Peter Morales
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Peter Morales is an American former president of the
Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...
(2009 to 2017). Morales was the UUA's first Latino president. In the early 2000s, he was the senior minister of the Jefferson Unitarian Church in
Jefferson County, Colorado Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 582,910, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood. ...
, a rapidly growing Unitarian Universalist congregation in the northwestern Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area. He also worked for the UUA from 2002 to 2004. In 2008, he announced his candidacy for president, and in 2009 he was elected. As the result of a controversy regarding the UUA's hiring practices and charges of institutional racism, Morales resigned as president in 2017, three months before the end of the term.


Personal history

Morales was born in
San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
. His mother, Oralia López, was of
Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
heritage; his father, Peter Morales, was an immigrant from Spain. His initial language was Spanish. As a youth, he greatly enjoyed baseball. As a young child, he attended a bilingual
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
mission church, which his mother had attended growing up. When Morales was ten, his family later moved to a larger, English speaking congregation. He attended Sunday school and was confirmed there, while learning what he called "fundamentalist doctrine." On graduation from high school, he attended Raymond College at the University of the Pacific in
Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
. Active in
student government A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...
, he studied history and social theory. It was also in college, when learning about "evolution and cultural anthropology and comparative religion," that he ceased to belief in his childhood faith, and left his Lutheran denomination. Upon graduation in 1967, he married his wife Phyllis and taught school for three years. Faced with the draft during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, he immigrated to Revelstoke, British Columbia. There he worked in a lumber mill and as a reporter for a community newspaper. No longer in danger from the draft, he returned to the United States when he was 26 and entered a program in American Studies at the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
. Following a summer in Mexico, studying Spanish, Morales was granted a lectureship in 1976 as a
Fulbright lecturer The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
in American literature and American history at the
University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo ( es, Universidad de Oviedo, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón ...
in Asturias, in northern Spain. However, while in Spain, his son (born in Canada and then four years old) was diagnosed with cancer, necessitating a return to the United States, where the son was treated at the
University of California San Francisco Medical Center The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center is a research and teaching hospital in San Francisco, California and is the medical center of the University of California, San Francisco. It is affiliated with the UCSF School of Medi ...
. Faced with daunting medical bills, Morales accepted a job in 1977 working for the California Department of Social Services in Sacramento where his second child, a daughter, was born. He worked there until 1985 on tasks related to the
Aid to Families with Dependent Children Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was a federal assistance program in the United States in effect from 1935 to 1997, created by the Social Security Act (SSA) and administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Serv ...
program. In 1985, Morales ventured into newspaper publishing as the owner of community newspapers in Rogue River and
Cottage Grove, Oregon Cottage Grove is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Its population was 10,643 at the 2020 census. It is the third largest city in Lane County. It is on Interstate 5, Oregon Route 99, and the main Willamette Valley line of the CORP railr ...
, being a pioneer in the use of
desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online c ...
. As an experienced and innovative journalist, in 1995 he was awarded one of the first Knight International Journalism Fellowships and spent 5 months teaching and advising at ''La Industria de Chiclayo'' in Chiclayo,
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
.


Unitarian Universalism

Morales first became involved in Unitarian Universalism at the Unitarian Universalist Church of
Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...
. Very active, he served on the congregation's board of trustees. He enrolled in Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Berkeley, California and on graduation in 1999 was called to the Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Colorado. Active in liberal evangelism while still in seminary, under his leadership the Jefferson Unitarian Church grew rapidly. The leadership of the Unitarian Universalist Association in 2002 asked him to serve as Director of District Services for two years, returning to Jefferson Unitarian Church in 2004. In 2008, in an address to his congregation, he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the Unitarian Universalist Association on a platform of inclusion and growth.


Presidency of the Unitarian Universalist Association

On June 27, 2009, Morales was elected president of the Unitarian Universalist Association at the
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
of the Association in Salt Lake City, Utah. Morales received 2,061 votes from delegates to 1,481 for his opponent, Dr. Laurel Hallman. Two themes defined the Morales presidency, 2009-2017: collaboration and innovation. These were the driving forces behind the accomplishments of his administration. Within the UUA, Morales restructured staff groups for more efficiency, effectiveness, and outreach. Beyond the UUA, Morales formed deeper partnerships with other Unitarian Universalist organizations, such as the UU Service Committee, to form th
UU College of Social Justice
He also partnered with the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association to create an entrepreneurial ministry program following the creation of an interfaith pilot program with leading business schools. Morales was a staunch supporter of multifaith collaboration. Morales sought to position the UUA as a convener for multifaith collaboration, most notably with the United Church of Christ, the Union for Reform Judaism, and the NAACP. Morales was unrelenting in his efforts to increase Unitarian Universalist presence and involvement on issues such as marriage equality, racial justice, immigration, and climate change. He was arrested twice for his convictions. Seeing moral issues as global issues, Morales engaged in, and promoted, international relationships and efforts for equality in many parts of the world including: Japan, India, Guatemala, Mexico, and Africa. In March 2017, a controversy broke out regarding the UUA's hiring practices as they pertained to institutional racism. Charges spread on social media that the leaders had chosen a white man over a qualified woman of color. In a letter to staff addressing the controversy, Morales called for “more humility and less self righteousness, more thoughtfulness and less hysteria.” Later he realized that the letter “made matters worse” and that he had “clearly lost the trust of many people.” On March 30, 2017, Morales announced he would resign as UUA president, effective two days later.https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/officers/president/b/letter-march-30-2017 His term had only three months left.


Notes


Writings


Columns in UU World Magazine

News, Press Releases, UU World and International posts

Articles in HuffPost
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Peter American religious leaders American people of Mexican descent American people of Spanish descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American Unitarian Universalists Unitarian Universalist clergy People from Eugene, Oregon Starr King School for the Ministry alumni Academic staff of the University of Oviedo Converts to Unitarianism Former Lutherans