Searching for True North

New Opportunities

2013-04-01T20:00:00Z

Dear friends,

I look out my windows and I see so much green. Although there have still been some cold and rainy days, it’s clear that Spring has come. The crocuses have bloomed, leaf-buds have begun to appear, and the moss has begun to overtake our lawns, our roofs, our roads and driveways – everywhere it is green.

Every year during the spring, this fellowship engages in a communal act of generosity called stewardship. Our campaign for the next fiscal year was meant to conclude last Sunday. We received only a little over half of the expected pledges, and I know that the stewardship committee will be calling long time members to check in about their pledges. Our congregation has been in a period of growth, visioning, with a focus on healthiness. We have done very well over the last several months. Let’s keep it up.

On April 21, the board will call together the congregation for our Annual Meeting. At that time, the congregation will have opportunities to ensure the future health and vitality of our fellowship. You will be asked to vote on a balanced budget that assumes an increase in hours for certain staff. It has become very clear in the time that I been here, that members of the congregation demand a higher level of service from our staff than the staff has had hours in which to provide said level of service. We were hoping to make two of our staff positions full-time, and to create another half-time position, but we have not yet raised enough money to do that. Our proposal is a compromise, by making two of our staff positions (Congregational Administrator and our future DRE) three-quarters time and by creating another staff position (a Facilities Manager) at one- quarter time.

Another opportunity at the Annual Meeting will be a process by which we hope to encourage more congregational participation in the area of Social

Justice. At my request, the Social Justice Committee (SJC) has developed three broad social justice themes (Hunger and Poverty, Environmental Justice, GLBT Rights). Within these three

themes, the SJC is also developing a number of potential projects that the congregation could work on together. All of these will be posted around the sanctuary, and all voting members of KUUF will have received three green dots and one red dot. You will be invited to vote for social justice projects on which you would be willing to expend your time and energy as well as a portion of our budget to achieve. Furthermore, another proposal at the meeting will be that the congregation appoint a smaller group (which could be the staff, the board, the SJC, or some combination thereof) to select charitable giving recipients based on the social justice priorities that you all had just voted upon, and to be empowered to make changes to that list based on current events. This will allow us to be more responsive to major needs (for example, in response to a natural disaster or an urgent appeal for assistance by a local nonprofit service agency) and be able to quickly make decisions on how to make a difference in the world with money that we donate.

Springtime is the season that has always denoted new growth, new life, new ideas. New time of rich, verdant vitality... The proposals mentioned above are offered in the spirit of creating inclusive, democratic processes in which all members have an equal say. These are invitations and opportunities, to encourage us to remain on the positive path that we set ourselves on months ago, as we continue into the next year.

May it ever be so and blessed be you all!

-- Rev. Mike

Change In General

2013-03-01T16:00:00Z

All too often, the prospect of change causes anxiety in people’s lives. Right now, Glenn and I are in the process of buy- ing a house in East Bremerton, which has necessitated many changes for us: one more intimate commingling of our lives and resources, moving our household yet again, making a number of long-term commitments—to each other, to the banks and others involved in the transaction, and to the congregation that I serve. All of these changes, while they might possibly cause anxiety, are quite healthy. Healthy change is the alteration of a situation, environment or relationship, that will end up being beneficial to all those involved.

Many of us have had conversations about the nature of change and how that affects congregational life. I’d like to put forth that there is healthy change on the horizon, and that while it may cause some anxiety, maybe we can hold on and let such change unfold around us, to the benefit of all. For example, we have recently spent time clarifying the roles of program volunteers, including many chairs of committees, operational staff, and the Board. The purpose of that effort - clarifying roles - has been to help us develop an environment in which healthy communication takes place, the confusion about “who does what” is reduced, and that accountability is defined.

This has all been internally focused, and I’ve asked us to look at this for one reason only. I’d love to find ways to inspire us to get outside of ourselves. In other words, to be operating in healthy ways, so that we can change our focus from internal to external. Another healthy change. It seems to me that the purpose of a congregation is not its internal politics, but rather its mission to do good in the wider community. This is the direction I’m trying to lead us. Ultimately, determining mis- sion is a congregational role, while leading us towards it is the minister’s role.

