Dear ones,

Winter has arrived in the place where I live when I am not with you in Evanston. Last week end we had what is being termed an ”epic blizzard,” that had even folks with better things to do challenging their computer search engines to find the most accurate comparisons of past snow fall, wind gusts and days of school closings.

I found myself thinking about “traction.” I used my search engine to look it up and found an epic number of unhelpful definitions. “Traction,” in common northern Minnesota parlance, refers to the amount of shoe or boot “grip” needed to sustain forward momentum on ice sidewalks or tire grip needed to keep a vehicle moving on a snowy roadway. An effectively spinning wheel with no traction is just, well, a spinning wheel; a foot encountering glare ice is a foot in the air.

What I was more interested in as I thought of UCE is the kind of traction that is needed for any kind of plan to move forward. As physical traction depends upon the adherence between the wheel and the road, the success of our interim plan depends upon your participation.

During this first quarter of the first year of our time together the traction has been nothing short of stunning. Nearly half of you have showed up for one or more of the Interim meetings or gatherings – from Sunday services on transition and story, to town hall meetings, to brown bag conversations, retreats and workshops, and one-on-one meetings with me. You have brought your thoughts back to your groups and returned your insights in e-mails and coffee hour encounters. As we used to say in some far off time, “You rock!” Your grip is good!

AND the second part of the traction piece is all about momentum. “Grip” AND “sustained forward momentum.” We are entering the “winter season” of this project where the barriers to traction begin to emerge. Slippery surfaces abound. Busy lives, early sunsets, slippery streets, frosty windshields, narrow streets, etc., and the draw of the home hearth. Not to mention a creeping feeling of “done that, been there,” “many voices don’t need one more,” and “this is taking too long.”

This is where the wheels start to spin and we run the risk of getting stuck. All of these are true stories and there is a bigger story.

On the “Interim” page of the UCE Website you will find the report of where we have come – the initial report with updates; the report of last month’s Volunteer Workshop; and the Legacy report that helps frame past ministries in terms of the ways in which UCE has been shaped by the lasting gifts of past ministers. You can also access the sermons on transition and the need for a larger story.

December will be Interim Lite. There will be some Brown Bag groups where we will continue to look at the Covenant of Engagement. I will be attending meetings with the Staff and the Transition Team and the Board to plan for the next six months.

In January there will be a second meeting of Volunteer Leaders to continue our conversation about structure; I will offer my reflections on Mission from the pulpit and you will be invited into a deeper conversation in the Brown Bag sessions and other venues about UCE Mission. There will be some intention around gaining a deeper understanding of UCE members involvement in Social Justice.

I promise to keep this work as exciting and engaging as possible. We need your voices and your presence to provide the traction that will move you to a true new beginning. Keep “Interim” on your 2020 calendar!

This is the season that, above all else, invites peace. In the quiet of the winter night, may you find it, and for a moment, may it hold you close.

In trust,

Karen

Dear ones,

The Interim Report based on September’s visit has been reviewed and reformatted and attached to this article. The input was gathered in the following ways:

• Board of Trustees Weekend Retreat
• Day Long Staff Start-up
• Elected Leaders Retreat – Friday evening, September 6; all day, Saturday, September 7
• After service forum on September 8 with approximately 100 members and friends attending
• Meeting with Covenant Group Leaders
• Three “Brown Bag” sessions involving approximately 30 participants
• Meeting with Membership Engagement Council
• Several extended e-mail responses
• Meetings requested by individual congregants
• Invitations to Brown Bag groups and to contact me directly appeared in newsletters and were announced at the September newsletters and announced at the September meeting.

Every response may not be represented here, though I did make a concerted effort to include them all, at least thematically. I identified nine areas of strength which are labeled “Assets” in the report. For each asset, I identified challenges. These are based on clusters of responses which, not addressed intentionally either individually or institutionally or culturally, will, over time, diminish the asset. For each set of challenges, I suggested some possible strategies – many of them involving education, self-reflection, policy changes, or creating formal and informal structures. This part of the report will be fleshed out in greater detail as we, you, I, the Staff and Transition and Leadership, consider priorities and planning for the rest of the interim time. If there are some that I missed, we will add them. And finally, I attached each of these pieces to one of the five Interim Tasks.

