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Florida District Connections
February 5, 2010 | |
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Notes from our District Executive
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Dear Companions,
 In our last issue, I raised with you the question of growth in our Unitarian Universalist congregations. I argued for the importance of numbers as a measure: that each number represents a human being eager to be part of our faith community. I remarked also that our numbers are not so good (down to 4,888 after our UUA January certification reports were filed). We ought to notice whether we are serving more or fewer people. I urge you to open the conversation in your congregation about how we can grow our faith in this time.
I promised to speak of other ways to think about growth. Here's one for you: How would you measure whether or not you and your fellow congregants are more or less mature religiously? Our 4th Principles says part of our purpose is to encourage "spiritual growth in our congregations." How would you know if your congregation is doing that?
We speak of Faith Development as a life-span work. Each stage of life has new questions, or old questions that open to a deeper understanding. We should be growing! The constellation of hopes and beliefs that serve well for a child are inadequate to the young adult, let alone a senior. My hunch, though, is that trying to come up with a congregation-wide metric of spiritual growth would be either impossible or meaningless. Yet, I do think each of us could take our own measure. Some questions to consider:
- What have I learned about myself this year that guides me toward joyful living?
- What do I understand differently about the "big" questions of life: the nature of the holy, my sense of purpose and meaning, my ability to connect with others?
- Can I articulate my core values in a positive way?
- Would my "elevator speech" [tell a stranger what you truly believe in 3 minutes] be compelling? Am I confident I could do it? Have I tried?
- Have I grown in service to others? Do I walk my talk as a Unitarian Universalist, respecting others, working for justice, and so on?
- Am I a more loving human being?
Well, the list could get lengthy. What would you add were you to do an annual survey of your spiritual growth? For me, the answer has something to do with my daily prayer: "Thank you," and "May I not knowingly add harm to our world." Put differently, I measure my spiritual evolution by being ever more grateful for life and whether or not I can do something every day to make life a little better, or at least not make things worse. It is a spiritual discipline. What's yours? How are you growing spiritually?
Blessings, always and in all ways, Rev. Kenn |
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Notes from our Lifespan Program Consultant |
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Upcoming Events -Mark your calendars
This is the district calendar link:
http://www.floridadistrict.org/?page_id=87
Please pay close attention to the wonderful programs that are being offered by your Florida District UUA.
Webinars
This is a reminder to you, watch your email for invitations to the webinars that both Kenn and I are doing. This is an easy way to get information and get your questions answered. There is no travel involved and you can pull a group together so that a rich discussion happens afterwards. We both hope to see more and more people on line.
My next one is on March 12th - the topic is, Building a Strong Committee.
Here is the description: How do we build a strong committee? How we recruit volunteers is important. Who we recruit as volunteers is important. Not over functioning is important. Sharing the ministry and the vision is important. Understanding that we work for the good of Unitarian
Universalism and our faith community is important.
Meeting ID: 6488225, Click to Join Link
Date/Time: Friday March 12, 2010 7:00 pm EST
Duration: 01:30
Login: Participants need to enter a name.
Telephone: (712) 775-7300 Attendee code: 766584#
Everyone is welcome.
Florida District Annual Assembly and Professional Days With Gini Courter!
April 8-9 Religious Professionals (UUMA, LREDA, UUMN, AUUA) Meeting
April 9-11 Florida District Assembly and Annual Meeting with UUA Moderator
Do not miss this opportunity to be with our UUA Moderator Gini Courter.
Adult Advisor Training for Congregational Youth Groups
April 24, 2010 - Ft. Myers, http://www.uucfm.org/
We all want strong congregational youth groups. This workshop will explore roles and responsibilities of adult advisors. We will talk about how to build and maintain strong support, who and what we serve and how to grow a great youth group. No one style fits all congregations, however, there are realities and issues that we all have in common.
