Topeka Congregation Featured in News Article

Our congregation in Topeka, Kansas, got some very nice coverage in a recent article in the local newspaper. See it here:

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/071208/rel_303070483.shtml

I like the article because it is upbeat and begins by reporting the story of the young families currently being attracted to the congregation and then tells how the congregation is responding to this growth. Other aspects of congregational life — how to live sustainably, their welcoming of BGLT people, their selling of Fair Trade products, their excellent minister and staff – are highlighted. It will be easy for anyone reading the article to figure out just what Unitarian Unitarians are all about.

I also checked out the congregation’s Web site, and it’s very good. If people read the newspaper article and then look at the fellowship’s Web site, they’ll find current information about programming, and a visitor’s page that tells what to expect at a Sunday service; what resources are available for children, youth, and adults; details about their location, with directions; and suggestions for finding a convenient place to park. There’s also a section about the plans for their building expansion, which was referred to in the newspaper article. Find their Web site here: www.uuft.org

Well done, Topeka!

 

Why This Ministry Matters

I spoke on Sunday at the ordination of a new minister. Lyn will focus her ministry on small congregations. She sees her work as consulting ministry with small, mostly lay led fellowships and churches in our district, rather than to a specific congregation. In her internship, and in the work she’s done as a district consultant in the last few years, Lyn has encouraged small congregations’ lay leaders to focus on mission, vision, and planning.

After the service, two ministers who were there suggested that I post my remarks on “Why This Ministry Matters” on my blog. Here they are, excerpted.

We have many small congregations in our District and across the country. Some of them have part time Consulting Ministry, but many are too small to afford it, or too isolated geographically to be able to attract professional ministry. Some, because of their history or the preference of their members, are not interested in having a minister. These small congregations wax or wane from year to year, depending on the energy and vision of their current lay leadership. Almost all of them struggle. They struggle to provide programming that attracts or keeps newcomers.  They struggle with too few volunteers and not enough money. If they own a building, they struggle to maintain it; if they rent, they are challenged by not having space that’s adequate or, perhaps, by having to find a new space every few years. The people are dedicated Unitarian Universalists, committed to having a liberal religious presence in their communities. But with the need to focus on month-to-month and year-to-year survival, there can be little time to focus on the larger questions.

Unitarian Universalist minister and Alban Institute consultant Dan Hotchkiss recently wrote an article entitled, “Who Owns the Church?” In the article, Dan contends that the mission of the church owns the church — that leaders and congregants ought to feel accountable to the mission.

 

If congregations believed that the mission owns the church, defining that mission would be essential. It would be critical for them to ask, “If we were truly living out our mission, what would that look like? What programs would we offer? What social justice activities would we be engaged in? What would we need to offer to families with children? To teenagers? To our aging members?” These mission-based questions often go unasked, are not even thought of, in the struggle just to maintain. And so some congregations are content to go on, month after month, doing pretty much the same thing, year after year. Unless some crisis occurs, or some large issue that requires a lot of attention, the congregation marches in place, trying not to lose ground, but not moving forward in any significant way. Lyn sees the possibility for something more.

If our small congregations get clear about mission and vision, and if they agree to move forward with new ideas, they can be stronger presences in their communities. They can be strong and valuable influences in their towns and cities. They can make a difference in the world. That’s why this ministry matters.

 

This is the ministry Lyn feels called to do. This is a ministry that is needed by our District, by our Association, because so many of our congregations are small ones. We need Lyn, and we need many more Lyn’s, who see the value in our small congregations and in serving them.

 

 

 

 

 

Meeting the need for intimacy in a growing congregation

Research tells us that if newcomers to a church don’t make some significant friendships in the church within a few months, they’ll leave the church.  Wise leaders in growing congregations provide many opportunities for people — newcomers and longer time members — to get to know each other and begin to form friendships. Here are examples from two growing congregations in Prairie Star District.

Shawnee Mission UU Church in Overland Park, KS [335 adult members and growing!] has many groups that are open to all - visitors, members, and friends. Some examples are the Thirtysomethings Potluck group, the Tuesday Book Group, the Ulysseans [active seniors], the Thursday Book Group, the Halftimers [adults 40ish to 60ish], the Math and Science Group, the Quilters, the Men’s Group, the Playgroup, and so on. Invitations to participate are listed in the monthly newsletter and the weekly Order of Service. It gives the impression that there’s a group for everyone — or there could be. The President of the congregation told me recently, “We want to be the kind of church where if someone comes to us with an idea, we will ask just two questions: ‘Does it fit with the mission of the church?’ and ‘Does it bust the budget?’ If the answer to the first question is ‘yes’ and the answer to the second question is ‘no,’ we’ll say ‘go for it!’”

