Now's the Time . . .

. . . to select delegates for General Assembly, which will be June 26-30 in Boston. The number of delegates is based on the number of certified members of your congregation. For more information go to the GA page on the UUA website. Check here also for GA programs of interest.

RE Covenanting Website Available

A new UUA process to deepen relationships between religious educators and their congregations, called Covenanting for Excellence in Religious Education, now has its own web site.

This is a facilitated process between a religious educator and a congregation to identify expectations of the congregation and establish a commitment to congregational transformation. The process, involving the religious educator, parish minister, church staff, lay leaders, and interested congregants, explores the congregation's history and culture--clarifying and prioritizing goals and expectations, articulating a common vision, and celebrating the covenant in a special service.

Alumni Database Helps Grow Campus Groups

Did you go to college? Would you be willing to support a UU campus ministry at your alma mater? The Young Adult and Campus Ministry office has created a new database of alumni supporters in an effort to provide efficient services to local congregations seeking to do alumni fundraising.

To sign up, visit the registration page or go to the YA&CM web site and click on "Alumni Network" (on the left). An estimated 100 people had signed up by January, said Joseph Lyons, UUA campus ministry coordinator.

Order of Service Covers

Need an order of service cover? The Church of the Larger Fellowship has 11 covers for sale, tailored to changing seasons as well as covers for weddings, dedications, and memorial services. They're $15 per 100, with discounts for larger quantities, and they work with a standard photocopier.

Annual Survey Helps Identify Congregational Concern Areas

First Parish, Brewster, Mass. (750 members), sends out an evaluation form at the end of each year. The form, included in the newsletter and passed out on several Sunday mornings, asks friends and members to evaluate: worship services, music, children's programming, youth program, adult programs and support groups, social justice projects, caring, physical condition of buildings, job performance of each staff member by name, and church administration. Respondents are asked to check one of six categories: Excellent, Good, Average, Fair, Poor, and No Opinion. Those who check Poor, Fair, or Average are encouraged to offer constructive suggestions for improvement.

First Parish also uses the form to collect information on a specific topic. This year the back page dealt with the congregation's progress in being welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.

First Parish has done such a survey for 18 years. The staff and lay leaders are proactive in getting them returned.

"We won't settle for less than 100 and we hope for closer to 200," says Senior Minister Jim Robinson. "It has proven to be an invaluable tool. It short-circuits gossip by identifying dissatisfactions in the congregation, so we can openly name them and address them.

"The survey inevitably leads to constructive ideas to put into practice in the coming year. It does make the staff a little nervous to be evaluated, but in the end it protects the staff," says Robinson. "A few parishioners can sometimes wreak havoc on a staff member, but the yearly evaluation puts it into perspective as to how small the actual upset group is. It also lets us identify a congregational issue with a staff member so we can address it before it gets to be a bigger issue."

Growth Workshop Offered For Small Congregations

The UUA's Planning for Growth and Vitality Workshop for the Small Congregation (up to 150 members), has been revised and is being offered by the office of New Congregation and Growth Resources.

The weekend workshop includes ways to incorporate visitors and new members, volunteer recruitment, finances, and quality of worship and programs. The workshop is designed to accommodate teams from a minimum of seven congregations.

It focuses on placing mission and vision at the center of all congregational activities, building and supporting shared ministry, developing stewardship, and understanding how congregations grow and change.

A similar workshop will be developed within the next year for midsize congregations. The office of New Congregation and Growth Resources was formerly known as the Extension Ministry Office.

For information, email swhitman@uua.org, call 617-948-4270, or go to the workshop's web page.

Ministry Search Teams Invited to GA Breakfast

On Saturday morning, June 28, at General Assembly, the UUA's Settlement Office will host a breakfast for leaders and search committee members of congregations in search, or about to be in search, of a minister. John Weston, Settlement Director, will speak and respond to questions. The event is $10 per person, payable in advance.

To secure your reservations, send your check to Nancy Hezlitt in the Settlement Office, UUA, 25 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02108.

Be Sure to Thank Those at Home

When sending thank-you notes to congregational volunteers, make a point to thank spouses and partners for sharing their family member with you. Volunteering often comes at the expense of family time. A recognition of that is appreciated.

War-related Organizing Help at UUA Website

Two e-mail lists to help Social Justice committees and others respond to world events are available on the UUA web site.

Sac-News is the UUA-sponsored e-mail list for social action chairs of our congregations. It includes more than 800 subscribers who share information about social justice activities.

