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Notable Dates in January:
January 1st - New Years Day
January 6th - Epiphany
January 15th - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 27th - Holocaust Memorial Day
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Special Announcements from NER | |
Introducing Art Nava
We are thrilled to introduce Art Nava, the newest member of our team, who comes with an impressive background and a history of dedicated service to congregations. Some of you may already know Art through his extensive involvement in our Peer Facilitators program, having been a part of the program since its inception in 2015. This program, shepherded by the recently retired Joe Sullivan, has been instrumental in providing support to congregations during board and leadership retreats. Art's longstanding commitment to this initiative reflects his passion for fostering vibrant and thriving congregational life.
In addition to his role as a Peer Facilitator, Art is a valued member of Arlington Street Church in Boston. With a rich history of service, Art has served in various capacities, including board chair, treasurer, worship coordinator, and lead of their tech teamn responsible for producing weekly hybrid services. This strong base of experience within a congregation adds a unique perspective to Art's approach to supporting congregations in our region as they meet today’s challenges.
As we welcome Art to our team, we celebrate not only his gifts and talents but also his deep connection to the life of a congregation. We believe that his insights and dedication will greatly contribute to the continued success of our mission. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Art Nava. If you have any questions or wish to connect with him, feel free to reach out directly or contact any member of our staff team.
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NER Career Opportunity
Are you interested in engaging with the UUA and the New England Region in a new way? Please see our current open job postings for a full time and a part time Congregational Life Field Staff team members. We encourage you to enquire and/or apply today.
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On Spiritual Leadership from the NER Team. . . | |
A Perspective To Be Known
by Hilary Allen
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For those of you not embroiled in this particular time of year known as search season, now is when many of your sibling congregations have compiled their “records” to be shared with candidating ministers. It is a busy time of collating months of conversation and inward reflection about the desired ministry partner a congregation seeks. It is also a time of outward reflection as Search Committees discern how to articulate who the congregation is and has been.
Part of our work as regional staff is reviewing the draft records both as a transition companion, as well as a thought partner on how to best present the congregation. Every year that I read these records, a different aspect of them sticks out for me and this year it is the prompt: “Describe how your congregation is known/perceived by the larger community.”
I suspect the intention of the prompt is to allow leaders to share about their congregation from an outside perspective. After a score of paragraphs on everything from personnel to membership & finances to demographics, here is a chance for a Search Committee to share about the congregation’s reputation on the streets.
In addition to the prompt itself, what I’m paying attention to this year is how much congregations seem to be struggling mightily to answer. Many teams have shared what they are putting out into their communities — detailing visibility, events, and even marketing. But if I read between the lines, what many records reveal about what the larger community knows or perceives is that we just don’t know. . .
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Liberating Practices:
A New Learning Community! (online)
Liberating Practices, a new learning community, is being formed by combining the Spiritual Leadership for Culture Change and Liberating Governance learning and practice communities. We’ll meet about once a month. If you already belong to one of the existing groups, you will be added to the new one automatically. If not, please sign up.
Our first gathering will convene on Tuesday January 23 from 7:00 to 8:30pm ET. We will explore the theme: How do we know how we are doing?
Many of the metrics we have typically used to assess our effectiveness in congregations such as attendance numbers, pledging income, etc. are a bit removed from the core of our purpose. That is especially true in these times. Are there better tools to help us figure out how we're doing?
Once you sign up for the community, you will automatically receive the link to register. Pre-work will be available and sent to all participants in January. The registration deadline for this event is Monday January 22.
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Contexts Learning Community,
Gathering 2 (online)
Join us for the second Contexts Learning Community session on Wednesday, January 17 from 10:00-11:30 am ET.
The registration deadline for this event is Tuesday January 16.
This Learning Community focuses on the current Contexts that are impacting families, young people, and congregations. Please review the resources from our first gathering.
Pre-work includes video, audio, or written materials that directly address one aspect of Context: Generations, Generosity, Gathering, or Growth.
Join the community today! You will automatically receive the registration link upon completion of the form.
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NER Congregational Administrators
Quarterly Gathering (online)
Our next congregational administrators quarterly gathering will be on Thursday, January 18 12:00-1:00pm ET. Join with your peers from around the region to share ideas, questions, concerns and support.