To name one example of how I’m trying to move us in this positive direction, I’ve suggested to the Social Justice Com- mittee that they develop a number of potential SJ themes for next year, one of which will be chosen by the congregation to collectively work on, as a congregation. This is a congrega- tional decision that will influence other concerns, such as what types of projects—related to the chosen theme—we will work on, focus areas of my SJ-related sermons, types of charitable giving recipients we will choose, and so on. This process I have described is a change from what you have done in the past, but I believe it is a positive and healthy change, in which the congregation has more say in the direction we take next year. Contrast this to the old process, in which one theme was chosen, and the congregation was asked to vote yea or nay -- of course everyone voted yea, but that wasn’t much of a choice, was it?

My point is this: Change can be healthy, and beneficial to all. It does not automatically mean there is some diabolical plan or a power grab. Sometimes, we become anxious about change, especially if we don’t personally have all the facts. In our effort to continue our open atmosphere of communication, I recommend that we each go to the folks involved in whatever change is of concern, and ask clarifying questions in order to have all of the facts. We have been doing much better in this area, and I want to encourage us to stay on this trajectory.

How Change Can Affect Stewardship

Stewardship is an important part of congregational life, and particular mission fulfillment. We have the opportunity to fully fund existing programs, or create new ones, if the con- gregation so chooses, or improve on ones that already exist, all in the interest of doing good outside our walls. Programs exist to help our members, as well as others in need, in many ways. We provide worship for the spiritual sustenance of all seekers who come our way, including those seekers who have been here, at KUUF, seeking for 40 years or 40 days. We provide pastoral care to those who are hurting, sick, or in need of moral support. This mostly serves our actual membership, but not exclusively. We provide religious education, with a focus on progressive values and justice, to children and adults. This includes Our Whole Lives (OWL), comprehen- sive sexual responsibility curricula that helps teens learn about healthy decision-making.

We provide leadership in the area of Social Justice, including many members who are advocates for several issues out in the world that desperately need attention. We have the potential to combine our forces as a congregation, on some particular issue, and make a big difference in the lives of people as a result.

Stewardship is the way in which we support programs, which in turn support our congregational mission. This is also how we support our operational staff, who take on the daily tasks and administrative components of our programs, to help en- sure mission success. It may come as no surprise that our growing congregation, with growing programs that we hope will make a difference in the world, needs more hours for the staff. As currently set up, staff have insufficient hours to do everything that is expected of them by the congregation. We need to be realistic about this, and make a change that will be healthy for our congregation. It is also a justice issue -- we need to pay a living wage, with benefits. Some of our mem- bers refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, because they don’t pay a living wage or benefits to their employees. We should give that some thought, here at KUUF. If our staff are unable to fulfill their needs, if they are left in an unhappy state, it adversely affects the congregation’s ability to meet its wider goals.

Another thing about Stewardship that I encourage us all to consider is how we have been directly funding our pro- grams. I have theorized that it actually costs at least double—or more—what our last budget said, to run all of our programs. So, how have we magically kept everything going, if my theory is true? Through in-kind donations.

Many of you have paid out of your own pockets for food at Fellowship events, for supplies for some congregational project on which you are working, or on other items needed by KUUF. Thank you for your generosity. At the same time, it isn’t sustainable. For example, some committee member who has regularly paid for this or that may eventu- ally go off that committee. I would suggest a radical idea – another potentially healthy change – that we all donate up- front those amounts we have donated piecemeal in the past. In other words, if you have typically donated $100 per year for committee expenses, I suggest you consider adding that to your pledge, so that we can create a much more accurate budget, which then allows us to make better plans on ways in which we can achieve the goals of our congregational mission.

Staff Transitions — More Change to Come

By now, most have probably heard that we have some staff transitions coming up in June. After two years here, Ame- lia Carroll, Director of Lifespan Religious Exploration, is retiring and beginning a new chapter of her life in the Seat- tle area. After six years of service, Sonja Naylor, Music Director, is moving to Colorado to care for her ailing father. And, finally, Beth Payne, our contracted Bookkeeper, is reducing her workload at KUUF, as well as other accounts, in order to care for elderly parents.

My way of providing leadership in regards to staff transi- tions is to put into place systemic processes that are de- signed to gather information from members and friends of the congregation—stakeholders in our programs—which will later inform our decisions. Your input is essential to this process – it should not be all me, in the making of decisions that affect how staffing supports congregational programs.

