Please note,
The UUA is closed from 2:00pm ET December 19th through January 3rd. All virtual/home offices will be closed during this time. We wish you and your loved ones the happiest of holidays and a peaceful New Year.
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“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.” - William Blake
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Featured in this issue:
Latest NER Blog; Renaissance Module: Pastoral Care; Stewardship for Us collaboration; Liberating Governance; Presidential Search Committee nomination; Training for Congregational Leaders; 100 UUs Who Made a Difference update...
...and more! Scroll down to find the article you are interested in.
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Revision as a Faithful Practice
by Erica Baron, Meck Groot & Joe Sullivan
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In 2020 General Assembly delegates voted to begin a review of Article II of the UUA Bylaws. Article II is the covenant between and among UU congregations. It currently contains our seven Principles and six Sources. It also has language about inclusion and freedom of belief. The review has been the project of the Article II Study Commission. They have proposed a draft of new language (PDF) for Article II which makes some big changes. A version of this proposal will be coming to General Assembly in June 2023.
You may be inspired by this draft, or concerned, or undecided. However you feel, we think it’s important that we Unitarian Universalists make it a point to revisit our core tenets on a regular basis. We have collectively committed to consider changing even this central part of our faith in the light of new understanding and awareness of cultural shifts.
The American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America joined to become the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961. The current Study Commission’s work is at least the third time we have considered revisions to Article II since then.
The first major review was led by UU women. It began in the late 1970s and continued until 1984. That year, the General Assembly adopted the current covenant, including the seven Principles. In 1984, the new language included five of the six Sources. The sixth — earth-centered traditions — was added in 1995.
The Bylaws actually call for Article II to be reviewed every 15 years. In 2007, the UUA Board noticed that we had passed the 15-year mark and asked a commission to study Article II. That commission brought proposed changes to the 2009 General Assembly. Delegates narrowly voted the changes down.
Sometimes our review process makes big changes. Other times, it makes only small changes or none at all. Even so, the practice of regular review of our core tenets has shaped the culture of our faith tradition. The Principles and Sources from 1984 and 1995 have shaped identity and practice for generations of UUs.
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Pastoral Care Training for Religious Educators
Led by: Rev. Sunshine Wolf and Annie Scott, CRE
Many parents and teens turn first to their Religious Educators for pastoral care, being prepared to receive those conversations is the focus of this series. The class will be based on the Spiritual Leadership program in Leader Lab created by the New England regional staff. There will be pre-work prior to the first class and each session and you must get an *endorsement from the minister you serve with or your Board to sign up for the course.
Schedule:
Every 2 weeks on Wednesdays January 18 - April 26.
Full schedule: January 18, February 1, February 15, March 1, March 15, March 29, April 12, and April 26.
Staring at: 7:00pm ET / 6:00 pm CT / 5:00pm MT / 4:00pm PT / 3:00 pm Alaska / 2:00 pm Hawaii
*Register and find out more
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Cornerstones of Effective Stewardship for our Congregations
The UUA Congregational Life and Stewardship for Us announce a 3-part national webinar series in early 2023: Cornerstones of Effective Stewardship for our Congregations.
- TUESDAYS, 7:00-8:30pm ET / 6:00-7:30 CT / 5:00-6:30 MT / 4:00-5:30 PT
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Part 1: January 24th: The Multiplatform Context; Part 2: January 31st: The Multicultural/Multiracial World; and Part 3: February 7th: The Changing Multigenerational Demographics
Registration fee is $30 per webinar or register for all three at the discounted rate of $75. Find out more and register by January 19.
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Coming in late January 2023:
Liberating Governance for Our Times: A Community of Practice
Inspired by the Business Resolution adopted by the 2022 General Assembly to create UUA governance that is “dynamic, accountable, flexible, and responsive,” we invite you to consider your congregation’s ways of sharing power and making decisions. Are your systems dynamic, accountable, flexible, and responsive? Are we creating liberatory ways of being within our congregations as we work for liberation in the world?
Most of us could use some help with this! We are creating a community of practice on liberating governance for our times.
We will meet every other month for 90 minutes to learn together and support each other in making the changes needed in our congregations. This program is open to all staff and lay leaders. It is especially appropriate for Board members and others in the congregation entrusted with significant decisions. We highly recommend participating as a team with others from your congregation.
