Leadership Experience is the leadership development program for congregational leaders in the Pacific Western Region (PWR).

Participants in last year’s program described it as follows:

“Awesome”
“Profound”
“Inspiring and transformative”
“Valuable”
“I left feeling warmed, inspired, encouraged, connected, uplifted, and nourished.”
“I learned a ton.”
“Relevant and helpful”
“Immediately useful to me as a congregational leader.”
“A wealth of resources”
“I am grateful for this experience.”

Created and facilitated by PWR staff, Leadership Experience 2020 will combine a three-day, in-person, weekend-retreat experience and six follow-up 90-minute video conference calls.

Weekend retreats will take place on the following dates at these locations in January 2020:

• January 10-12 in Federal Way, WA (Seattle suburbs) at the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center
• January 17-19 in Danville, CA (outside Oakland) at the San Damiano Retreat Center
• January 17-19 in Golden, CO at the Mother Cabrini Shrine
• January 24-26 in Scottsdale, AZ at the Franciscan Renewal Center

The follow-up videoconference calls will use Zoom and will take place twice a month, February through April.

Participants will have homework assignments, mostly consisting of reading and videos, both before the weekend retreat and before each videoconference call.

Registration costs will be $450 per person. Participants are responsible for their own travel costs.

Generous scholarships are available to those who would not otherwise be able to attend as well as to young adults and individuals with historically marginalized identities. Travel subsidies are available to individuals who live more than 300 miles from the retreat center closest to them. Congregations are also encouraged to help participants with costs.

Participants are able to attend any of the four weekend retreat sites. It will not be necessary to attend the geographically closest retreat site. Members of congregations with at least 400 members are encouraged, but not required, to attend the weekend retreat in Golden, CO.

We are expanding the capacity of the program this year and will accept up to 30 applicants for each weekend retreat. We encourage early registration. Though we are expanding the program’s capacity, we still expect that we may have to turn away late applicants, as we did last year.

Who should attend?
This program is ideal for incoming or already serving board members or any other congregational members planning to serve or already serving in a leadership role. Religious professionals may also attend. We encourage congregations to send teams of at least two people to attend.

How will congregational leaders benefit from participating in Leadership Experience 2020?
The goal of the program is to give participants the experiences, understandings, knowledge, and practical skills necessary to become spiritually grounded leaders able to lead change in their congregations in order to help those congregations become the most vital Unitarian Universalist congregations possible.

Topics that will be covered in the program include:

• Characteristics of Congregational Vitality
• The Changing U.S. Religious Landscape
• Congregational Size Theory
• Multicultural Transformation
• The Practice of Spiritual Leadership
• Congregations as Emotional Systems
• Being a Mission-centered Congregation
• Governance
• Communication and conflict management
• Leadership Recruitment and Development
• Change Management

Register here after August 1, 2019.

If you have questions about registration or logistics, please contact Amanda Radak at aradak@uua.org. If you have questions about the curriculum, please contact Rev. Christine Robinson, at crobinson@uua.org.