From DLRE: July 10, 2020
In our policy governance, we have Ends Statements to guide our work within and beyond UCE. For lifespan religious education, our Ends are:
We foster intellectual excitement, lifelong learning, truth seeking, and respect for our traditions of reason and faith
We are a people of diverse beliefs united in covenant. We develop relationships that open us to the lives of people in our congregation, community, and world
How would you answer these thought-provoking questions?
- What would it look like for us to incorporate these ends, to practice striving toward them in our daily lives?
- How can our End statements serve the purposes of the church in this new reality?
Some of you participated in a recent All-Church Wednesday gathering to ponder these questions. There was much lively conversation! Revs. Eileen and Karen G. and I have been thinking about and sharing our thoughts on these questions as well. It is our intention to engage as many people into thinking and expressing their thoughts as UCE continues to mold and solidify its mission during this last year of interim work and in anticipation of calling our next Senior Minister. We encourage you to mull these over and share within your families, with life partners, as well as in groups and committees you gather in.
On another note, communication is crucial and can be a challenge especially in larger communities and groups. This week, I had a challenge present itself. Without going into the minute details, it showed me two things: first, that in order to effectively communicate, you need to know who it is that needs the information; and second, that people need to know where and how to find that communication.
The newsletter is a huge part of the communication channel at UCE, as well as email, phone calls, and social media. What arose from the challenge this week was the realization that people categorize things differently, and therefore don’t always know where to find the information they need.
Specifically, there is confusion on what falls under Lifespan Religious Education. (Actually, there also appears to be confusion on the word “lifespan”, but I won’t digress here.) Let us consider the non-fiction book group here – is it considered religious education, or does it fall under programs and groups? Since it is non-fiction, one could argue the former, and since it is an interest group, one could argue for the latter. The next question is, what label should information about this be categorized under for our website and in the newsletter?
I have been including programs and events that connect to religious education and lifelong learning in my communications, even if they are not directly under my umbrella. You may have noticed that in the newsletter religious education has a purple banner, social justice has a green banner, and general UCE info has a yellow one. I also try to put things within RE in chronological order, with the upcoming programs first.
As we move forward in the interim process during this period of virtual UCE, communication will be even more crucial. What mechanisms are best in gathering and disseminating information about the process and decisions being made? How do we coordinate these efforts and allow time and space for as many to participate as possible?
We must also acknowledge that there is a responsibility on the receiver’s end to seek the information needed and then actually read it. Too often I hear, “I didn’t know that xyz event was happening!” And when I ask if they read the newsletter the reply is often along the lines of “no, I didn’t have time”. Another reply given is, “it’s too long to read all of it.” While I would agree with this, I also believe that it is still our responsibility to keep as informed as possible and take some ownership of the communication process. Jessica does a great job compiling all of the information sent to her every week – and we sure have a lot of awesome things going on to write about! And that is the best problem to have!
In Faith,
Kathy