Mission
"The
mission of Collegium is to bring together the best academic,
ministerial, lay, and other resources to bear upon the intellectual life of
Unitarian Universalism through encouraging, sharing, and distributing
scholarly and other creative work"
Introduction
Collegium is a mutually supportive network of academic and independent
scholars, ministers, and students, most but not all of whom are Unitarian
Universalists. This group of women and men involved in scholarly
pursuits related to liberal religion has met annually since 1975 to share
mutual interests and work in progress. Members gather for a weekend
each October, alternating between a Boston-area location (recently Cape
Cod), and one near Chicago or one in the San Francisco area. Sessions
include a presentation by an invited Distinguished Scholar and meetings of
separate groups interested in one of three focus areas - theology; ethics;
and history - to hear and discuss papers presented by members.
Manuscripts benefit from friendly critique, ideas are sparked, and resources
are shared in conversation with one another.
Distinguished scholars who have honored Collegium over the years include
James Luther Adams, George Huntston Williams, Kendra and Huston Smith, Clare Benedicks Fischer, and Sharon Welch. From time to time the association
sponsors the publication of conference proceedings and other scholarly work
related to liberal religion.
Constitution
(1) Collegium,
An Association for Liberal Religious Studies, is established
to encourage
collaboration among scholarly members of our clergy and laity
who share similar
interests; to promote significant theological reflection within and about
the Unitarian Universalist movement and other liberal religious
movements; to disseminate resources, research, and findings which
bear upon the
problem of how liberal religion is to address the contemporary
situation; and to sustain our heritage of
the learned ministry.
(2) To
these ends, Collegium will sponsor study groups, lectures, and conferences.
Conferences shall be convened annually, the dates and location to be
designated
by
the executive committee.
(3) Collegium
shall also undertake to publish and circulate a newsletter
periodically and to
promote the publications of members materials that relate
to the purposes of the association. Such activity is under the auspices
of the
publications committee which shall make an annual report to the members.
(4) Types
of
Collegium membership (adopted October 14, 1983):
Active membership; Associate membership;
Honorary membership; Special membership
(5) Members
will be entitled to one vote in person at the annual conference and will
receive the newsletter and other pertinent publications of the association.
(6) The
affairs and business of the association shall be managed and conducted
by
the executive committee consisting of the two chairpersons, the secretarytreasusrer,
coordinator of denominational relations (added by amendment - October
11, 1978), one
member from each of the existing study groups, one member from
the publications
committee, and one member from the program committee. The
chairpersons, the
secretary-treasurer, and the members from the program and publications
committees shall be elected at the annual conference by a majority
vote of those
present. A nominating committee shall be elected and charged to present
nominees for the above positions at the following conference. Other
nominations shall be accepted from the floor. Members from the existing
study
groups shall be elected to represent those groups on the executive committee
prior to the annual meeting by a
majority of those present in caucus.
(7) This
constitution may be amended by a 2/3rds vote of the members present at the
annual conference, provided that all members are notified in writing
of the proposed
changes or the substance thereof at least 30 days in advance.
COLLEGIUM: An Association
for Liberal Religious
Studies
