Compact Disc Has Essays on Congregational Life
A CD with audio recordings of 21 essays about congregational life—topics range from dealing with disruptive people, attracting young adults, and developing new leaders—has been produced by the UUA’s Lay Leadership Development office and is being distributed free to congregational leaders.

The CD was conceived as a way to help congregations share their success stories with each other and to get practical information into the hands of congregational leaders. “Part of the practicality of a CD is that lay leaders can listen to it in the car on the way to work or while running errands,” says the Rev. Harlan Limpert, director of the UUA’s District Services Staff Group and former director for lay leadership development.

Copies of the CD with essays from lay leaders, ministers, UUA staff, and InterConnections, were made available at General Assembly. In August or September, four copies will also be mailed to each congregational president for distribution to lay leaders.

“Lay leaders have been asking us to help them be more effective in their leadership roles,” says Limpert, who directed the CD project. “This CD, which we expect will be part of a series of such CDs, is an effort by the Association to respond in a creative way to the needs of congregational leaders.”

Congregational Staff Salary Recommendations
New salary range recommendations for staff of congregations have been developed by the UUA’s Compensation, Benefits, and Pension Committee and approved by the UUA Board of Trustees. The recommendations, which take effect January 2006, are on-line at www.uua.org/programs/ministry/finances/
index.html.

“The goal of these recommendations is to make the salaries of people who work for churches comparable to the salaries of people who work for secular nonprofit organizations of the same size,” said the Rev. Ralph Mero, director of the office of Church Staff Finances.

Congregations are encouraged to use the midpoint of each pay range as a goal rather than the minimum. “The midpoint represents where a competently performing staff member would be after mastering the requirements of the position,” said Mero. “While the minimum may be a suitable starting salary for a qualified new employee, it is expected that most staff will grow toward the midpoint of their range within five years.”

Volunteer compensation consultants are available to help congregations determine how they might work toward these salary recommendations. Their contact information is on the UUA’s Web site at the same address as the guidelines, or they may be contacted through district offices of the UUA.

Midsize Congregations to Convene in Phoenix
Make plans to attend the 2006 Midsize Congregation Conference March 2 to 5 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phoenix. Estimated costs are $450 for a double and $600 for a single room, including meals and program costs. The conference is for leaders of congregations with 150 to 550 members.

For more information contact Diane Martin, Congregational Services administrator, at dmartin@uua.org, or look on the uua.org Web site where the conference theme and speakers will be highlighted.

Now’s the Time . . .
. . . to begin planning for the spring stewardship campaign. Online resources are available at www.uua.org/ cde/fundraising.

The Nominating Committee should begin cultivating candidates for spring elections and other posts, and Hospitality and Membership committees should be on top of their game. August is a prime month for church shoppers. Be prepared with a smile and a list of ways that you can help new people connect.

Web Site Helps Visitors Know What to Expect
Leaders at the May Memorial UU Society, in Syracuse, N.Y., know that many people are nervous when visiting a church for the first time, unfamiliar with the routine and unsure of what they’ll find. For that reason the society’s Web site, www.mmuus.org/welcome.html, has the following information to prepare them.

“We know that it is difficult to come into a large group not knowing anyone or how things are done,” they say on the site. “We are concerned that you feel comfortable and welcome here so we have prepared this page for you.”

Getting Started
• Stop at the Visitor Information Table in the foyer and say hello. The person staffing the table will be able to answer many of your questions about Unitarian Universalism and this congregation.
• Sign the guest book to get on our newsletter mailing list and/or to request a name tag.
• Join us at the Newcomers Corner in the Social Hall after Sunday services. The Social Hall can be quite busy. The Newcomers Corner provides a more quiet and more personal way to meet us.
• Enroll your children in religious education (“R.E.”). You can pick up a registration form in your child’s class or contact the R.E. director. Anyone at the Visitor Table can direct you downstairs to the R.E. program.
• Check out the social calendar and postings of other social events and activities on our bulletin boards leading into the Social Hall. Join any activity that interests you.
• Call our minister, who will be glad to sit down with you over coffee to answer any questions you may have, or just to get to know you better. Meeting with our minister is a great way to discover how your interests and gifts can find a home at May Memorial.

New Terminology Helps With Stewardship
Wayne Clark, the UUA’s director of congregational fundraising services, is encouraging congregations to adopt new terminology about fundraising.

First, he recommends placing fundraising under the umbrella of stewardship because fundraising is just one aspect of stewardship. “Financial gifts provide congregations with the means to implement their vision and mission,” he says.

Because some terms associated with fundraising have developed negative connotations, they have become barriers to effective fundraising, he says. He is recommending the following changes:

•Use “annual stewardship drive” in place of annual canvass.
•Use “visiting stewards” rather than canvassers.
•Use “financial commitment” rather than pledge.

Clark uses the new vocabulary in his forthcoming fundraising book, whose working title is “Beyond Fuss and Beg: Stewardship for Faith Communities,” which will be published by Skinner House Books.

