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.

Many congregations start the church year with a retreat for the Board of Trustees (including the Minister). Ideally, this retreat is held Friday evening through Saturday afternoon, at a site away from the place you usually meet. Perhaps you could go to someone's lake cabin or a local retreat center,...

Healthy and transparent communication needs to be mutual, with all parties taking responsibility for their words. Leaders should have firm policies against accepting anonymous feedback.

You’ve probably heard that there are special tax rules for ministers. Most church leaders don’t need to be experts on ministerial compensation, but it’s important to understand the basics of how payroll and taxes for the minister differ from other employees. Our Ministerial Compensation...

a. Our Values, Our Staff b. Compensation Guidelines c. The Unique Finances of Your Minister d. Personnel Policies and Best Practices

A worship leader who speaks only to the children during story time speaks only to the adults the rest of the time. If an element I've planned for worship deliberately excludes a portion of my congregation, that itself tells a story.

Congregational boards are intended to provide collective discernment;rather than be a forum for competing interests or agendas. Faithful boards arein alignment with and accountable to the mission and vision of the congregation.

a. Speaking with One Voice b. Team Players: Interpersonal Dynamics c. Minutes and Records

The flow of information in an organization is a bit like the flow of water after a rain. Ideally, the information is shared evenly, and the members are able to absorb it like loamy soil. But information that triggers anxiety can be like a heavy rain. Without established channels, information will create its own channels, possible eroding trust or creating other damage.Here are some practices to create healthy communication channels.

Balancing transparency and confidentiality can be challenging for congregational board members, staff, and other leaders who have access to sensitive information. Healthy, vibrant systems need as much open communication as possible. White Supremacy Culture sometimes uses "the need for...

I have a love-hate relationship with surveys, especially surveys used as a part of congregational planning. Frankly, used in this context they can often do more harm than good. When used as one among a number of ways of collecting data, they can get great and comparatively easy way to add peripheral vision to face-to-face methods of gathering response. Here Ian Evison offers a few guidelines for using surveys well.

Congregational Governing Boards have different structures, cultures, assumptions, and responsibilities in different congregations.  The size and structure of a governing board is dependent upon the roles and responsibilities of the board itself. Here are a series of factors that you can consider as you determine the size of your congregation's board.