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.

Organizations, like all systems, seek equilibrium. If a congregation is thrown out of balance by the prospect of change, most members will seek to restore order and sameness. This is natural and should not be a reason to judge one another. Healthy organizations have developed the ability to be receptive to change and resistance--to lean into the disruption to their equilibrium. This is where a congregation becomes a community of learning.

Surveys that work best come out of an understanding that the job of leadership is not to “make people happy” but to help the congregation live out its mission.  Surveys that are useless at best and divisive at worst typically seek to honor personal preferences about various areas of congregational life (including the minister).

"Deferred Maintenance" and "Building Reserves" are terms that are often tossed around when talking about the budget, but what do they mean?

Every Unitarian Universalist Congregation is designed differently. How each congregation functions is a blend of congregational experience, culture, and history. Congregational structures are also affected by whether and which other congregations members have attended or been a part of before. W

In our congregations, how often do we assume that preachers, music directors, and other worship leaders are there to fulfill our personal preferences?

We often claim that budgets are moral documents, and that congregational budgets should reflect our values. But line item budgets that include "office supplies, utilities, salary" and other such descriptions don't show how these line items serve the mission of the congregation. How might...

In our challenging justice work, we can bring our spiritual and religious wisdom—the words, songs, prayers, and embodied practices—to build resilience.

Leaders must learn to model how to de-center the culture of the congregation from White identity and culture.

A wide assortment of tools and methods can enhance a meeting’s productivity and enjoyment. (Yes, most meetings can be fun!) Below are a few suggestions. ...