Enhanced Worship Web Seeks Contributions
Worship Web, the UUA’s online collection of worship resources to help congregations create more meaningful worship services, is being revitalized and expanded. Worship Web materials are being linked to a UU Liturgical Calendar. For instance, if you clicked on “Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday” on the Worship Web site, www.uua.org/worshipweb/main.html, you could find worship resources applicable to that occasion, including prayers, readings, music, and benedictions.

Worship Web, coordinated by the Lifespan Faith Development Staff Group, is seeking contributions of original material from clergy and lay leaders to build a collection of resources that will enrich worship in our congregations.

Worship materials can be sent by e-mail to: worshipweb@uua.org or by postal mail to Barbara Gifford, UUA, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108. Please also fill out and send a brief permissions form that you can find at www.uua.org/worshipweb/submission_form.doc.

Hymnal Supplement Now Available
Singing the Journey, the new supplement to the UU hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition, was introduced at General Assembly in June and is available through the UUA Bookstore, www.uua.org/bookstore.

The UUA’s New Hymn Resource Task Force developed the supplement, selecting 74 pieces from more than 1,500 submissions. The work was commissioned by UUA President the Rev. William G. Sinkford, who recognized the need for a new congregational worship resource, given the evolution in UU music since the publication of Singing the Living Tradition in 1993.

Barbara Wagner, minister of music at the UU Church of Buffalo, N.Y., and chair of the New Hymn Resource Task Force, said the supplement will add a spectrum of different styles to worship music.

“I think this music will enliven worship, will get people moving a little more, clapping hands, maybe even standing up and moving to the music,” she said. “It was exciting to do this
and we feel really good about the book.”

Others on the task force were Leon Burke, Kirkwood, Mo.; Jeannie Gagne, Middleboro, Mass.; the Rev. Dennis Hamilton, Carrolton, Tex.; Kenneth Herman, San Diego, Calif.; and the Rev. Jason Shelton, Nashville, Tenn.

Singing the Journey is $16, plus shipping, with a 10 percent discount for orders of 5 to 9 and 20 percent for 10 or more copies. A large-print spiral-bound version is available for $25.

UUA Offering Help with Land Purchases
Congregations needing help buying sites for new buildings are invited to apply to the UUA’s Congregational Properties and Loan Commission, which has funds available for that purpose through a new program.

The program is being administered by Wayne Clark, director of congregational fundraising services. He says the program is an acknowledgement of the difficulty congregations, especially smaller ones, have purchasing land to construct adequate buildings in this current economy.

Congregations that are accepted into the program will be required to pay a third of the purchase cost, and the UUA will lend the congregation the balance. The congregation is required to build on the land within five years and repay the loan within seven years. The funds are from the Handing on the Future capital campaign.

For more information go to www.uua.org/cde/fundraising. Contact Clark at wclark@uua.org or 207-829-4550.

Interest Growing in Policy Governance
The policy governance approach to church governance is gaining popularity in UU congregations. The Rev. Margaret Keip, an advocate of policy governance, conducted a recent survey and found that 36 congregations have implemented some form of policy governance. Eight more are considering it. UU congregations using it range up to more than 1,000 members and include congregations in Portland, Ore., Dallas, Arlington, Va., Spokane, Wash., and Oakland, Calif. Of the 36 using it, only four have fewer than 250 members.

Policy governance calls on a governing board to focus on the organization’s vision and goals, rather than minutia, and to give staff more freedom in decision making. The concept was developed and trademarked by business consultant John Carver over the past three decades. Various forms of policy governance have been adopted by public and nonprofit boards since then.

For more information contact Keip at mkeip@uuma.org or search for policy governance at www.uua.org/interconnections.

Synapse Keeps UU Youth Up to Date
Alert the youth in your congregation to Synapse, the publication of Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU), the youth organization (ages 14-20) of the UUA.
Synapse is published online three times per year, and once per year in a print issue, which is a compilation of the online issues. Both versions are free to youth. The print version is $10 for two years for adults.

Each issue contains articles, essays, poetry, and artwork by YRUUers across the continent, plus updates and information about leadership and job opportunities, continental YRUU conferences, and YRUU governance issues.

Find Synapse at www.uua.org/yruu/synapse.

E-mail Lists Support RE Volunteers, Youth
The UUA’s Lifespan Faith Development Staff Group sponsors 10 e-mail lists where religious professionals, volunteers, and youth can talk with each other to share tips and concerns and offer ideas for new resources. The lists are REACH-L, UU-Parenting, Adult-RE, Advisor-L, OWL-Adult, OWL-Child, OWL-L, Youthvolunteers-Announce, YRUU-Announce, and YRUU-Chaplain.

Find complete descriptions of these lists at www.uua.org/lists.

CLF Offers Assistance with RE Programs
The Church of the Larger Fellowship has resources for families and congregations, especially smaller ones, to use in developing and maintaining lifespan religious education programs. They include: help with answering childrens’ questions, an e-mail list for educators to share information and questions, an online activity site and chat list for kids, support for parents as religious educators, the kids’ magazine uu&me!, updates on education theory, resources and practices, and help with curriculum planning, development, and usage.

Find more information at www.uua.org/clf.