I am being as transparent in this process as I can while respecting confidentiality and relating to both the impact of history and the need and desire to move forward in a healthy and life-giving way.

During my October visit, there will be three Brown Bag sessions (see schedule), opportunities for casual conversation, meetings of many kinds and Sunday services, where your questions will be heard and honored. Here is what I ask:

Read the whole report. Engage it with an open mind and an open heart. This means engaging your interest and your curiosity and suspending judgment and resisting reactivity. Try not to react or draw or share conclusions for at least 24 hours. Read it again. Write down your questions. When you decide to talk about it with others, try to begin at least two sentences with, “I wonder…”

Consider this a gift from me to you. Hold it gently and when I am with you, let’s consider its value as a basis for a new beginning. Everything changes.

In love and gratitude,

Karen

PS – Plan to attend the Beyond Categorical Thinking worship and Workshop on October 12.  There will be much there that could inform our journey together.

UCE has a number of Core Assets.

1. Core of dedicated and resilient leaders. This was evident in the overall and earnest participation in the Board Retreat and the Elected Leaders Retreat. There was a ready understanding of the value of the Interim Process and a willingness to engage. The diversity of ages and experience in the leadership core speaks to the potential for growth. Discussions were candid and constructive.

• Challenges:
  • Need for an intentional approach for succession planning and leadership development
•  Strategies:
  • TBD
•  Interim Task:
  • Clarifying the appropriate leadership roles of minister(s), church staff, and lay leaders and navigating the shifts in leadership that may accompany times of transition

2. Persistence of members loyal through transition, disappointment and personal hurt . Many of the people who attended the Small Group Question sessions as well as some of the leadership reported continued involvement inUCE in spite of disappointments, personal hurts and frustrations related to professional leadership of ministers and staff. Others were were concerned about particular theological orientations of ministers and other members. Some had taken some time away and returned because they value the sense of community and /or the social justice initiatives undertaken at UCE. They cared enough to show up and share their concerns.

• Challenges:
  • Unresolved hurts based upon both personal experience and reported experience of others
  • Compromised trust by individuals based upon unclear expectations of ministers and others.
  • Unclear or unshared understanding of theological diversity as part of Unitarian Universalist identity
•  Strategies:
  • Appropriate and relevant Information relative to departures of ministers
  • Healing circles or  individual, appropriate pastoral care
  • Ritual of release and renewal
  • Processing behavior of ministers and congregants through the lens of transition
  • Clarification of the roles and expectations of ministers
  • review and claiming of past ministerial legacies
  • An overall move toward forgiveness and accessing the healing resource that is the life giving spirit of religious community.
  • Intentional review and application of Covenant of Engagement for congregation, ministers and staff
  • Creation of policies and structures that ensure safety
  • Sermons and classes which emphasize the pluralist
•  Interim Task:
  • Claiming and honoring the past and engaging and honoring its griefs and conflicts

3. Enduring tradition of quality music and worship – In spite of other concerns about ministers, expectation and appreciation of excellence in preaching and music remains core for many.

• No challenges noted

4. Awareness of the value and importance of programing and inclusion of children and youth. In spite of some unevenness in this area the issues around this aspect of congregational life remains alive and moving to the forefront.

• Challenges:
  • Need for a congregational review and refresh of the RE Program
  • Need to support and retain stable professional Religious Education staff
•  Strategy:
  • TBD
•  Interim Task:
  • Proudly coming into possession of a renewed vision and strong stewardship, prepared for new growth and new professional leadership, ready to embrace the future with anticipation and zest.

5. Strong and visible commitment to social justice reflected in a wide range and variety of ways to be involved and serve the wider community.

• Challenges
  • The perception that Social Justice efforts are too scattered and that a greater impact would be possible with more focus
  • The perception that more focus would cause division.
•  Strategies:
  • Social justice mapping to find clusters of involvement within and outside the congregation that might lead to a possible focus.
  • Celebration and recognition of members’ efforts toward justice and equity
•  Interim task:
  • recognizing the UCE’s unique identity and its strengths, needs, and challenges

6. Commitment to Policy Governance – Although this is a fairly recent change to the governance of UCE, there is a growing understanding of its potential value and function at the Board and Staff levels.

