Nine members trekked to St. Louis in June 2006 to represent the Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville. Here are some brief reflections of their 4-5 day experience.

Mark Ward: It is an amazing and affirming experience to be in the presence of thousands of people of different colors, styles and perspectives who share the same commitment to this religious tradition. I go to General Assembly (GA) hoping to gain new perspectives and to be inspired, and I never fail to find both. Workshops from wise folks on the many complexities of church life give me new ideas and insights, andworship experiences, from large gatherings for hundreds or even thousands to small settings, are renewing experiences with fascinating presenters and terrific music. GA is also a wonderful place to get to meet all sorts of interesting people and, for those of us who have been attending for a while, to catch up with old friends.

	Informative Session		Banner Parade

Ken Cameron-Bell: Being with over 4,000 UU's for a week was an awesome experience. Here were concerned individuals with strong leaders seeking ways to make the world better, and all the while maintaining a warm, broad sense of humor. I hope more of our members will plan to go in 2007.

Linda Bair: Words can barely describe the experience of spending a week in community with over 4,300 other UU’s, but three that come to mind are exhilarating, educational, and exhausting. Each day brought innovative worship, amazing music, thought-provoking workshops, and opportunities to experience our faith where “all are valued and none are excluded”.The opportunity to reconnect with a friend from a previous congregation was priceless.

Bonnie Habel: Though I have long been comfortable in my UU faith as we interpret it here in Asheville, I wanted the opportunity to see what almost 5000 UU's would look like. I am so glad that I had the chance to go to St. Louis. Going with the Gang of Nine was special enough, but I was so proud to be associated with the speakers, workshop leaders, and new friends from all over the country that I met. I felt like I belonged. I didn't have to argue or be defensive. They were my people and they were doing noble things.

Jean Larson: 2006 GA was a wild experience for me! I connected with over 200 UU's from around the continent, who are, like me, passionate about the UU Seventh Principle, "to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." Together we worked on writing and passing the 2006 UU Statement of Conscience on Global Warming/Climate Change. Now when we are working on these issues in our church, I know that we are working with the web of other UU churches in the US and Canada to heal our planet.

Donner Lohnes: First of all it was great to walk down the main street in front of the Convention Center and see all the banners hanging from light poles that said “Welcome Unitarian Universalists". Our own Banner Parade at the opening ceremony where over 800 congregations were represented. Our St Louis hosts made a great effort to keep us moving and meet their goal of one banner every 3 seconds, yet it still takes over 40 minutes for every congregation to enter the large auditorium that already has several thousand Unitarian Universalists in it. Fourty minutes, which is a lot of congregations and a lot of UU's! The Breakthrough congregations (one small, one medium, and one large) were of special interest to me. They were highlighted in a brief film at three different plenary sessions. Each congregation also had a workshop. These congregations all lived UUism and expressed a strong desire to share our liberal religious message with their communities. They grew because they had a mission, not a mission to grow, but a strong desire to spread the word. There are three things you always bring back from GA: New ideas, new enthusiasm and new friends.

Michael Vavrek: GA was a peak experience for me because it deepened my commitment to our faith community, clarified how I can help our community, and enabled me to become better acquainted with fellow members of UUCA.

Additional pictures and information on GA 2006 may be found by clicking UUGA. The 46th General Assembly (GA 2007) of the UUA will take place in Portland, Oregon from June 20-24, 2007 and more information will be available early next year.