When I spoke with an active member of SMUUChurch yesterday, she mentioned a recent Women’s Health and Wellness Retreat. Held on a Saturday, it featured yoga, a talk on the healing aspects of music, nutritious food, other programming, and plenty of opportunities for women to chat and get to know each other. “How did this come about?” I asked. “Oh, two women had an idea, and it just went from there.” And more than forty women of all ages came together for the day!

Here’s another example. I recently attended the Building Dedication for the UU Fellowship of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. [See photos in the sidebar.] During the reception afterwards, I spoke with the woman who’s in charge of the Covenant Groups** in this layled congregation of 93 adult members [and growing!]. She told me they have recently started a Covenant Group for people in Tomah, WI.

“Tomah?!? But that’s fifty miles away,” I said.

Yes, they have people who drive an hour to get to church on Sunday mornings. The congregation wanted the people in Tomah to have a way of bonding with one another at times other than Sundays, so they started the group for Tomah residents. And they’re thinking of starting another for people who live in Sparta, which is between LaCrosse and Tomah. In this way they’re meeting the needs for intimacy and connection for those folks who live too far away to come to LaCrosse for evening meetings during the week.

These forward-looking congregations know that people are coming to us looking for connection with people with similar values, for enrichment of their spiritual lives, and for ways to make a positive contribution in  the world. Providing these groups is a way of giving them what they’re seeking, and it can make all the difference!

**If you want to know more about Covenant Groups [sometimes called Connection Circles or Small Group Ministry], go to www.smallgroupministry.net 

All Too Common and Totally Preventable

The headline was in today’s newspaper: Church Treasurer Charged in Theft: volunteer accused of pilfering $18,000. The story went on to tell of the story of a St. Paul man who’s been accused of stealing nearly $18,000 from the weekly collections of a Christian church. Imagine the distress of the church leaders – the betrayal of trust – the difficulty the church will have now that the money is gone. And the question they all must be asking themselves is “How could this happen!?!?”

Well, of course, we can guess how it happened. One person was put in charge of counting the money in the Sunday collection plate, and of taking the money to the bank, and of depositing the money, and of writing checks from the church’s account, and of signing those checks.  How many red flags do you see in that sentence?? The newspaper report says that over several months, the treasurer wrote a number of checks payable to “cash” and cashed them himself. Since the treasurer would have been the person receiving the bank statements, there was no one to sound the alarm. Again, red flags!

A congregation needs to be able to trust the people it empowers to act on its behalf. Safeguards need to be put into place so that temptation is minimized. Safeguards not only protect the assets; they also protect the volunteers from false accusations of misdeeds.

The Sunday offering should be counted by two people who are not related to one another. One of them could prepare the deposit slip, and the other could take the money to the bank if this is not a staff responsibility. If the church has staff doing financial work, the staff can check the deposit slip against what’s actually in the envelope handed over from the volunteers. The volunteers counting the money and taking the money to the bank should be someone other than the treasurer. The treasurer can check copies of the deposit slips against the deposit receipts and against the bank statement which comes back at the end of the month. Multiple checks and balances will go a long way to ensuring security for the assets.

If your congregation has someone who knows about good accounting and money handling practices, ask that person to go over your practices and give you advice on improving them.  www.amazon.com  lists several books available to assist congregations with accounting systems and cash control. One that I particularly like is Richard J. Vargo’s book Effective Church Accounting [now out of print]. Vargo lists 50 internal controls for churches.

The bottom line is this — leaders need to ensure that congregation members can trust that the money they give to the church will be used wisely, and that includes setting up safety policies and practices for handling it. Without those assurances, why should they give?

Big Ideas for Small Congregations - a new resource!

Years ago now, Anne Heller wrote a book called Churchworks which quickly became a primary resource for Unitarian Universalist congregations because it covered almost all aspects of congregational life and did it in an engaging way. I’ve recently run across a book which is, I think, just as helpful, and its target audience is small congregations. The book was written by Jane Dwinell and Ellen Germann-Melosh, both former Unitarian Universalist Association District Staff members with extensive experience working in small congregations. It’s called Big Ideas for Small Congregations: a friendly guide for leaders. The book, available for $20 [free shipping within the U.S.], is available from Spirit of Life Publishing, PO Box 243, Montpelier, VT 05601.