For Lifespan Religious Education, and because I was aware of past turmoil related to this program, I recom- mended to the Board that they appoint a Religious Education Transition Team, whose primary purpose is to help the congregation discern its actual needs and expectations in a RE program. The RETT consists of Jane Chapin, chair, Tom Clouthier, Mike Harris, Karen Leader-Scott, board liaison, Liz Roberts, Jen Sterling, and me. The RETT has worked hard, learning about congregational wants and needs, as well as about best practices for RE programs in the wider UU movement.

To provide a forum for RE stakeholders to share their views, and also to educate us about RE Credentialing and other best practices, we are holding a workshop on March 9, 9:30-1:30, in the Education Building Cafe. It will be facilitated by an outside consultant, Dana Regan CRE, who is the Lead RE Consultant for the UUA Pacific Northwest District. I encourage one and all to attend, because we really need your input to make this process successful. And, I would define success by us developing an RE pro- gram that meets the needs of the congregation, without the turmoil that marked past years. Whether or not you have children in RE, your input is needed. Adult RE is an area that you might have opinions on, or you may be one that has questioned why so much of our budget is spent on RE. Your thoughts and opinions are important information as we figure out how to proceed from here on out. Thank you!

For the Music Program, I’ve asked Judy Brophy to set up a “town hall” type meeting, so that music stakeholders can come and express your views, prior to the Board and minis- ter making any decisions about next steps. This conversa- tion will be held on Sunday, March 10, 11:30-12:30 in the EB Grades 1-5 Classroom (downstairs). Judy is arranging for lunch, so please RSVP so she knows how many to plan for! E-mail her at owlnpcat@comcast.net. I would value your input on this valuable program that is the heart of wor- ship services every Sunday. Thank you!

Change Is Healthy

Yes, there is much change ahead of us. For those who have been around churches for a long time, including around this Fellowship, you know that these changes inevitably occur as the congregation develops a new ministry. Developing a new ministry is a corporate mission – it is not mine, alone. We do it together. Change will occur ... and that’s okay. Really, it is... As long as we all stay in right relationship with each other, stay in communication about questions and concerns, squelch rumors and gossip, and do all we can to support the success of our programs, than I believe we will all be the happier for having gone through those changes together.

May it ever be so and blessed be you all!

-- Rev. Mike

Rest & Renewal

2013-02-01T14:40:00Z

Dear friends,

I’m writing to you while I’m engaged in a period of rest and renewal. Ministers commonly take vacation in January, because Decembers are typically non-stop, working-overtime, months. Well worth it, though! I thought we had a great December, with some historical sermons on Sundays (okay, maybe the Chanukah one wasn’t so engaging), the CUUPS group led an enjoyable Winter Solstice ritual, and we had many, many talented folks who helped us have a great Christmas Eve service.

Thank you!

Rest and renewal -- do you ever try this? I recommend taking time from your lives to recharge your batteries, from time to time. For some people, coming to church on Sunday is the way to do that. For others, including me, since I’m working on Sundays, a great method of renewal is to go on retreat. Vacations are nice too, but retreats are really where it’s at for me.

By the time you read this, I believe I will have returned, and you may have heard my sermon, Sacred Places, Sacred Spaces. For me, spiritual retreats are the venue that help me to replenish myself, but sacred places are where such retreats usually take place. Many of you know that my posting prior to KUUF was at a UU retreat center in Rowe, Massachusetts (and I worked at other retreats prior to that), where I met many people who felt that that place was their spiritual home. They may, or may not, have been members of their local churches. But it was the retreat center and its community of attendees that provided the spiritual support that many of those people craved.

While I work day-to-day to support the mission of our congregation, I’ve been yearning for an outside venue for my own spiritual renewal. For some, the local Eliot Institute, which takes place at Seabeck Conference Center, provides such a time of renewal. I haven’t been to Eliot yet, but look forward to doing so one of these days -- if I can work it into my schedule!

With that said, I understand that Eliot is a series of events, rather than a place that one can go to, whenever. You see, I also yearn for a sacred place, all our own, that the congregations of the Pacific Northwest can share, to which one can go for a day or a week, to spend time recharging, renewing, refreshing...

