The Importance of Feedback

We have received two important bits of feedback this week from our Beloved Community on the Name Change Discussion Circle Process. One was that we were not loud enough in introducing the Circle Process which we hope was answered by the blast that went out Monday to our members.

The other bit of feedback was that our silence on the history of past name change discussions and why we chose this time to have another discussion might seem to some that the Circle Process is inside politics. The feedback we received was that the Circle Process blast might not engage members who might be more engaged with details about the past and the present.

Our members come from many different religious backgrounds and experiences. For some of us this might be our first religious community. As a pluralistic religious community it is sometimes difficult to find language that fits all of us. The name of our religious home is often the first contact people have with us. The name might draw people in, might send a message that we are not a fit with other’s needs in a religious community, or might be benign in one’s search for a religious community. The name change discussions seem to derive from our personal stories of finding and living in such a pluralistic community along with how we present ourselves to the world around us.

The discussions through the years, I know of many from my 30 years of attending our Beloved Community, have led to at least one membership vote that failed to make a change and to a proposal for a name change at the 2015-2016 Annual Meeting. That proposal was taken off the ballot based on concerns that there were not enough opportunities for discussion on a name change. The discussions were lay led. The Board did not participate in a leadership role in the process.

The proposal was pulled with the understanding that there would be a process for discussion during the 2016-2017 year. The Board has taken a leadership role in this discussion process. We chose a circle process as we believe that circles give our Beloved Community members an opportunity to share their thoughts/feelings on a name change along with sharing empathy with other’s thoughts/feelings in a deep listening, covenant group style setting which fits well with our Covenant of Engagement.

Please keep the feedback coming. I promise the feedback will always be thoughtfully reflected upon and not always answered in a long written response.

Brian Meister Board Member

Name Change Circles will be held for 14 days starting October 2 through October 15. The Circles will be facilitated by the UCE Board of Trustees. The Circles will give our Beloved Community members an opportunity to share their thoughts/feelings on a name change, an opportunity to express empathy for those who think/feel differently about a name change, and an opportunity to propose a name. The Circles will be conducted similar to a Covenant Group. Deep Listening is an integral component of the process. After the closing words of a Circle members will be asked to fill out a form that shares the member’s circle answers in written form. The forms will add options for next steps. For those that cannot make it to a circle we will offer other opportunities to fill out a form. We want to hear from as many members who choose to have their voice heard. We will accept forms until October 31.

The purpose of the Circles and the written forms is both to give our Beloved Community an opportunity to be heard on the issue of a possible name change and to give the Board of Trustees data to make a recommendation on whether to further explore a name change. We will make a recommendation shortly after the October 31 deadline.

The Circle times are, Saturday and Sundays at 12:30, Weeknights (except Thursdays) at 7:00, and Thursdays at 7:30. The room numbers vary. The Circles will vary in length. The opportunities to speak will be time limited. The opportunity to share your thoughts and feeling will be two minutes long, the empathy piece will be one minute long,the name proposal will be a few seconds to propose a name. We are not looking for a discussion of specific names at this point. If there are 30 people the Circle will probably last about 1:45. If there are four people the Circle will probably last around 18 minutes.

Please contact us with any questions.

Submitted by: Brian Meister