Can We Talk?
by Don Skinner, InterConnections Editor

LEAWOOD, KS--This is the third issue of this newsletter and I have to say that putting it together is one of the joys of my life. I get to work at home and talk to UUs all over the country and use e-mail all I want to and write stories that might make a difference.

Yet something is missing. As I was telling the Maytag repairman the other day, nobody ever calls. Yet I know you're out there. When I have occasion to call you you're as helpful as can be. But the hardest part of this job is knowing who to call in the first place.

This newsletter is about practical stuff, the nuts and bolts of making our congregations run better. The idea is that by sharing all the things we've learned in each of our congregations, we can keep from reinventing the wheel whenever we come up against a problem that is new to us. It's pretty certain that some other congregation somewhere has solved that problem before, if we only knew which one.

I think I know why you don't call. It's not me personally, it's just that you think that because this is a UUA newsletter, it's being produced on Beacon Street where I have access to all the "experts." The truth is that I'm just a layperson like most of you, sitting here in the middle of the country, waiting for the phone to ring. The intent of this newsletter is to rely as little as possible on the staff in Boston and to get most of the information from the leaders in each of our 1,040 congregations.

That's where you come in. On this page there's a list of story ideas I am working on for future issues of InterConnections. If you know of congregations that have experience in these areas, then e-mail, call or write me. Please. Anytime. My 800 number works 24 hours a day (800-298-8061). And don't hold back for lack of detail. Just call with a brief tip and the name of someone to contact and I'll do the rest. As I said, the hardest part for me is figuring out who to call. And that's the easy part for you.

There's a song in our hymnal that goes "Our faith is but a single gem upon a rosary of beads; the thread of truth which runs through them supports our varied human needs."

I need your gems to build the thread of truth which will help us all. For InterConnections to work, I have to hear from you. We're all in this together. Don't be a stranger.

Caring Committees

To the editor: Your new publication is very useful. As a board member in a small church (98 members) which currently has no minister and may not be able to afford one for awhile, I'd appreciate some articles and e-mail addresses from others who are in similar predicaments or have useful information to share. In particular I'd like to know what other small churches are doing in their Caring Committees and other groups that try to provide pastoral/outreach services without a minister.

Tom Cook
Board member, First Unitarian Church, 2508 Jackson St., Sioux City, IA 51104

Editor's note:

We encourage readers to respond to Tom. And we recommend to him some of the more than 70 electronic discussion groups which are sponsored by the UUA. One, called UU-LEADERS, welcomes questions related to congregational leadership. Questions about caring committees might also be appropriate on MEMB-L, which deals with membership issues.