Let’s learn together as we loosen stuck places, recenter our purpose and values, and learn more inclusive styles of decision making.
To join the email list to get invitations to our gatherings, and to help us know what you particularly need, please fill out this form.
Our first gathering will be shared with our Spiritual Leadership for Culture Changecommunity of practice on (choose one):
Tuesday, January 24, 1:00-2:30pm ET, or Thursday, January 26, 7:00-8:30pm ET
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New Guidance on Committees on Ministry
We received a lot of inquiries about Committees on Ministry and what exactly they should be doing. We also hear how volunteer time and energy are so precious that no one wants to waste them. In response, a team of Congregational Consultants from multiple UUA Regions have pulled together new resources to respond to shifting approaches to Committees on Ministry. Generally, what we are encouraging in these resources is that a congregation does not necessarily need to formally organize a standing Committee on Ministry, but there does need to be attending to the functions that have typically been managed by CoMs. These include:
We also have an overview article sharing more about the most up-to-date reflections on CoMs. Please have a look and let us know what is helpful to you and your fellow congregational leaders so that we can make these resources support purposeful and doable shared ministry. Kindly send feedback to [email protected] .
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Reimagining Core Values and Identity
Thank you to all who participated in our November gatherings in which we explored ways to embed the practice of Centering in Gifts in our congregations. Our January 2023 gatherings are scheduled for:
Daytime offering: Tuesday, January 24 at 1:00pm ET*
Evening offering: Thursday, January 26 at 7:00pm ET*
*Each offering will have the same program.
An optional orientation to Spiritual Leadership
Q&A session will begin 30 minutes before each offering.
The Article II Study Commission recently shared their latest draft of new language for the section of the UUA Bylaws that contains our Purpose, Principles, and Sources. This is at least the third review of our core tenets since they were originally adopted in 1961. In fact, the Bylaws require us to revisit Article II on a regular basis.
At the January gatherings, we will explore what we can learn from this mandated practice of regular review and reimagining of our core values and elements of our identity. What Spiritual Leadership practices does such reimagining invite? How does the work of the Article II Study Commission inspire us to consider a similar reimagining at the congregational level and what would that take?
Registration information and pre-work will be sent in early January to all who have signed up to this community of practice. You can join SL4CC anytime using this online form. The community is open to all — religious professionals and laity. Once you join, you will automatically receive registration details and the pre-work assignment before each gathering.
To learn more, follow these links:
SPECIAL NOTICE:
This will also be the first gathering of the new community of practice on "Liberating Governance for Our Times." This community will gather again in February to dive into other questions of governance. To join the Liberating Governance Community of Practice, sign up using this online form.
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Congregational Administrators Gathering (Online)
These recent times have been especially isolating for administrators and we have noticed a rise in the number of new administrators in the region. Let's connect! Join your peers to share ideas, questions, concerns and support, Thursday, January 19, 12:00-1:30pm ET.
We’ll send details to all registered participants a few days before the gathering, along with a survey inquiring about what topic(s) you’d like to discuss. Please register as soon as possible.
Registration is free and required. Deadline by Monday, January 16 or until maximum capacity is reached.
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Presidential Search Committee Nomination
The Unitarian Universalist Association’s Presidential Search Committee is pleased to announce the nomination of the Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt for UUA President, for the 2023-2029 term.
Rev. Dr. Betancourt is an experienced leader and theologian in Unitarian Universalism, including formerly serving as a professor at Starr King School for the Ministry and as Interim Co-President of the UUA in 2017. She currently serves as Resident Scholar and Special Advisor to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
Read her full nominee biography.
Please find additional information here, and reach out to [email protected] with questions.
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Essentials for Lay-Led Congregations
Is your congregation operating without a professionally-trained minister? Your UUA Congregational Life Staff is offering a program this Fall just for you: Essentials for Lay-Led Congregations.
The program includes an email subscription to a newsletter (full of helpful tips, tools, training opportunities, and other resources), and admission to the December 10, 2022 Lay Led Congregation Convergence. There you will get to connect with leaders from other lay-led congregations.
Past issues of the newsletter are free and available in LeaderLab.
Registration is required by December 2 and is available on a sliding scale.
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UUA/UUMA Neurodiversity Skill-Up: Save the Date!
