One of the key challenges in adding an additional service is providing religious education for children. What is needed, what will be offered, and how it will be done are large questions that need and deserve special consideration. The process of determining the answer to these questions runs...

Three sample surveys that can be modified easily for your specific situation.

Any change is difficult for an organization, but the change in number of worship services seems to prompt some particular fears and feelings. They need to be articulated, recognized, affirmed, and responded to so the change can move forward effectively. The following are some common concerns and...

Adding an additional service will have a real impact on congregational life. Once the decision to add a service is made, the designing and implementation stages begin. Here are a list of questions to help guide your planning:

Church leaders need to give serious consideration to whether a controversial issue should be acted on or not.

Some of the most volatile disagreements in the life of the congregations have to do with who speaks for the congregation on controversial issues. How does a congregation decide?

Establishing and maintaining Beloved Community depends on establishing and maintaining covenantal relationships. Develop a covenant as a sacred promise of meaningful and mutual relationship.

A congregation’s mission is an answer to the question, “Why does this congregation exist in the world?” Congregational leaders are constantly faced with a barrage of decisions. Without a clear mission, how can they make those decisions?

Unitarian Unviersalists often look to the Seven Principles as a guide for ethical discernment, but there is another source that should inform decisions, especially for leaders in our congregations: The Five Smooth Stones of Liberalism as imagined by Unitarian theologian and ethicist James Luther...

What are the basic documents that every board member should have at their fingertips? Here is a handy list to construct your own board manual.

An accessible, attractive and efficient office space makes staff, volunteers and visitors happy and productive!

What are typical job descriptions for the officers on a congregational board? Here is summary of typical roles and responsibilities....

The UUA has a Safe Congregations Team that spends hours developing and curating resources: General Safety Topic Responding to Threats and Incidents Promoting Appropriate Behavior Keeping Children Safe in Congregations Becoming a Safer Congregation (Handbook) A UU Guide to Effective Safety Policie...

Congregational Life Staff are often asked who performs executive functions in UU Congregations under policy governance. Here are some considerations.

Boards have the fiduciary responsibility to make sure the overall finances of the congregation are in order and the budget is on track. But the line-item spreadsheets given to board often have too much detail and don't give related information that helps the board make sense of the information.

Congregational boards are entrusted with many of the operational and sometimes programmatic decisions....

Out of space? Good for you! Here are some things to think about and plan for.  Going to two services offers advantages beyond solving space problems.  It offers choices in service timing, for instance.  This might seem like a small matter at this point, but congregations who shrink from two services to one often find that their attendance shrinks by about 10% when they do.

Learn how the human brain is impacted by anxiety in organizations like congregations.

Occasionally, during a conflict or crisis, a board may need some time for candid peer-to-peer discussion.

Congregations often have unexpected issues that arise between board meetings that need immediate attention. An Executive Committee typically conducts the current and ordinary business of the congregation between meetings of the Board of Trustees.