The 6th National Conference for Midsize Congregations
Breaking Through Self-Defining Barriers in a Congregation
Leaders of the White Bear UU Congregation, Mahtomedi, MN (Jon Bloomberg, former President, Katy Lowery, current president (presentation  ), and the Rev. Victoria Safford, minister) led this workshop on March 4.
Bloomberg opened the presentation, offering seven key elements that have influenced the growth and vitality of the White Bear congregation.
- The congregation has been willing to take 'reasoned risks.' "We haven't always waited for all our ducks to be in a row before we made a decision," He said. "We didn't wait to purchase a building and move from our present one; we didn't wait to expand our building to support our RE capacity; we didn't wait to make decisions about staffing. We made decisions about staffing without being completely confident that the money in the budget would be there. It hasn't been a gamble – we have been smart about it. More through good fortune perhaps, we have made the right decisions. Now we are on the verge of kicking off a major building expansion."
- We have been blessed by good leadership. "People have been willing to step forward and lead the congregation, and that has helped in articulating our vision."
- We have been blessed by strong ministers, and Victoria Safford clearly is one of them. "That is part luck and part relationship…I believe we are a place where a strong minister is comfortable. A strong minister will work with strong leadership in partnership."
- We have always welcomed growth in numbers. "We have never really sought it as an end in itself, what we sought was growth in depth and range of programming, how we meet and address folks' spiritual needs, but doing those things we think we do well has inevitably led to growth in numbers. We have been willing to accommodate those folks as they have found us, and have never said, 'gee, how do we find those seats for those new people.' If these folks are willing to join us, we need to find a way to accommodate them."
- In our recent history we have developed an increasing tendency to look outward rather than inward. "In the post -9/11 world , we have made it a priority to be out in the world speaking our message, whether it's against gay marriage amendments, or against creationism, where we have felt as a matter of conscience we need to speak out, we have done so, and people have resonated to that. Our goal is to let our actions speak for us."
- We haven't shied away from tough decisions or tough discussions. "In discussions about growth, purchasing buildings, staffing, going to three services temporarily while we're building, we have had our eyes wide open and have been ready for the discussion. We have done a reasonable job of pre-processing big transitions, meaning that we have placed a priority on process, process, process. We have also done a good job of making our expectations clear that we are committed to fair and complete process, and not necessarily to full consensus around a decision. No one will be perfectly satisfied with every decision we make. Our goal at the end of the day is that people are satisfied with the process that got us there."
- We do know how to have fun. "The term I have used more recently is that we have a spirit of spiritual irreverence…we take on serious issues, but try to not take ourselves too seriously, that it is possible to take on serious issues and not take yourself too seriously."
Bloomberg noted that the congregation is in the middle of its' pledge drive (theme: "It's worth the drive," recognizing the distance which some parishioners make to come to church, as well as the need for funds. Bloomberg also said, "We are in the middle of Republican exurbia. Our state senator is leading the drive to pass the defense of marriage act. This has caused us to speak up more loudly, make ourselves more heard, and it means more folks are hearing out us."
This elicited a question about how the congregation speaks publicly on issues: they said, it is only through a congregational vote that the congregation expresses its opinion. Safford noted that other elements which have caused the congregation to take a public position "have come out of the youth group or out of worship – an example might be that we have done a deep program on conscientious objection for youth and their parents. It establishes the congregation as a place to which people will come for these things. But it has also been put us into relationship with the Roman Catholic parish, and that is a plus."
Katie Lowry (current president) spoke next (presentation ), explaining that the congregation elects people into leadership for a three year commitment: first year as vice president, second year as president, third year as past president.
Lowry said, "I want to talk about the process of serving the congregation and how that decision making takes place." She noted these elements as being key in the process:
- Service at White Bear is a 'come as you are' party. Because I come as I am, it allowed me to come as I was called.
- There were two critical and inseparable aspects to my learning and growth. One is trust: trust that the church really accepts me with all my weaknesses and faults. And trust that the church will support me. Second, this asks a lot of me. Much is being asked in terms of time, careful listening, my capacity to intuit, to drag, to decide.
- By the time I was asked to serve, I had already grown a lot. I had confidence that I could bring myself here, and in my confidence in who I could be. So this growth began a long time before leadership service. I had also come to love the church, and because of that, I found that I could do things for the church that I could not do for myself. There are things you can do for that which you love that you can not do for yourself.
- There is the power of doing important work in common with others – being able to make historic gains for workers seeking civil rights, for instance….
- I am able to be connected to the church, and also let go of little clinging inadequacies…a friend of mind called it 'stepping into my bigness.' There is a sense in this church of people standing with me and saying, "I will hold you up."
- I believe our church has grown spiritually and through feeding the call with these breakthroughs. It has not been easy and there have been challenges…but we do say, "I will hold you up."
"The key for our church has been to accept who we are, and hang on and grow the essence of our self, even if it meant fumbling around. And it has called us to love that essence enough to keep loving and sharing. Although it has been harder than we had imagined, we have found that we need not be other than who we are called to be."
Victoria Safford, Minister, spoke last. She noted that:
- The congregation currently has 565 adults and 300 youth, and about 600 people in the building across three services. It's grown fast in recent years, partly because of external factors politically and externally, and partly because of the factors discussed earlier in this workshop. She said, "We have seen about fifteen percent growth in the last six years, at least – and smartly or not, we just assume that that's the way it is and that it will continue. And that fast growth does create a certain tension."
- The congregation is "easing into policy governance – or lurching – we are seeking a more efficient way to sustain our leaders and to sustain a fairly small staff. We will probably move to a hybrid of policy governance probably in the next year."
A question was asked around communication: "What are the best forms of communication you have used during this time?" The response indicated that the congregation's leaders "pay attention to it, and we are pretty redundant in what we do and say…we could do better with electronic communication that we do now. We have a newsletter that people pay attention to – to the president's column and the minister's, and there is still a sense of the small fellowship that persists…a sense of accessibility of lay leadership and that those people are present in Sunday worship and they are right there so that people see them all the time." Jon Bloomberg also noted that "when we are talking about growth and expansion, we offered a half dozen information sessions and asked continually for feedback. We try to err on the side of over-communication rather than the reverse. And there are still people who are surprised…"
Additional questions: When has your congregation been at its best and it has been strong and robust? When do you personally feel most alive and connected to the congregation and to your own spirit? In response, Safford told a story about a parent realizing that she could not fall in love with the face of her child…because it is always changing. Safford said, the parent's realization was that "I have to fall in love with the soul of my child. And the same is true about the church. You have to fall in love with the soul of the church, and then transition and change comes in a different place, but you are able to find the core of the church, the essence."
Another individual asked about the congregation's move to hire a Director of Congregational Life position. The participants said, "This is a new position…something that takes some aspects of membership coordinator and some aspects of volunteer coordinator, but is not a minister position. The job is to connect to people to spiritual connection in the church. It's a ¾ time position, and if people are connected to their own core and to one another deeply we believe that the service will follow. This has been the case with small group ministry, that when people go in deeply, out of those sharing circles, they get more connected."
Reported by Deborah Weiner
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