January 24 1:00-3:00pm ET / 10:00am-12:00PM PT with the Rev. Leela Sinha
Rev. Leela Sinha (ze/zim/zir) is a brown, queer, genderqueer, entrepreneurial community minister with a theology of pleasure and a habit of transformative mischief. In zir work, ze offers leadership coaching, training, and keynotes, working with leaders and organizations to develop and delight in the power and intensity we have, and to use that power for good. Zir book, "You're Not Too Much" came out in 2016. Ze has been a UU all zir life, and lives and works in the Bay Area. Check out zir’s work with zir Sinha Intensive/Expansive Framework, work supporting teams and individuals working together, and podcast The Intensives Institute. We’re excited to welcome Leela because zir’s framework of supporting individuals and teams in embracing their strengths and working together even with different brains does not depend on medical diagnosis. Find out if you’re an intensive or expansive!
While you wait, you can download past presentations from the UUMA’s website or access the first in the series with Rev. Heather Petit.
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Article II Study Commission Update
The Article II Study Commission wishes to thank all who participated in the online feedback sessions on its latest draft of Article II (PDF, 3 pages). The commission will be working through that feedback and will produce another draft soon. For more information contact [email protected].
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Training for UU Religious Professionals Who Supervise in Congregations
We’re happy to announce that The Unitarian Universalist Association is partnering with The Management Center to provide practical, interculturally informed management skills training designed for UU religious professionals who supervise in congregations.
The Management Center will lead two separate two-day online Managing to Change the World trainings, facilitated by JK Nelson (he/him/his). We have space for 40 people in each session, and we’d like to invite you and your colleagues to apply!
Session One: Thursday, January 19 – Friday, January 20, 2023
Session Two: Monday, February 6 – Tuesday, February 7, 2023
All sessions will be held from 9:00am-3:00pm PT / 12:00-6:00pm ET
For more information, please read on here.
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New Congregational Salary Program, Open Enrollment, and an Onboarding Resource!
A message from Jan Gartner, UUA Compensation and Staffing Practices Manager:
In mid-November, the Office of Church Staff Finances published an especially newsy issue of Compensation and Staffing News, officially launching both Open Enrollment (for Health and Dental/Vision plans) and our new Congregational Salary Program. And, as I say in my editor’s note, “But that’s not all!” We also have a new Guide to Setting Terms of Employment to assist with onboarding and supervision of new non-ministerial staff. Check out the short articles and handy links – and subscribe at the bottom if you are not already receiving this monthly publication.
Open Enrollment runs through December 15 this year. Please ensure that all eligible staff (those scheduled to work at least 750 hours/year) are offered the opportunity to enroll.
We invite you to reach out to us ([email protected]) with any questions about the salary program. Our emphasis is on process – policies and practices that uphold equity, transparency, and economic justice. Leaders are not expected to make sudden dramatic changes to anyone’s pay as a result of our new salary charts. (And, just in case we need to say it, nobody’s pay should go down!) We will all be living into this new program over the next couple of years.
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100 UUs Who Made a Difference
The UU Church of Akron from the Central East Region has created an updated version of the “100 Unitarians & Universalists who made a difference” poster. This updated version better reflects the diversity of our history laying the groundwork for the change and growth.
You can read about the project in the Central East Region Blog. Information on how to purchase is on their website.
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Webinar on How to Access Federal Grant Funds for Clean Energy Improvements in Congregations
Join Side With Love to learn how your congregation can access federal grant funds for clean energy improvements to your congregation.
On December 8th, join Side with Love, Interfaith Power & Light, Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), Unitarian Universalist Association, and United Church of Christ for a webinar on how your congregation can access federal grant funds for clean energy improvements! This virtual event will be on December 8 at 4:00pm ET / 1:00pm PT.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is the most sweeping clean energy and climate legislation in history. Although it’s not perfect, the IRA presents a historic opportunity for climate action. The IRA opens the way for non-profits and houses of worship to access clean energy funds and tax credits. UU Congregations can now leverage federal funds for energy and resiliency improvements. This is a critical time for people of faith to reduce the impact of our congregational facilities through federal funding opportunities. Learn how to prepare to apply for Energy Efficiency Materials Pilot Program grants for your congregation’s energy efficiency work. Registration is free and required.
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