Big Ideas is organized in three sections: Centering, Connecting, and Creating Change. Centering has to do with the organizational aspects of congregational life, such as leadership, finance, a place to meet, communication, managing conflict. Connecting is all about the relational aspect of congregational life that brings people together — worship, religious exploration, hospitality, pastoral care. Creating Change is about mission ["why do we exist?"], growth ["are we serving those who would appreciate our lifegiving message?"], and how to start a new congregation.

This resource is chock-full of good, practical ideas and would be an excellent study guide for small or new emerging congregations. A group of leaders could read a chapter a month and then do a reality check on their own activities, to see if changes or improvements are needed. The chapter on Money would be a great place to start; there’s a can-do spirit that pervades the material.

I have just one concern about this book — it’s in about 10-point type, and it’s a little hard on the eyes.

But that’s minor. If you are a leader or a member of a small congregation [less than 150 people in worship], this book is a handy little resource guide for you! I’m going to be recommending it to our congregations in Prairie Star District.

It’s January, and a new series begins!

As a new, occasional feature of this blog, I’ll be sharing some favorite Web sites created for UU congregations in Prairie Star District. Here’s one to look at. It’s the web site of Minnesota Valley UU Fellowship in Bloomington, Minnesota.  You can find it here:    http://www.mnvalleyuu.org/     and here’s why I like it.

One – our UU values are stated right up front. “We are a Green Sanctuary candidate. We are a Peace Site. We are a Welcoming Congregation.” And those statements are links that take you to the explanations, with photos!

Two — right in the middle of the screen, you see “Welcome, Visitors” with a short explanation about the congregation being in transition and a statement welcoming newcomers, with a commitment to meeting their needs.

Three - as you scroll down, the next thing you see is the Sunday schedule, with links to the current Sunday service topics and other program information. Again, the heading is “Join Us on Sunday,” which is hospitable and inviting.

Four - there is a wealth of information on this site, including a section on the sidebar that says, “What’s the Latest [the newest information that's been added] and the Best” [archives]. There are photos of the staff members and sections written by the interim minister, the director of religious education, the minister of music, and so on.

By exploring this web site, you could learn much more about the congregation than you could just by visiting on Sunday morning. Indeed, that’s probably one of thoughts behind the web site – that the newcomer who looks over the web site will have the opportunity to do some self-selecting before getting in the car to drive to a Sunday service.

At the bottom of the page, there are links to directions and a calendar. I noticed that updates were made to the site just today.

This is very well done and represents a terrific commitment by the Webmaster and all who provide the information that goes on it. I’m impressed! 

Chalice Lighters Announces a New Fund

We’ve got a nifty program here in our District that has been assisting congregations with their growth-related projects for more than 20 years. It’s called Chalice Lighters. Here’s how it works: individual Unitarian Universalists sign up to be Chalice Lighters. They promise to respond to three calls a year, with a check for between $10 and $25 each time, to support a worthy project in a local congregation. Some projects are large  and receive a “full call” of $6,000 - $8,000 — first professional staff member such as a minister or a religious educator, or purchasing or renovating a building, or starting a new congregation. Some projects are small and receive a smaller grant of $1,000 - 2,000 — examples include a small sound system, a keyboard for better music, starting a campus ministry group or young adult group. This program, conceived by Rev. Alan Egly in the early 1980s, has given out more than $400,000 over the years. Those small checks really add up!

We’ve just started a new fund for a new purpose: a Social Justice Fund. This fund will make grants of up to $1,000 to congregations for use in integrating social justice work into the active life of their congregation. The intention of these grants is to build community awareness of UU values in action. Recipient congregations are expected to fund a portion of program costs. Examples of programs that could be funded include things such as: workshops on self-sufficiency and welfare rights; nutritional weekend food supply for elementary school students; UU Social Justice Empowerment workshops; micro loans; Green Sanctuary/Earth Ministry projects. In each case, the congregation needs to be able to tell how they will publicize the project in their community when they apply for the grant.

Obviously, the more Chalice Lighters we have, the more money we can give to congregations for their growth-related projects. The “full calls” could be bigger, and we could fund more of the smaller grants, too. If you’re not already a Prairie Star District Chalice Lighter, consider signing up today. You can find more information at www.psduua.org/ChaliceLighters/ChaliceLighters 

Is It True? Is It Kind? Will It Help?

