The following communication conveys a proposed approach to transforming our Unitarian Universalist faith across the districts that comprise the Southern Region of the UUA. Congregations and their leaders are the intended beneficiaries of the proposed direction, as is our larger faith, as congregations and leaders become more effective and vibrant. The proposed changes will require delegate voting to implement. Those votes will be held at future annual assemblies across our region after those who are interested have a chance to openly discuss what the proposal is about, whether it best serves our interests and to propose changes that would make it stronger and more reflective of our needs.

Dear Members of the Mid-South District of the UUA,

Your District Board is in touch to share important and exciting news! This affects all congregations in our district as well as all districts in the Southern Region (Florida, Mid-South, Southeast, SWUUC), so please take a moment to review the enclosed message and share it with your congregation.

Our Common Background and Purpose: All four Southern Region District Boards have been working with Jim Key, UUA Moderator representing UUA Trustees, Rev. Scott Tayler, UUA Director of Congregational Life, Rev. Kenn Hurto, Executive Lead for Southern Region Staff, Southern Region Staff and each other in an intentional, covenanted and concerted effort to help congregations and leaders best serve our Unitarian Universalist faith. These groups met jointly September 27-29, 2013 at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center (itself founded on UU principles) in North Carolina, to reaffirm the purpose of our work together and plan our path forward. This was a continuation of collaboration we started in December, 2010 when representatives from our groups met, created The Orlando Platform and then began implementing the commitments we outlined therein. At The Mountain, after deep discussion and sharing, we decided on the next steps that we would recommend our member congregations support through delegate polling at future meetings in our districts.

Our Recommendations: To ensure due diligence and viable implementation, the four districts in our Southern Region, jointly with administration, staff and trustees, offer the following recommendations and steps: 

• Recognition that "clusters", defined as a group of congregations bound together by something they hold in common, are a form of small group ministry that we and other organizations have proven to be effective in the areas of mutual support, achievement of a common goal, and sharing of best practices.
• In our region of the UUA, clusters could be arranged by geography, a common cause, a common trait, a common leadership role or the presence of a common issue or need.
• Some clusters already exist across our region; the intent is to use this model more intentionally and frequently to help congregations improve their effectiveness and impact. Staff and selected elders will help the intensity of progress in this area.
• Recognition that a strong and institutionally supported "elderhood" model is the best way for people who are recognized by their congregations as leaders and stewards of our faith to serve beyond their congregational walls; "elders" will be called to (in no particular order) :
• Serve as a linkage element between congregations and UUA Trustees to ensure congregational needs are represented by UUA Trustees.
• Participate in the development and leadership of clusters.
• Work with UUA staff to help develop leaders, their skills and their impact to congregations.
• Act as an advisory body in deep partnership with Rev. Scott Tayler, Rev. Kenn Hurto, and regional staff to ensure program effectiveness and staff management.These roles listed above arise from our recognition that congregational participation in governance functions and management of congregational services and joint ministry are two distinct ministries. We are seeking to be more intentional about how we approach this.
•  The structure used currently for governance by district boards is viewed to be too people-, process-, structure- and money intensive to be efficient and effective.
• All districts in our region have realized that there is truly little to govern, in part because any governance at a district or regional level would be redundant to the governance responsibilities of UUA Trustees.   We are seeking to develop stronger input into these governance processes rather than duplicate them.
• While we recommend that boards formally give up governance responsibility at the district level, there is still the need for a fiduciary body, at least at the regional level, to oversee financial and asset management matters; the scope of which needs to be determined.
• To support the democratic representation of congregational concerns the current district structure supports, we support the maintenance of each district's identity to its current geographical alignment; we need to determine how best to do that. It is possible that a district cluster configuration, vs. a legal entity known present day as a district, might be the best vehicle for that representation; next steps include finalizing a recommendation.
• Effective communication will be essential to informing every one about why recommended changes are imperative and ensuring all Unitarian Universalist leaders have a way to exchange views about the challenges and solutions we are exploring.

Our Implementation Plans: Due diligence is required in several areas to further the development of elder and cluster models, to eliminate the structures no longer needed for governance and to ensure that democratic congregational representation is maintained. Toward that end, four task forces, comprised of staff and board members from each of the four Southern Region districts, have been commissioned to pursue the details associated with responsibly achieving these strategies: 

• Communication Task Force - Develop and implement a multi-media communication approach that facilitates the sharing of information and the vehicles for open exchange of questions, suggestions, plans and expectations. Doing this well will help all congregations and their delegates prepare to vote on recommended implementation plans when that time comes.  
• Elderhood Task Force - Further define the roles and models for the work of elders, their accountability to those they serve, and how to identify, commission, and manage them.  
• Fiduciary Task Force - Determine the scope of financial responsibilities and assets that need oversight of a fiduciary body accountable for representing district or regional concerns. Determine which span of oversight (district, regional or UUA) is best suited to handle the identified concerns and propose the steps and model to implement. This team is responsible to understand the implications of dissolving or creating any legal entities (e.g. districts, regions or other structures) needed to best handle financial matters and oversight, while enabling structures that support governance functions we no longer need to be eliminated.  
• Democratic Process Task Force - Ensure that democratic representation of congregations within the UUA organization remains intact or is strengthened as elderhood and cluster models are implemented and the inefficiencies associated with district structures are removed. This team will ensure that rights and obligations bestowed to congregations by the UUA bylaws are well-served.  

Each task force will interact with the other task forces to ensure integrity of the transition, as each will also interact with the staff led effort to further implement the cluster model.

Our Historical Continuity: It's important to keep in mind that the changes and plans outlined above are truly a continuation of steps already taken to deepen, expand and clarify our shared ministry throughout our UUA over the recent three years. To summarize, between the time of the December 2010 meeting in Orlando and the recently convened meeting at The Mountain, the following changes have occurred with our region and the UUA: 

• Staff regionalization has taken place and a complete complement of Congregational Life Consultants are now on board, developing clusters, preparing to support a robust Elderhood model, and working to reestablish a personal relationship with each congregation in our district/region.
• We are piloting steps to facilitate that each congregation in our region has equitable access to resources through the consolidation of district finances into a regional financial management model and the implementation of GIFT stewardship approach (one ask per congregation for what previously was UUA dues and district dues)..
• Each district board has or is in progress of reducing their board size to be more actionable and effective. Each has assessed their role in governance, declaring it no longer relevant.  Each developed the determination to create a model that enables the time lay leaders invest supporting our faith to be more meaningful than governance or oversight roles tend to be; hence their passionate advocacy for the elder and cluster model development described above.
• Each district adopted the UUA Ends as their common focus and committed their alignment to support those ends in covenant with UUA Administration and staff and UUA Trustees. Such action facilitated increased collaboration and alignment of the four districts to further the purpose of the UUA and its member congregations, leading to the joint passion and enthusiasm for the recommendations and transition plans we promised to implement.

Our Commitment, Our Passion: The benefits of our recommendations won't immediately be clear to all involved. Some congregations are seeing benefits from early implementation items. While for others; experiencing benefits will take more time. Over the next few months, you can expect to see more communication about what's happening, attend webinars to get more information, engage in discussions to exchange views and determine what you can contribute to make transformation happen.

Our UUA Moderator, Jim Key, and our new UUA Director of Congregational Life, Rev. Scott Tayler, join each district of the Southern Region in a belief that the next steps of our journey will truly be transformational. We look forward to sharing more over the coming months and engaging with you to make your congregation more vibrant and our UUA faith more relevant. We are a life changing faith and we are moving forward to bring more peace, love and justice to our world.

To our faith,