5034 District Transition from Pastoral to Program Model
Planning Committee Sponsored

Presenters: Qiyamah Rahman, District Executive for the Thomas Jefferson District Nancy Heege, District Executive for the Prairie Star District Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris, Acting Director of Congregation and District Extension Services of the UUA

Qiyamah Rahman Over 50 GA attendees participated in this workshop. A short pop quiz, led by Qiyamah Rahman, set the tone. The quiz consisted of three questions: True or false? There are 5 different sizes of congregational sizes represented in the size model/theory? [Answer: false. There are only 4] Arrange in the correct order from small to large the following church sizes: Pastoral, Family, Corporate and Program. [Answer: Family, Pastoral, Program and Corporate.] True or false: Pastoral: minister pitches as choir director [False] Program: matriarch and patriarch are gate keepers [False] Pastoral: a tightly knit family system [False] Family: minister lauded for number of house and hospital visits [False] Information regarding the characteristics and definitions of the four congregational sizes--as defined by Arlin Rothauge in Sizing Up a Congregation for New Member Ministry--can be found on the Journey To Growth web pages hosted on the Thomas Jefferson District website, http://www.tjd.uua.org/journeytogrowth.html. A summary of the congregational size theory found there (page 2 of Chapter III: General Size Theory Information) is particularly useful when trying to decide which category best defines a church or a district. Most of the materials currently available are designed for congregations and are being extrapolated to apply to the district level. Therefore, much of this work is on the cutting edge of growth theory.

Nancy Heege Nancy Heege is the District Executive of Prairie Star District, which has 60 congregations across 7 states. There are huge differences in UU population distribution in her district, with 11 congregations concentrated in the Twin Cities area and only 3 congregations in the entire state of South Dakota. In order to effectively deliver district services to these congregations, applying the pastoral model to the district level did not work well. Because she could not personally travel to each congregation to lead a board retreat or give the Sunday morning program, she restructured her district to operate in the program model. The district now has a Board and a Program Council. The transition from the pastoral level to the program level is not easy. In fact, it’s the hardest of the three to make.

Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris The Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris, Acting Director of Congregation and District Extension Services of the UUA, warned that transitioning from the pastoral to the program model is accompanied by predictable crisis or crises. In particular, one can expect tantrums from three groups of people: Those who expect the same services as they have previously received Those who are unable to keep the end goal in mind Those who do not want change During the transition, one has to be prepared to do some leadership training, including teaching leaders how to nurture and manage volunteers. There will also be increases in budget, staff and technology. The role of the nominating committee becomes critically important. On the positive side, districts become more mission-centered as they move into the program model. Rather than spending all their time and energy putting out fires which can be handled by a crisis team, the District Executive and Board can focus their efforts on larger pictures: policy, finance, vision and long-range planning. Good resources are available to help congregations and districts transition from the pastoral to the program model, including workshops, publications, and websites. These include: Books by Alice Mann The In-Between Church: Navigating Size Transitions in Congregations Can Our Church Live? Raising the Roof: the Pastoral-to-Program Size Transition Books by John Carver Boards That Make a Difference: A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations John Carver on Board Leadership Reinventing Your Board: a Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Policy Governance Basic Principles of Policy Governance Websites www.policygovernance.com InterConnections online: http://www.uua.org/InterConnections http://www.alban.org/ During the question and answer session, one person remarked that when her congregation was transitioning from the pastoral to the program level, some people questioned whether they really wanted to become a program church. In part, the answer is not whether the terminology "program church" fits the shoe, but whether the services currently delivered to members are adequate or need to be changed, or, perhaps, be delivered in more effective ways. Another person pointed out the necessity of pastoral care in all churches, and enquired how this is handled in different-size congregations. She felt that the inability to deliver pastoral care has been an obstacle to growth. A third attendee was concerned that the program model seemed to call for a vice-president who was retired, in order for that person to have the time and energy to devote to running a program council. Reporter Kok Heong McNaughton

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