Newly elected UUA Moderator Jim Key

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Louisville, KY–At this year’s annual General Assembly (GA), Jim Key of Beaufort, SC was elected as the new Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Moderator for a six-year term.

“It is a profound honor to have been chosen to be the new Moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association. I pledge to do all I can to be worthy of this sacred trust. I look forward to working with our Board of Trustees and with the Administration of the UUA as we confront the challenges and embrace the opportunities the future holds for us,” said Key after winning the election.

Key won with 51.1 percent of the vote, defeating Tamara Payne-Alex of San Jose, CA. He succeeds Gini Courter who is the longest serving Moderator with 10 years of service. The Moderator, a volunteer position, chairs the Association’s Board of Trustees.

“I congratulate Jim on his victory and look forward to working with him in this new capacity to achieve the shared vision for our Association,” said UUA President Rev. Peter Morales, who was also re-elected for a four-year term after running unopposed.

Key was raised in Virginia and North Carolina in the Methodist church. He attended Virginia Tech and graduated from Syracuse University. He spent much of his career in a management position with IBM, overseeing diverse staff, and living in Tokyo for a time. In 1997, Key founded his own consulting business. The firm consults on governance, risk, management, and compliance for a group of international clients.

Key found Unitarian Universalism in 1999. He helped build his congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort, SC, including serving as congregational president for five years. He has also been president of the Southeast District of the Unitarian Universalist Association, which changed its name from the Thomas Jefferson District during his tenure. And he has served the Association as chair of the Audit Committee and member of the board task force that proposed a smaller UUA Board of Trustees and of the board’s Linkage Working Group.

More than 3,300 Unitarian Universalists from around the world gathered in Louisville, KY for the annual GA to participate in the democratic process that guides the work of this liberal religious denomination.