Registration is free and required. The registration deadline is Wednesday January 17.
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Programs & Resources for Religious Professionals | |
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System Theory Renaissance Module (online)
Fridays February 2 / 9 / 16 / 23 12:00-2:00pm ET
Central to our understanding of congregational systems is a grounding in the awareness that “everything we do is faith development; everything we teach is Unitarian Universalism and that the congregation is the curriculum.”
That expression, by Connie Goodbread, is the first part of going deeper into congregational systems, yet the second part must include an immersion into System Theory.
The “System Theory” Renaissance Module will:
- Examine human beings as emotional, intellectual, and physical beings.
- Everything that human beings create, discover, destroy and build is born out of our humanity.
- Explore and clarify what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist.
- Discuss the human qualities that help and hinder the growth of a beloved community.
The overarching lens of System Theory will ground the experience and aid religious educators, and other religious professionals to apply these learnings to their own professional context.
Registration is required at a cost of $200 for all four sessions (sliding scale options are available). Continuing Education Grants may be available, please apply. The registration deadline is Wednesday January 31 or when maximum capacity is reached.
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EAs and TEAM
Do you have a recently bridged emerging adult (EA)?
Plug them into our newly minted EA Database and The Emerging Adult Ministry (TEAM)! There they will find resources to connect with other EA's, have access to small groups, local congregations, pastoral care, online hangouts and more!
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The UUA has hired Chaplains for our Emerging Adults
We've hired two wonderful contractors to provide pastoral Care to our Emerging Adults (18-24 y/o) - nationally! Please meet Martha Durkee Neuman (left) and Rev Natalie Malter (right). You can connect directly to these incredible Chaplains by emailing or calling our helpline at (617) 948-6418.
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Peer Pastoral Care Course
Do you know a youth who wants more skills around what to do when their friends are having a hard time? Check out this Peer Pastoral Care course on UU Institute that can be facilitated by a religious professional and youth or young adult lay leader. This course helps youth practice a variety of listening techniques, build awareness and skills regarding boundaries, cultural contexts and self-care, and know when and how to expand the circle of support.
Pastoral care isn’t about knowing how to say just the right thing, being able to fix someone else’s problem or having all the answers. Pastoral care just means being able to show up as a listener, pay attention to your friends' feelings, and knowing who to go to when help is needed. In this pastoral care course youth get the chance to practice these skills in a safe environment with supportive friends and mentors.
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UU Cultivators Collaborative
- Are you a spiritual innovator—a religious professional or a lay leader—who wants to start a new community but you don’t know where to begin?
- Did you just launch a project and feel like you need colleagues who understand your joys and frustrations?
- Do you feel a yearning to build a local community but get overwhelmed by the idea of raising money and budgeting?
- Are you committed to seeking spiritual growth, liberation, and healing for communities in your midst?
The UU Cultivators Collaborative is designed to support those innovators and teams who are ready to realize their wider vision for Unitarian Universalism with tailored support at critical junctures along the way.
The UUA and Beloved are excited to host a cohort of UU spiritual innovators (both religious professionals and lay leaders) in February/March 2024 for a one-year intensive followed by a co-created alumni experience. Learn more about eligibility and find the application
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Programs & Resources for Congregational Leaders | |
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From Safe Congregations Team:
Over the past couple of years, UUA Congregations and related organizations have seen an increase of outside threats and destructive incidences at our UUA congregations. In planning for ways to be supportive and affirming of your congregation’s ministry, it would be helpful to us to have a way keep track of these incidents.
We have designed a Congregational Incident form to help you help us keep track of these incidents. This simple form provides a way for congregations to inform the UUA of a threat or disruptive incident that comes from outside the congregation itself.
All forms come to the Safe Congregation Program email. Please let us know if you have any questions.
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From the UUA Office of Church Staff Finances: Resources and Reminders
Compassionate Terminations
Involuntary terminations are never easy. We've created a new LeaderLab resource, Compassionate Staff Terminations, to help congregational leaders and staff supervisors ensure the best possible outcomes for the congregation while offering kindness and respect to the employee. Treating a departing staff member well is good not only for them but for the congregation.