The workshop will begin at 10: 00 and end by 4:00. We will provide lunch and childcare. It will cost $25.00 and registration will be open until March 15th. Adult Advisor Training flyer
Plan now to join us for next year's Southland Unitarian Universalist Leadership Experience
Now is the time to budget for Southland Unitarian Universalist Leadership Experience. This is an opportunity for current and future leaders to deepen their understanding of congregational leadership and to develop their abilities with other Unitarian Universalist leaders. This five-day program will be held August 8-13, 2010, at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Centers. The Thomas Jefferson, Mid-South and Florida Districts and Southwestern Conference organize this experience. SUULE offers participants an opportunity to combine practical leadership tools with spiritual and theological grounding to maximize their congregational leadership potential. We are asking that congregations send teams of leaders who will learn and develop together. If your congregation is small, please develop a relationship with other Unitarian Universalist congregations in your cluster so that you can still send a team. This team approach helps individuals to deepen their experience, get support and advice from other leaders who have the same knowledge and helps them to keep their focus on the reality that this is congregational leadership. For more information visit http://www.uusouthland.org/
Connie Goodbread
Lifespan Program Consultant
Florida District UUA
[email protected]
Nurture your spirit. Help heal our world. |
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Trustee News |
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UUA Trustee Tidbits
Joan Lund, February 2010
There is always information to be written about governing as a board using the Carver Policy Governance method. Although both the Florida District Board and the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees (UUA BOT) studied and were trained in Carver PG, the UUA BOT has adapted much of what is appropriate in policy governance as we govern on your behalf. The BOT has begun to tackle more deeply the issues on whose behalf we govern and to whom we are accountable.
For the readers of this column it may be good to understand certain aspects of policy governance which are affecting the deliberations, decisions, and operation of the BOT. It is necessary to clarify who the "owners", also known as one of our Sources, are in our governance structure. Owners are all those Unitarian Universalists who are the people on whose behalf the BOT determines the Ends: the benefits being produced, for whom at what cost. Owners in our Association are the congregations. An owner is sometimes perceived as a "customer" when requesting services from the District and/or UUA Staff. The use of the term "stakeholders", who are not "owners", refers to those who have an interest in our Association and includes employees and other Unitarian Universalist organizations. The time frame and expected results for owners are long-term, involves the big picture and future returns. For customers expectations are much more short term. The connections our UUA has with our owners and customers are very different.
The BOT will govern with an emphasis on outward vision, an encouragement of diversity in viewpoints, strategic leadership, a clear distinction between the roles of the BOT and President, collective decisions, the future, pro-activity, and an open, transparent process. Our primary focus will be linkage with our congregations in a process of engaging the relational, cooperative power of covenant. The work of the BOT in connecting with congregations will not be "telling" or "reporting" but rather "listening" to perspectives regarding needs and what benefits our UUA should produce, be accountable, and let you know what is being achieved.
The BOT will be concerned with congregational values and who in the congregation speaks for these values. This will help determine the values of future generations of Unitarian Universalists. The BOT may involve itself in the history and theology of Unitarian Universalism to be sure the values inherent in our Unitarian Universalist traditions and heritage are understood. We will be involved with much questioning and researching.
Hopefully in March I will be able to write about the method of selection that will identify a random sample from a variety of representative groups, perhaps determined by congregation size and location. Our linkage focus will be "right relationship" between the BOT and its member congregations in their role as Sources. Stay tuned...and let me hear from you: [email protected] or 813-931-9727.
UUA Trustee Report
Joan Lund, San Antonio, Texas, January 13 - 17, 2010
The Unitarian Universalist Board of Trustees (BOT) journeyed to Texas for our regularly scheduled January meeting. As we have committed to Policy Governance we hope to meet at least once a year in a location other than Boston in order to link with, and focus on congregations in their role as Sources. The BOT initiated traveling to another site by being in San Antonio (SA), a symbol of our commitment to linkage and diversity. SA is the 9th largest city in the U.S., with 61% Latino/Latina or Hispanic inhabitants. This was a conscious choice and we spent about a day and a half diving deeper into Hispanic and SA culture, and the complex issues of undocumented immigrants.
Although the weather was cold and rainy we experienced an excellent meeting and were warmly received by many Texas congregations, some as far as 200 miles away. As always if you have questions or comments in general, please email/telephone me at [email protected] or 813-931-9727. The January Board of Trustees (BOT) Packet was posted before the meeting and can be found at www.uua.org through the BOT link.
My October BOT report was the first in trying to both relate my impressions and shorten the message to fit with the changes in BOT operation. The entire UUA Governance Manual can be found at http://uua.org/aboutus/governance/policy/index.shtml.During the time between October and January we received monitoring reports which dealt with the Association's benefits and insurance plans and asset protection.
BOT business meetings were held on Wednesday 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday 8:30 to 11:45 a.m., and Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. During these meetings among the business items included the BOT received reports, listened to, and discussed the November conversation with the District Presidents Association (DPA) and the November conversation with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. Continue Reading |
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The Smart Church #36 |
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Knowing the Whole Story
By Connie Goodbread
Download a printable PDF of this column
 We are a story telling species. Humans have always sat around the flickering light and shared stories of good and evil, stories that help us make meaning. Stories move us, delight us, and make us laugh and cry. Stories teach us lessons. Stories help us keep our ancestors alive. Stories shared help us to understand one another and that which is greater than ourselves. What are our Unitarian Universalist stories? How and when do we share them? Do we tell the whole story or do we leave out the parts we don't like? The bad parts.
