Mission-Centered Ministry Program Now Available

Is your congregation stuck, plateaued, or at a crossroads? The Rev. Margaret Beard, UUA extension ministry director, has a new program to help you get moving again.

The program, called Mission Centered Ministry and the Transforming Congregation, takes congregations through consultant-led workshops designed to help them determine their missions and better serve their communities as well as their congregation.

"This program is for congregations who might be thinking about major decisions like modifying their building or moving," Beard says.

"They're figuring out who they are, what they're about and where they're going. This program helps congregations take a hard look at themselves."

One of the program's consultants is the Rev. Gary Blaine, minister at Hope Unitarian Church, Tulsa, OK.

"This program helps congregations develop a clear identity and purpose which they can use to establish measurable goals," says Blaine.

"That does a lot to propel a congregation into the future, rather than sitting around talking about what's wrong. That affects all other aspects of church life, including how you govern and the various roles and responsibilities within the congregation."

Congregations that undertake the program are asked to commit six weekends and ensure that at least a third of the members attend each one. The UUA pays up to $3,000 of the cost, which is expected to total $6,000 or more.

Congregations that want to participate should not be in conflict or in search for a new minister.

The new program replaces Decisions for Growth, which was offered for several years by the Department of Congregational, Dis-trict, and Extension Services.

Beard says, "We hope that after completing this program congregations won't see themselves as being a place of refuge away from the world. They'll see themselves as having a life-saving message they want to share with the world."

RESOURCES

For more information contact Malia Crawford, extension ministry administrator, mcrawford@uua.org; 25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108; (617) 742-2100, ext. 270. See also http://www.uua.org.cde/extension