like they were the only group "kicked out." In reality, that's not the case. It's just a major institutional change that was done less than clearly. CUUPS, in fact, has been in close conversation with people at the UUA, and we've been repeatedly and sincerely assurred that this is not a strategy to remove us or any other theological group. It's just change done imperfectly."
So, there you have it. Sounds more like they are just calling it something different.