George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
I was standing with someone from another faith tradition as a group of Unitarian Universalist Religious Educators did skits about the deepest meaning of our faith. Each group that came up made fun of themselves, the faith, the faiths of others and many other things. My friend said, "These are the people who teach your faith. If they don't take it seriously who does?" Hmmmm... "Well," I said, "one of the issues in our wider world is that people take themselves too seriously. There is not enough humor in the world. Anxiety is humorless. The more anxiety in a system the less humor." But he made me think, who does take Unitarian Universalism seriously? I came to our story. What is our story? Do we tell it with pride? Do we own up to all the mistakes and missteps that we have made along the way, both as a larger faith and in our congregations? Do we deeply understand that our Saints were only human? Do we forgive them for being mere people of their times, without forgetting their mistakes lest we be doomed to repeat them? Do we embrace the whole narrative, keeping it close and safe and yes, taking it seriously?
We know the shadow side of Thomas Jefferson but how about Susan B Anthony? Do we know and own her mistakes? Do we remember that neither were actually Unitarian, yet we claim them as ancestors? Both of these people made great strides for human rights while treading on the rights of other humans. They were people of their times. They did good things and they did bad things.
I really like to remember that we come into the middle of a story. We did not write the beginning and we will not write the end. We can only write or envision a brighter future if we truly understand our past. It is our foundation. Things were put into motion long before we came on the scene. We bump into these things and don't understand what we have run into. Some of our foundation is strong and healthy, made of values that we want to uphold. Some of the foundation is sad, hurtful pitted and mistaken. But all together the story makes meaning. Without the bad, the good does not exist. If we can remember that we are the children of the Puritans, when we run into our strong mistrust of power and authority we can put some perspective on it. If we can remember that we are congregations of mostly comer inners not lifelong Unitarian Universalists, we then begin to understand that we don't know our story. After this realization we can learn as much as possible and then, with humor, begin to take our story seriously. Having this deeper understanding of who we were helps us to know who we are. We can be better stewards for our portion of the story, the here and now. |
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Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry of Florida |
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Impact Sunday: March 21, 2010
Homelessness Impact Lobby Day: April 7, 2010  UULMF works to bring our Unitarian Universalist unique voice to the legislative halls of Tallahassee. We are comprised of an all-volunteer steering committee of Unitarian Universalist lay and clergy folk dedicated to enlivening justice legislatively and collaborating with like-minded groups to support their legislative agenda. We work under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Florida district, and we want to extend an invitation to your congregation's participation in the Legislative Ministry of Florida Impact Days. This year we are organizing the Homelessness Impact Lobby Day in Tallahassee on April 7, 2010 to support the legislative agenda of the Florida Coalition for the Homeless that will have a direct positive impact on Florida's homeless population. Florida is one of the most difficult states in which to be homeless, and we are proud to work in solidarity with the Florida Coalition for the Homeless this year. We also invite you to visit our website, www.uulmf.org and to save the date for Lobby Day. Through district and cluster communications, we will keep you informed about details and logistics. But before we hit the halls of Tallahassee, we need to feel the impact from you of your generous gift on Sunday, March 21, 2010. We are inviting Florida congregations to share the plate offering Sunday, March 21, 2010, in order to help UULMF mobilize for our Lobby Day in April. We want to see all Florida congregations joining together on this Sunday to enliven our ability to make a bigger legislative splash together. To sign up for Impact Sunday, use Web Site sign up or RSVP to [email protected] thanks, Unitarian Universalist LMF Steering Committee Steve Segner, Chair [email protected] 386-788-3039 |
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From our Annual Program Fund Chair |
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Hello, I am your Florida Representative to the Annual Program Fund (APF) committee. Let me explain what the APF is. The APF is the fund to which member congregations pledge and contribute a Fair Share (currently $56/member) each year in support of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations' (UUA) operating budget. Currently, this financial support makes up nearly half of the UUA's undesignated funding, providing for its many essential programs, services and operations. In association, we can do together what individual congregations would find difficult or impossible to accomplish alone.
A portion of the funds collected in each district is returned through grants to help fund the important work of the districts. I am privileged to serve as your representative from our generous Florida District. I am available to you if you have any questions about YOUR Fair Share, pledging, stewardship, etc., please don't hesitate to contact me.
As Terry Sweetser (V.P. for Stewardship and Development at the UUA) reminds us: "Community is created by honoring one another's unique gifts and is sustained by our sharing them." and, I know we're into building a better community in our Florida district.