UUpeaceworld is a list sponsored by members of the UU Church of Berkeley, Calif. This list is to share news and strategies about activities related to war in Iraq.

The UUA's Office for Congregational Advocacy and Witness also has information on war-related activities. Director Susan Leslie has created a database of UU congregational efforts on the war issue and can provide congregations with specific information. She can be contacted at (617) 948-4607.

A web site with resources designed to help congregations confront the issue of war has been created by the UUA Board of Trustees. The web site includes books and ways of having conversations about war.

At its January meeting, the board drafted an open letter to the members of the boards of trustees of all congregations acknowledging the complexity of religious leadership at a time of potential war.

Welcoming "Guests" Rather than Visitors

Is there a better term for "visitors" to our congregations? The Rev. Kenn Hurto, a UU minister for 30 years, suggests the following: A visitor is one who comes and goes, but seldom stays. Visiting is what we do to museums, national parks, and in-laws. If I could ban a word in our congregational life, "visitor" would be one of them. Guests, by contrast, are people we welcome into our homes as fellow travelers, companions, and people we'd like to hang around for a while. Guests are people we receive with honor and responsibility, to whom we open our hearts. A guest is one who hears/feels "my house is your house." What a gift to give were we to welcome guests in lieu of grudgingly acknowledging visitors.

Charitable Gift Office Helps with Gift Planning For Your Congregation

Do you have individuals in your congregation who are considering making charitable gifts to the congregation, but need help with it? Contact the UUA's Office of Charitable Giving and Estate Planning for information about bequests through the donor's will or a life-income gift.

Through a bequest, a donor can specify an amount to go to the congregation or the UUA. With life-income gifts, such as a charitable gift annuity or a gift to the UUA's Pooled Income Fund, the donor makes an irrevocable contribution, usually of cash or securities, and claims an immediate, one-time charitable income tax deduction for a portion of the gift. He or she also receives regular income from the gift. When the donor dies the remaining principal is given to the donor's congregation, the UUA, or both.

For more information, contact the Charitable Giving office at 888-792-5885.

Give to Education Fund On Special Occasions

Congregations that celebrate special events in the life of the religious education program are encouraged to use those occasions to make a contribution to the Friends of Liberal Religious Educator's Association. LREDA has raised $171,000 in its current campaign which will be used to create an endowment to provide grants for innovative projects that serve UU religious educators.

The first grant was awarded in July 2002 to Helen Bishop and the Mountain Retreat Center for an internet course entitled "How church systems work for religious educators."

Contributions may be made to the endowment whenever a congregation celebrates special occasions such as anniversaries, retirements, memorial services, or covenanting with its religious educator.

For more information contact Betsy Williams. Send contributions to: LREDA Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 3, Harvard, MA 01451.

Articulating Your Faith Available in Expanded Second Edition

The new, expanded second edition of Articulating Your UU Faith, a curriculum designed to help UUs explain their faith to nonUUs, is now available at the UUA Bookstore. Both versions were written by the Revs. Barbara Wells and Jaco ten Hove. The second edition is called Articulating Your UU Faith: A Five-Session Course. It is designed to be used with a group of 10 to 20 UUs, either new members or a mixed group.

"The biggest difference is that this version is five sessions long instead of one. It gives people more time to process the information," said Wells. The course can actually be done in four sessions. The fifth is designed as an optional Sunday morning worship service.

The focus is on practicing how and what to say in various settings in which you might be called upon to explain your faith. Participants share their current beliefs, what they used to believe, mistruths about Unitarian Universalism, times when they were not able to respond adequately to questions about their religion, and times when they were.

Participants are led through an exercise to write "coffee hour chat" responses to questions about Unitarian Universalism. The course also includes short statements about Unitarian Universalism--examples of ways to concisely explain what Unitarian Universalism is. Participants use these to help write their own. Includes essays by the authors on "What Do I Say after I Say I'm Unitarian Universalist?" and on explaining UU history.

Articulating Your UU Faith: A Five-Session Course, Skinner House, 2003, is available at the UUA Bookstore, 800-215-9076, www.uua.org/bookstore. #7406 $15.

Civil Liberties E-List

There is a new e-mail list, CivilLiberties, for people involved in civil liberties issues. Civil liberties is the topic of the UUA Study/Action Issue adopted at General Assembly in 2002. For information on how your congregation can get involved with civil liberties issues go to the resource guide online.