Many people have been wondering about the Clara Barton District Board of Directors' upcoming proposal for the 2016 Annual Meeting, which takes place on April 30, 2016 from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM.
[Register Now] Up for consideration at this meeting will be the dissolution of the Clara Barton District. Below are a few "Frequently Asked Questions" about dissolving the district. We will communicate about this again next month, as well as providing additional questions and answers.
The Annual Meeting will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Society: East, 153 Vernon Street West, Manchester, CT 06042. Details concerning delegates and other information will be provided next month.
Rev. Jeanne Lloyd, Vice President
Frequently Asked Questions about Clara Barton District Dissolution
First Group of FAQs - February, 2016
Q: Why are you recommending dissolving the Clara Barton District?
A: Our shared interdependence as Unitarian Universalist congregations has evolved over time, and so too must the forms of our interdependence and the ways we live our covenant in practice. We no longer live in a time where districts are involved in denominational governance or staff oversight as they once were. In addition, many other factors have changed since the current district structures were established in the mid-20th century, including many communications and other technology changes. The current Clara Barton District is the merged combination of what were previously the Central Massachusetts District and the Connecticut Valley District.
Over the past few years, we have also increasingly experienced borders between Districts as permeable, with many activities occurring across district "borders". In addition, a number of years ago the Massachusetts Bay District (MBD) Board began regularly meeting with the Clara Barton District (CBD) Board, and also started sharing District staff, and thereby discovered shared connections and greater efficiencies. Like some other District boards around the country, we concluded that our UUA was better equipped to supervise and evaluate District staff than a volunteer board, so we ended much of our staffing and governance role. Additionally, the fundamental structure of our UUA Board of Trustees changed a number of years ago: in the past, UUA trustees were elected at the district level, and that is no longer the case.
Many of these changes also reflect a desire to free volunteer leaders to do more ministry than governance within our denomination, as well as create a more efficient, accountable, and mutually supportive structure of our interdependence so that we can better live our faith in the world. In essence, the CBD Board has worked itself out of a job, and is recommending district dissolution. CBD has no official function within the UUA structure and no paid staff of its own any longer. Many districts across the country have now dissolved or are in the process of dissolving. After 2016, it is likely that only a small number will remain, mostly for specific geographic, financial, legal or other readiness reasons.
Reflecting the new reality of regionalization, the 2015 Clara Barton District annual meeting of congregations passed a motion charging the Clara Barton District Board to research the dissolution of the CBD and report back at the 2016 annual meeting. A similar motion was passed for the Massachusetts Bay District, and they have done the same. The CBD Board of Directors has concluded that the current structure of District and Board no longer serve the purposes for which they were created, and that the Clara Barton District (which is its own nonprofit legal entity) should be dissolved.
Q: Who is making the decision?
A: We all are-and we need your help! Become a delegate from your congregation to the 2016 Annual Meeting, which will be held from 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm on April 30, 2016, at the Unitarian Universalist Society: East in Manchester, CT.
Q: What has the process been to arrive at this place?
A: This conversation has been progressing and evolving over the past few years. The question of dissolution has been discussed at the past two Annual Meetings. Before that, the Board explored what its role might be, once it ceased to co-employ District staff with our UUA (There is no CBD staff any more, as employees are fully part of the UUA New England Region). We wondered whether the Board might serve as a connector between congregations, and have hosted several gatherings of leaders from across the District to explore those options. But, over time we came to realize that a volunteer Board realistically doesn't have the time or energy to create and sustain programs at the District level, and that our congregations are already benefiting from excellent regional programming from our New England Region, both in-person programs and increasingly with online options. More local activities of groups of congregations and other UUs will likely continue, and perhaps expand, and do not need an additional District layer to do so.