Bertha L. Perez,
[email protected]
Read the current Annual Program Fund Quarterly Newsletter:
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News from UU Church of Tarpon Springs |
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On January 24, 2010, the congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tarpon Springs took the historic step of voting for their first Statement of Conscience, which will now begin its three-year journey through our faith. This Statement of Conscience repudiates the Doctrine of Discovery embedded in U.S. law by an 1823 U.S. Supreme Court decision that even today denies American Indian claims for lost lands. The Supreme Court decision says they are mere tenants on the lands they've occupied for more than a thousand years, that they are mere wards of the state, and heathens. It passes the right to invade, occupy and own lands of non-Christians from Great Britain to the United States of America.
We seek to unify our faith to reject this racist, ignorant and paternalistic barrier to justice for our first Americans, following the path blazed by our Episcopal friends in a recent resolution and by the Philadelphia Quakers. To our brothers and sisters of the Onondaga Nation, and to all our first nations, we say we have heard your call for justice, and we stand with you in this Statement of Conscience, until this simple call for justice is realized.
Dan Callaghan |
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February District Packet |
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The February 2010 monthly packet has been posted to the District website and may be viewed at the following link:
http://www.floridadistrict.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/UUA-FLD-February-2010-Packet.pdf
Please share the information contained in the monthly packet with individuals in your congregation. This edition of the District packet contains the following items:
· District Calendar, page 1
· Congregational Certification Tipsheet, page 2
· Faith Development Workshop flyer, page 3
· Third Tuesday Webinar series flyer, page 4
· Choral Festival flyer, page 5
· On the Horizon: A New Vision Workshop flyer, page 6
· Adult Advisor Training for Congregational Youth Groups flyer, page 7
· Southwest Cluster Focus on Children Workshop & Spring Meeting flyer, page 8
· Building the World We Dream About Workshop flyer, page 9 & 10
· Florida District Award Nomination information, page 11 & 12
· 2010 General Assembly in Minneapolis - Frequently Asked Questions, page 13
Looking for a single event flyer? District event flyers are linked to the calendar page on the District website (see http://www.floridadistrict.org/?page_id=87). Simply click the event listed on the calendar and the flyer will open. UUA, Congregation, Cluster, and Affiliated Organization event listings are linked to those entities websites whenever possible.
The complete packet is also linked to the website calendar (go to the calendar link at www.floridadistrict.org and click the "entire monthly packet" notation above the calendar). Please note this is a multi-page download and may take a few minutes to open if you are working with a dial-up connection and/or older computer. |
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Around the Florida District - News and Events to Note |
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On the Horizon: A New Vision Workshop - February 27 - Manatee UU Fellowship
Southwest Cluster RE Workshop and Spring Meeting - March 6 - UU Church of Sarasota
Nominations For Florida District Awards Are Now being Accepted
 The Florida District Awards Committee requests your nominations to honor members who have made significant contributions to their congregations and communities. Nominations must be submitted electronically via email attachment and received no later than March 15. Awards will be presented at our District Assembly in April 2010.
District Award Information Flyer and Nomination Form
Chalice Lighter Call for Friendship Fellowship and Tampa
 We are currently wrapping up our December 2009 Chalice Lighter call benefitting the Friendship Fellowship at Pineda/Rockledge (new building furnishings) and the UU Church of Tampa (new Religious Education building). Thank you to all Florida District Unitarian Universalists who have already contributed to these efforts. There is still time to make a contribution. Click here for more details.
Haiti Earthquake Relief
 Florida District UUs have been generous in their support for relief efforts for the Haitian earthquake. Many congregations have held special offerings and donated the proceeds to the UUSC-UUA joint relief fund and other relief organizations. Overall, total donations to date to this fund exceed $470,000.
Funds are still needed. If you have not yet contributed, please consider doing so now. Organizations receiving UUSC-UUA funding include the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP), the Lambi Fund of Haiti, Platform of Community Organizations of the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan Zone (COZPAM) in Port-au-Prince and Regional Coordination of Southeast Organizations
(CROSE) in Jacmel. See "Conditions remain critical in Haiti" - http://www.uusc.org/content/conditions_remain_critical_haiti - for more information.
Request for Congregation Photographs
 Brag to your fellow Unitarian Universalists: Our UUA is putting together a display of our congregations. Have you a good photo of your congregation, most particularly in worship or a good shot of your meeting place/campus/building. If so, please send to [email protected] in an e-mail/web friendly resolution. If you have more than a 2 or 3 photos to share, please snail mail them to us on a CD. Thanks!
