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Search InterConnections for resources relevant to your interest and role: whether you are a lay or professional leader, there's information here to help you fulfill your ministry and carry forward your mission more effectively.
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Q. One of the things we struggle with as a congregation is cultivating enough leaders. Our current leaders are getting burned out and there aren’t enough new ones coming up to replace them. We’re getting frustrated. A. Try the following ways, says Eunice Benton, district executive for the...
By Donald E. Skinner | August 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
The annual stewardship drive is a lot of fun at Arlington Street Church (ASC), Boston (301 members). For starters there’s the gold spray-painted “ark of the covenant” that is carried down front on Covenant Renewal Sunday. There’s a celebratory mood, with lots of music and a rousing sermon by...
By Donald E. Skinner | August 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
If you dropped into a meeting of the executive team at Unity Church-Unitarian in St. Paul, MN (787 members), you might wonder who was in charge. The team is composed of the two co-ministers, the Revs. Janne and Rob Eller-Isaacs; director of resource development Louise Wolfgramm; and director of...
By Donald E. Skinner | August 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
Many congregations earn extra income by renting their facilities to outside groups. But is there a point at which such income might jeopardize a congregation’s tax exempt status? And what about renting to for-profit groups? The Rev. Ralph Mero, the Unitarian Universalist Association’s (UUA’s)...
By Donald E. Skinner | August 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
After a member of East Shore Unitarian Church in Bellevue, WA, had a heart attack at a church meeting and subsequently died, the congregation bought two automatic external defibrillators. One is kept outside the sanctuary, the other in the education building....
By Donald E. Skinner | June 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
Q. We’re considering a capital campaign. I understand most campaigns collect the money over three years, but what is the rationale for that length? Why not five, for instance? And how should we involve the people who join the congregation toward the end of the campaign or afterward?...
June 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
Does any congregation ever have enough volunteers? Most of us struggle with that. It can be one of the most frustrating parts of being a lay leader. But there are ways to make finding and keeping volunteers less of a problem. Start by asking them the right way: face-to-face....
By Donald E. Skinner | June 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
Every congregation would like to have a substantial endowment fund. But many never get there. We hate to ask for the money. We’re afraid we won’t know how to manage it well. Or that there might be disagreements about how to use it. There are good reasons to overcome those obstacles, says Marcy...
By Donald E. Skinner | June 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
We’ve all had the experience of walking into a room where a conversation was in progress. We were able to understand a little of what people were saying, but a lot of references went over our head because we didn’t have the benefit of what had gone on before. It can be like that if you’re a...
By Donald E. Skinner | March 15, 2005 | From InterConnections -
Ever wonder why friends and members leave your church? The Membership Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley (UUCB) in Kensington, CA (526 members), did and went to the trouble of conducting exit interviews. It’s a process that can tell you a lot about whether people feel...
By Donald E. Skinner | March 15, 2005 | From InterConnections