• Challenges:
  • Clearer attention to balancing the need for action with congregational involvement
  • Valuable programs and outreach of UCE.
  • Unclear relationship to mission and ends statements as a source of institutional authority.
  • Unclear about process for involving and informing congregation about decisions that affect them.
  • Understood and well-communicated common sense of what the congregation is trying to do together beyond the particulars.
  • Lack of Institutional priorities with mission as criteria
  • Process for creating, reviewing and evaluating ends statements.
•  Strategies:
  • Intentional continuing education of congregation, leaders and staff about the theory and practice of Policy Governance.
  • Increased communication and involvement of congregation in vetting policies and changes before they are voted on
  • Renewed vision of the process and practice of democracy as a principle of Unitarian Universalist faith
•  Interim Task:
  • Recognizing the UCE’s unique identity and its strengths, needs, and challenges

7. Existence of easily articulated Mission Statement and Ends Statements which express the ideals of the community and Unitarian Universalist Principles, which could serve as a basis for reinforcing community standards and setting community priorities for use of congregational resources.

• Challenges:
  • When asked to articulate Mission and Ends Statements, responses were sketchy at best. Without intention, it is difficult for such statements to inform the work of the congregation or its leadership.
•  Strategies:
  • Discussion topic for small groups
  • After church information session
  • Information in newsletter
  • Board workshop to review, evaluate and/or deepen commitment to mission and ends and bring them to life in the governance of UCE.
•  Interim Task:
  • Proudly coming into possession of a renewed vision and strong stewardship, prepared for new growth and new professional leadership, ready to embrace the future with anticipation and zest.

8. Existence of a Relational Covenant and Congregational Relations Team in place as standards for behavior in UCE congregational life. This is a valuable resource that many in our discussions felt was underutilized as reflected in cultural patterns of communication, reactions to change, conflict and disappointment

• Challenges:
  • Conflict ambivalence/difficulty in addressing differences with civility
  • Lack of intention or understanding around Covenant of Engagement
  • Inability or unwillingness to address patterns of uncivil communication
  • Reactivity to strongly expressed needs or opinions -“squeaky wheels” driving decisions
  • Willingness to accept and share superficial/partial stories that attribute motivations to others
  • Desire to maintain the positive legacies of past ministers and to extend the exemplary and lasting contribution of the ministers
  • Divisive rhetoric relative to social justice
  • Congregation of divides
  • Incomplete integration of change
  • Awareness of the part that the congregational culture has played in conflicts with ministers (shared responsibility)
  • Awkward patterns of communication between congregation and staff indicating unclarity about roles, responsibilities and boundaries
•  Strategies:
  • Addressed by education and practice:
  • Guided review of Relational Covenant for all UCE groups and meetings
  • Adult Education offerings on:
    • Crucial Accountability
    • Compassionate Communication
    • Transition
    • Civil Discourse
•  Interim Tasks:
  • Recognizing the UCE’s unique identity and its strengths, needs, and challenges
  • Claiming and honoring the past and engaging and honoring its griefs and conflicts

9.  A strong and committed professional support staff.

• Challenges:
  • Uneven staff appreciation
  • Unclear expectation of staff roles, responsibilities and lines of authority
•  Strategies:
  • Establish and publicize a clear organizational chart
  • Publicize a directory of “Who to Contact about What”
  • Have a semi annual congregational staff appreciation event.
•  Interim task:
  • Clarifying the appropriate leadership roles of minister(s), church staff, and lay leaders and navigating the shifts in leadership that may accompany times of transition

10. A core of dedicated volunteers who show up to support the ongoing and special programming of the church.

• Challenges:
  • Uneven volunteer appreciation
•  Strategies:
  • Have annual volunteer appreciation rituals and events
  • Thank each other
•  Interim task:
  • Clarifying the appropriate leadership roles of minister(s), church staff, and lay leaders and navigating the shifts in leadership that may accompany times of transition