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Things to Know in Our Extended Unitarian Universalist World |
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Winter is the Perfect Time to Think About Summer - in Minneapolis!
 February is an excellent time to start making plans to attend General Assembly, June 23-27, 2010 in Minneapolis. Although registration for GA will not open until March 1st, this is an ideal time to look at air fares and to budget for your expenses for this not-to-be-missed 5 day meeting.
Minneapolis (also known as the "Mini-Apple") is an ideal setting for GA. Not only is it a progressive, culturally diverse, LGBT friendly city, but it is also rich in cultural arts and boasts a stunning natural environment. There are 900 lakes and 170 parks in the Twin Cities area, making this GA an excellent family vacation destination. Continue Reading
UUA Seeks Nominees for Distinguished Service Award
 The Annual Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism is one of the most prestigious awards given by the UUA. The Committee would appreciate receiving nominations from throughout the leadership of our Association so we can select from a broad range of exemplary leaders of our movement.
Candidates for this award should, over a considerable period of time, have strengthened the institutions of our UU denomination or clarified our message in an extraordinary way. They should have exemplified what Unitarian Universalism stands for.
Ministers or laypersons may be nominated. Nominations should include supporting reasons and information about the candidates. Nominations made in the past two years (2008-2009) will be automatically considered by the Committee, without requiring another nominations letter.
Additional information to nominations made within the last two years is welcome. The Award Committee itself may also nominate candidates.
The deadline for receipt of nominations is April 1, 2010. The final selection will be made by the UUA Board of Trustees at its April 2010 meeting.
Recent recipients have included Alice Blair Wesley, Forrest Church, Denny & Jerry Davidoff, Robert West, Jack Mendelsohn, Leon Hopper, Carl Scovel, Natalie Gulbrandsen, Gene Navias and Leon Spencer.
Please send your nominations to: Joan Lund, Chair, UUA Distinguished Service Award Committee, c/o Nancy Lawrence, UUA , 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108, or by email to [email protected]. Please respond on official letterhead as applicable.
UUA.org Debuts New Home and Resources Pages, New Features
 It's a new day for UUA.org! The Unitarian Universalist Association's redesigned home page and resources page, along with social media, share links, and "most viewed" listings on all our pages, debuted this morning. We invite you to check out the changes by going to http://www.uua.org and http://www.uua.org/resources .
Our home page is designed to appeal to the 85% of our home page visitors who are newcomers to Unitarian Universalism. And our resources page will, we hope, become the first destination involved UUs visit, for leadership resources, most visited pages, posts from our blogs, multimedia, and more.
For additional information on the UUA's website changes, see "UUA Launches Updated Website," by Donald E. Skinner, on UUWorld.org - http://tinyurl.com/yfo3nmp and "Redesign Makes UUA Website More Useable", in InterConnections - http://tinyurl.com/yadodh3 .
Young Adult Urban Ministry Event
 UU Legislative Ministry California & Pacific Southwest District invite all young adults (ages 18-35) to a Social Justice service/learning/reflection weekend. February 12-14, 2010 - Los Angeles, CA. Click here for additional details
https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/174/donate.asp?formid=uumeet&c=5701756
Allies for Racial Equity Annual Conference
March 19-20, Long Beach, CA
 Join us for the annual Allies for Racial Equity (ARE) conference for white anti-racist allies seeking accountable ways of partnering with people of color to create transformation in our congregations and communities. This year, we are using a different model for working together. On Friday, we will gather for worship and an inspirational discussion about accountability by leaders in UU anti-racism work. On Saturday, we will focus our work on anti-racist communication and accountability, and work throughout the day in large- and small-group settings around central keynote presentations by Dr. Shelly Tochluk, author of Witnessing Whiteness and professor of education at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles.
The conference will begin at 5pm on Friday, March 19 and run through the evening of March 20. After Sunday services at the UU Church of Long Beach, optional post-conference activities will be offered by the host congregation. Registration includes a light dinner Friday evening and three meals on Saturday. The cost is $125, with a reduced rate of $75 for students (including seminarians) and members of the UU Church of Long Beach. Scholarships, especially for youth, young adults and seminary students, are available. To apply for a scholarship, indicate your need on the online registration form.
A pre-conference training on white anti-racist identity will be held on Friday, March 19 from 9 am to 4 pm. Registration for this training is an additional $25.
For registration details see: http://www.uuallies.org/home.html
UUA Giving and Generosity Update
The current issue of this newsletter is now available at this link: http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=97831&tr=y&auid=5876370
UUA Congregational Bulletin
The February Congregational Bulletin is now available at this link: http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/congregationalmonthly/157938.shtml |
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