The Safe Congregation Handbook
Nurturing Healthy Boundaries in Our Faith CommunitiesEdited by Patricia Hoertdoerfer and Frederic Muir
- Theme and Description
- This is a comprehensive resource guide that provides congregational leaders the skills and structure to nurture healthy relationships and safe boundaries in our faith communities. The handbook includes essays by clergy and lay leaders, and lesson plans for 12 workshops (each with two formats to accommodate 45-minute and 2-hour time spans). Also includes helpful checklists for conducting safety needs assessments and an annotated list of resources on topics such as abuse, interpersonal violence, and harm prevention.
- Goals for Participants
- To empower religious professionals and congregational leaders with the tools and strategies they need to nurture right relationship and safety for all members of our faith communities.
- Age Range
- Adult and Youth; specifically designed for religious professionals, congregational leaders, religious educators, youth advisors, and youth.
- Size of Group
- Flexible
- Space Requirements
- A comfortable room.
- Number and Length of Sessions
- Twelve workshops in the following Categories: Congregation and Culture, Transformational Leadership, Self-Care for Religious Leaders, Religious Education and Safety, and Congregational Justice Making. Each workshop has two different formats, to accommodate 45-minutes and 2-hour time spans.
- Leader Training
- No specific training required. However, it is assumed that the leaders will be religious professionals or congregational leaders who have experience in and knowledge of group dynamics, and who can deal responsibly with emotional and sensitive material.
- Leader Preparation
- 1-2 hours for each workshop
- Strengths
- The handbook provides a comprehensive view of congregational safety, and provides practical steps for implementing safety policies and procedures, offering true hospitality to historically marginalized groups, and effectively addressing and preventing boundary violations in the congregational setting.
Workshops include worshipful gathering and centering moments, real-life congregational case studies, interactive activities, and helpful checklists and self-assessments for congregational safety and well-being.
Invites congregation leaders, including youth, to create guidelines for right relationship in their congregation, religious education program, and youth group. (Note: Due to a copy-editing error, youth group members were not listed as participants in the workshop for “Creating Policies with Youth Groups.” It is essential that youth be included in this workshop.) - Limitations
- Intended workshop audiences are limited to professional clergy and congregational leaders.
- Unitarian Universalist Values
- Fully consistent with UU values, the handbook affirms and promotes right relationship in congregational life, specifically affirming the inherent worth and dignity of every person and justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
Reviewed on February 15, 2006
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Curricula
