New Board Members and InterConnections

September is the month in which everything is possible in UU congregations and the month when many new board members take office. InterConnections welcomes you.

InterConnections aims to be relentlessly useful to you in your new responsibilities. The UUA sends it bimonthly to board members and professional staff of all congregations. We write about congregations that do particular things well, believing that the best way to build vital religious communities is to learn from each other.

Back issues should be in your congregation's office and are also on the UUA website.

Keep each issue in your board binder and give copies of articles to the appropriate committees. We hope InterConnections will prove valuable to you, along with other tools like the Congregational Handbook, the new fundraising manual, Fundraising with a Vision, the website and especially the UUA-sponsored e-mail lists, including UU-LEADERS, MEMB-L (membership issues) and UU-MONEY (financial). May your year be filled with opportunities.

Donald E. Skinner

Editor, InterConnections

Vital Congregations: Growth Equals Change

Many of our UU congregations want their membership to grow in numbers. Certainly, membership growth indicates that something vital is happening. However, growth also means change.

Unless a congregation grapples with change, continually rediscovers its purpose, and adopts new directions when required, it is unlikely to grow. Being willing to change and commit to new directions demonstrates a congregation's ability to respond to its surrounding community.

Growing congregations focus outward. They concern themselves with the needs of their own congregants, but also the needs of the larger community. Since new members come from the surrounding community, it makes sense that a growing congregation anticipates and responds to the ministry needs of its community.

Some congregations may feel their surrounding community constrains their ability to grow. However, as Peter Kaldor and his colleagues on the National Church Life Survey point out, "context is not the overriding determinant of numerical growth." In 1991 the survey queried 310,000 people in 19 denominations in Australia and then selected 3,500 congregations for further study.

There are growing UU congregations in nongrowth areas and stagnant congregations in the fastest growing areas. The difference is an outward focus, a sense of direction, and a vibrant faith.

How does your congregation rate?

1. Does it focus time and energy in the larger community?

2. Does it engage in the hard work of discernment and direction setting?

3. Does it communicate excitement about its purpose — even to newcomers?

4. Do members feel passionate about the congregation and do they work at helping newcomers feel that they belong and are important?

5. Are your members growing in their UU faith and able to articulate why it is important to them?

—Lawrence Palmieri Peers, Extension Education Director

Ministry Department to Test Renewal Guide

Congregations are being sought to serve as field testing sites for the draft edition of A Guide to Review and Renewal of Ministry in Unitarian Universalist Congregations.

The aim of the guide is to provide a process and guidelines for a congregation to review and improve the work of the entire congregation, including its clergy, staff, lay leaders and leadership teams, the governing board, and key committees.

The guide was produced by a UUA working group involving staff members from the departments of Ministry, Religious Education, and Congregational, District, and Extension Services; field staff; and representatives of other interested groups.

The draft edition was introduced in June to provide useful help to congregations who wish to pursue a review and renewal process and also to start a conversation that will contribute to an improved and tested version of the guide now planned for publication in June 2000.

Copies of the guide may be orderd for $10 from Wendy Bell, UUA Department of Ministry, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108, (617) 742-2100, ext. 414. The draft edition was introduced at well-attended workshops at the 1998 General Assembly in Rochester.

If you are interested in serving as such a site, please contact David Hubner, ministerial development director, UUA, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, 02108, (617) 742-2100, ext. 405.

NOTE (Nov. 2004): The Review and Renewal Guide listed above has been replaced by two newer documents, "Assessing Our Leadership" and "Congregational Self-Assessment Packet" Both of these documents are accessible either on the UUA website or in paper copies.

Assessing Our Leadership: www.uua.org/programs/ministry/publications/assessing.pdf

Cong. Self-Assessment: www.uua.org/cde/education/assessment.pdf

Or go to the Ministry and Professional Leadership Development page, www.uua.org/programs/ministry/development and scroll down to # 5 - Evaluation, where you will find a brief description and access to both documents.

Parenting and Worship E-mail Lists Available

Two new UUA electronic discussion groups, UU-Parenting and Worship-L, are now available. UU-Parenting is for discussions of parenting experiences, concerns, and joys. Worship-L is for lay leader discussions of worship resources. To join, go to the UUA website.

GA Workshops on Web To Help Congregations

Information from some of the many workshops at General Assembly 1998 about building more vital congregations is available on the UUA website. Most are also linked to the UUA departments that can supply more information. To find the following sites, you may clink on the links below. Or, go to the GA page on the UUA website then scroll down to the events listings. Look for the heading "Vital Congregations Workshops."

• Crisis Communication in an Electronic Age
• Preserving Your Past to Support Your Future
• Raising Congregations to be Fair Employers
• Small Talk: Congregational Start-up and Staying Power
• Start, Nurture and Grow a Local Youth Group
• Strengthening Your Congregation through District Resources
• Welcoming Congregations: Changes and Next Steps
• Creating Anti-Racist Multicultural Congregations
• UU Websites: The Next Generation

OWL

The UUA is seeking qualified sexuality eductors from each district to conduct teacher trainings for the Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality education program developed by the UUA and the United Church of Christ.

We are looking for district trainers who have:

• A commitment to comprehensive sexuality education.
• A background in sexuality education or related field and experience as a trainer or teacher.
• The ability to create a safe learning environment; willingness to speak publicly for comprehensive sexuality education.

Deadline for applications is November 15. District trainers will train local teachers in each of the following programs: OWL for grades K-1; grades 4-5-6; grades7-9; senior high; and adults.

For additional information and an application, contact: OWL Training of Trainers, UUA Department of Religious Education, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, 02108, (617) 742-2100, ext. 423.