This is why my work-a-day week is spent being your minister, while some of my off-time is being spent developing a non-profit organization, whose mission will be to create a UU (or spiritually liberal) retreat center in the PNW. We have UU retreat centers scattered around the U.S., but none near us… The closest is Camp de Benneville Pines in southern California. In Texas, there is U-Bar-U; in Minnesota, Camp UniStar. On the east coast, there are many, including the biggies: Star Island (NH), Ferry Beach (ME), The Mountain (NC), Murray Grove (NJ), and Rowe (MA).

So, you might see why I feel it is time to change this dearth of UU sacred places in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, it’s somewhat self-serving, because I need such a place to go to when I’m needing a break from work. However, it is also, by nature, community-serving. Many people will benefit from having a place specifically dedicated to personal, spiritual renewal. And, isn’t that the point?

Well, now that the craziness of the holidays is behind us, I hope that you also find time to refresh, renew, recharge, replenish, and maybe even retreat...

May it ever be so and blessed be you all!

-- Rev. Mike

New Beginnings

2013-01-02T01:32:40Z

Dear friends, as we approach the new year, I’d like to reflect back on the last several months we have been together. I was originally planning on talking about building community in this article, but now I think it would be better to talk about relationships, because this is at the root of community building.

Without good relationships, community falls apart. The best way to maintain good relationships in any church or congregation is for everyone to be clear about lines of responsibility, accountability, and power. This was discussed in a recent workshop attended by many leaders of our congregation. I have found myself repeatedly bumping up against barriers that prevent us from seeing those lines clearly.

I’m grateful for a Board of Trustees that is talented and energetic at fulfilling its responsibilities. I’m also grateful for Staff, who have been contracted to fulfill certain responsibilities on behalf of the congregation - and do so quite well, despite rumblings to the contrary.

However, where I have run into problems relates to many of our committees, whose members are self-appointed, trying to exercise control in an area where either staff or board member(s) have responsibility and authority.

In my understanding, a committee is a group appointed by a board, whose mission is to directly support the work of the board. Any system where committees are not appointed by the board, but are self appointed, and are not directly supporting the work of the Board, then the system is not working well. In fact, the system may be broken. This is where my teaching role has arisen, but this lesson is hard for some people to hear. This has caused some heartache in our congregation.

Another model that I have tried to teach, is one in which teams replace committees. This is more than semantic. Teams are groups of people that get together to work on a project, but not to do board related work. Also, these groups are meant to be dynamic, in which team membership can ebb and flow, as needed by the congregation.

So, this is what I believe: we have so many KUUF members who passionately want to see our congregation succeed, and they work hard to achieve that goal.

What I find interesting here are the unspoken areas of authority and the invisible lines of power. Board members are elected to do their jobs, and staff members are contracted to do their jobs, including me. Yet, we sometimes run afoul of committee members who may feel that we are usurping their authority, when we are simply exercising our contracted or elected responsibilities. It is in this murky territory that I have repeatedly sunk into the muck.

In the process of fixing a broken system, I have at times “ruffled some feathers” (as more than a few members have said to me, in those exact words, each!) This was not my intention. My goal has always been to foster a well-running church that allows its members to do what they came here to do, in the first place: follow their spiritual paths. I must admit that there have been times when this process has been a little bit frustrating. I also acknowledge that I haven’t responded to each committee in a way that made them feel good about any potential changes. Sometimes I just plowed ahead, in the interest of doing what I believed was best for the whole Fellowship.

In this month of new beginnings, I would like to express my regret for feelings that I have hurt along the way. I’d also like to work with you, in this new year, to co-create the congregation that you need. There are several ways we can go about this: the board is planning on looking at our committee structure this year, so please give them your feedback about what committees could be like. Also, I would encourage the congregation to learn about why you have staff and what they are here to do. I believe it’s important to support the staff, so that we can support you, which is the whole reason we are here. These two items bring me to my third point, which is that I am contracted to you to fulfill certain responsibilities. Fulfilling these responsibilities does not make me a dictator, just someone who is working hard to do what is best for the Fellowship.

Are you familiar with A Litany of Atonement, by Rev. Robert Eller-Isaacs? It is often read for Yom Kippur, but seems appropriate now…

For remaining silent when a single voice would have made a difference