The polls are closed – the Mighty Dead will be the patron of the year 2021-2022.
The patron selection process is now over – thanks to everyone who voted this year! The top three powers were, in order, the Mighty Dead, Apollo, and Ganesha. You can see the full, round-by-round results here: https://app.rankedvote.co/elections/8142/GCs-Patron-Selection-2021/8128/results
Background
Since 2004, Gaia Community has kept a tradition of choosing a deity or power as a patron of the year each July. For many of those years, the choice was made by collecting donations of money and food in the names of various powers, with the power gaining the most donations being declared the winner. Concerns about economic equity within the community and the COVID-19 pandemic caused us to change this practice in 2020.
In 2021, we worked to make the patron selection process a reflection of our commitment to the use of the democratic process within our congregation, which is part of the 5th principle of the UUA. We generated a list of 12 powers at a community forum in April, and set aside a series of three Sundays to get to know a little more about each of those powers. Following those three weeks, we are holding a community vote to decide the community’s annual patron for 2021-2022.
Week 1: May 30, 2021
In the first week’s ritual, we heard from supporters of Ostara, Janus, Ushas, and Inanna.
Week 2: June 6, 2021
This week, we heard from supporters of Hestia, the Mighty Dead, and Auðumbla, and from a supporter of taking a year off from selecting a patron of the year.
Week 3: June 13, 2021
In the final week, we heard from supporters of Isis, the Phoenix, Ganesha, and Apollo.