Form I-9 Documents
Form I-9 provides proof of identity and authorization to work in the U.S. Verifying an employee's documents and completing the I-9 is a crucial legal aspect of the hiring process. You must inspect an employee's I-9 documents carefully. Expired documents, for instance, cannot be accepted. The I-9 Form was recently modified, and the new version is required as of last month. You'll find everything you need to know about completing I-9 forms at I-9 Central.
Congregational Salary Program Updates
Because so many congregations begin planning and budgeting for the next program year in the late fall, we revise our salary information in November for the following July through June. All of the updated resources can be accessed from our main Congregational Salary Program page.
Our Monthly Publication
Are you a leader whose responsibilities support staff (board, finance, personnel)? A supervisor of staff? A staff member eager to stay in the loop about employment-related information? Sign up for Compensation and Staffing News for monthly tips and resources on compensation, benefits, and personnel matters.
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Clergy Grants Available to Attend Star Island Conferences
The Isles of Shoals Association Unitarian Universalist (ISAUU) in partnership with the Star Island Beloved Community Project is pleased to present the Clergy Grants for the 2024 season of conferences on Star Island.
Grants are offered to Parish Ministers, Ministers of Religious Education, and Community Ministers. Applicants must be first-time attendee at a Star Island conference, a member of the UUMA, serving and/or affiliated with a UU congregation. Grants cover room and board expenses only. Grants are available to Unitarian Universalist ministers and their families to spend a week on Star Island at a conference of their choice. The intent is to introduce UU clergy to Star Island conferences, to support personal and professional relaxation and rejuvenation, and to promote Star Island with UU clergy and their congregations.
Conference registration opens in early January 2024. More information and the application can be found on the ISAUU website. The application deadline is Tuesday, January 16. Award amounts vary based on number of applications received each year. Applications received after January 16 will be considered as long as grant money remains available.
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Digital Security 101 for Congregations:
A Two-Part Virtual Training
Two sessions Mondays January 22 / February 5 7:30-9:30pm ET.
Increasingly, our congregations are finding themselves the targets of online harassment, phishing, doxxing, and other forms of digital hate – often as a result of the ways we are embodying UU values in the world. Unfortunately, many of our UU communities do not have the skills and the infrastructure to protect themselves from malicious digital targeting that is constantly evolving.
Equality Labs' Digital Security For All Workshop is a dive into the world of digital security and what that means for you and your organization. We will develop some common ground and shed light on types of attacks and security concerns that affect our communities, engaging with you at a strategic level as you plan for your organization.
Open to all congregational leaders but especially targeted to those who manage secure information such as congregational websites, social media accounts, databases, and communications.
Registration is required at a cost of $100 for a congregational team of up to 5 attendees for both sessions. This cost is highly subsidized so we can bring this impactful training to our congregations.
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Save the Date for 30 Days of Love 2024: January 15–February 14, 2024
This annual event offers a month of spiritual nourishment, political grounding, and shared practices of faith and justice. Each week, you can expect to receive several different kinds of offerings, each from a different voice within Unitarian Universalism.
Within the weekly themes, which will connect with one of our intersectional justice priorities, we will offer prayers, blessings, grounding and meditative practices, a story or time for all ages, as well as a reflections from Side With Love's program and field staff. To get an idea of what to expect or to enjoy some meditative breaks during your lunch this month, see last year's offerings.
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Reimagine with Energy Democracy
For the last in the webinar series on Clean Energy as a Human Right, you are invited to explore the power of Energy Democracy and the ways our congregations can reimagine energy for our communities. Energy Democracy helps frontline communities build power and liberation by reimagining how we organize our lives toward new systems that support the health and wellbeing of our communities and ecosystems.
Join the Energy Democracy Project, Cleveland Owns (OH), People Power Solar (CA), and POWER Interfaith (PA) for Reimagining with Energy Democracy on Thursday, January 25 at 7:00pm ET. Registration is free and required.
Interested in accessing federal grants for green building improvements? Unsure how these pragmatic investments are actually radical acts of justice? Check out Visionary Approaches to Federal Clean Energy Funding and Creating Hubs of Climate Resilience, the first two in our workshop series on Clean Energy as a Human Right.
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