The Prairie Star District Board met last weekend at the UU Church of Minnetonka in Wayzata MN, a western suburb of Minneapolis. Mounted above the office door of the Minister, Kent Hemmen Saleska, was a sign that read: “Is it true? Is it kind? Will it help?” Great questions, as far as I’m concerned.

Recently I’ve been consulting with leaders of several congregations about the conflict the congregations are experiencing. After listening to stories of the way people interact, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be helpful if people asked themselves those three questions before they opened their mouths?” Is it true? Is it kind? Will it help?

Is it true? Well, it may be true as far as you are concerned, but are you sure others would agree? There are certainly different opinions about “the truth.” Is it true that “the minister sure doesn’t care about us old ones because he spends all his time working on that new Celebration service” ? ***   I think it takes a leap in logic to make that assumption. Don’t be so sure you know the truth — or at least, the whole truth — until you’ve talked this out with the person from whom you’re feeling estranged.

Next scenario: Well, yes, it’s true — but is it kind? Just because something is true doesn’t mean that talking about it is kind. It may be true that the religious education director’s teenaged son came to church in dirty jeans and raggedy sneakers, but is it kind to mention it? What is your point?

Next scenario: Well, no, I know it’s not kind, but I feel like saying it anyway [Read: "I'm feeling snarky!"]  Then ask yourself, will it help? Will it help, or will it make the situation worse? Will it help to bring you closer to the person you’re feeling cranky about? Or if you’re tempted to mention it to a third person, is it really an attempt to enlist another person onto your side? Is it triangulation? At a deeper level, how will this comment help us to get beyond our discomfort and start the road to mending our relationship? And if it won’t, why am I tempted to say it? Is there something else I could say, or should I, perhaps, just hold my tongue? And look for a better way to address my concerns, when I’m ready to approach the person, in an attitude of humility and forgiveness, seeking understanding and reconciliation.

Is it true? Is it kind? Will it help? Three excellent questions that I’m going to try to keep in mind, as I go about my life and my work, in the days and weeks ahead.

***[from the "Anxious Congregation" DVD, Healthy Congregations workshop, by Peter Steinke]

50 Years From Now

Ten days ago I was with the Fellowship in Manhattan, Kansas, as they celebrated their 50th anniversary. It was the third Sunday service in a series — one on their past; one on their present; and the last one — on their future. I was particularly moved by the comments made by Eric, the president of the congregation — a young fellow who grew up in the fellowship — who said, “My family fully intends to be here when we celebrate our 100th anniversary — 50 years from now!” Now that’s a perspective!

In my few minutes of time with the congregation, I suggested several characteristics that would serve them well as they go forward toward the next fifty years.

I said, “Be flexible. A flexible congregation is one that will thrive. Do a regular scan of the community around you. Look at the opportunities that exist and move on them. A flexible congregation will be able to act on openings.”

I said, “Think ahead. On your list of large and small ideas, there are several that would help you to move forward — such as to budget 105% of projected expenses each year, placing 5% in a contingency fund. Planning ahead will help you to seize on opportunities when they arise.”

I said, “Provide opportunities for people to deepen their spiritual lives. People need chances to deepen their identity as Unitarian Universalists, whether they are new members or long time members. Helping people to articulate their UU faith gives them the power to express their values in the public square, which will help raise the visibility of Unitarian Universalism, which will help us grow.”

I said, “Be sure the infrastructure of the congregation keeps up with your growth in numbers. The governance structure must shift and grow in complexity as the membership grows.”

And I said, “Be a learning congregation. Send people to Leadership School, to General Assembly, to the District Annual Conference. Learn all you can from others. Your idea to send two carloads of people to other congregations for a Sunday service or a weekend is a terrific idea. Ask to have a 2-hour meeting with their leaders and learn all you can.”

I know I won’t be present with Eric and his family when they celebrate the congregation’s 100th anniversary. Their congregation has had the benefit of a number of leaders who truly led, and there’s no reason to think that the next fifty years will be any different, if they continue to live out the characteristics they’ve exhibited in the last few years. You can see a few photos of the Fellowship in Manhattan in the side bar.

Starting a New Congregation

In my last post, I said that a good topic for the next post would be Starting a New Congregation. Well, Don Skinner beat me to the punch and wrote an article about that for the online UU World.  One of the featured congregations is from our District — the Northeast Iowa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Decorah, Iowa.

Several years ago, Pacific Northwest District created a brochure to help people considering this learn about resources available to them. With their permission, we have adapted it for people in Prairie Star District. It’s available from our office.

You can find Don’s article here:
http://www.uuworld.org/life/articles/35842.shtml