Updated May 30, 2024
This page was originally written as a resource in the early days of the pandemic. It has been modified for ongoing use.
Expanding Capacity for Ministry
The work of your congregation is made possible through shared ministry among consistent, accountable, paid staff and dedicated volunteers. These extraordinary days in our country and our world deserve all of the ministry we can bring to them. The mission of your congregation is as critical as ever. Your members are yearning to be ministered to amidst their anxiety, their hardships, and their hope. Suffering and injustice were laid bare in new ways during the pandemic. Climate change, war, late-stage capitalism, and white supremacy culture contribute to ongoing trauma and grief. What "church" looks like will continue to change, but the need for strong ministry will be a constant. You want to be able to meet the moment.
Community Care and Relief for Staff
Preventing Exhaustion
Many congregational staff are tired; some are running on empty. Continuing to adapt to new needs and ways of working, coping with increasing family stressors, and managing uncertainty and anxiety (their own and that of others) take their toll. Some have felt like they've been functioning at 110%, which of course is unfair and unsustainable. In fact, in challenging times, everything feels harder and takes longer than usual; we should actually expect less than 100% of "usual productivity." Support your staff through realistic job scopes and supportive supervision.
Enabling Time Off
Pressing responsibilities often make it difficult for ministers and other staff to pull away. Someone on your staff team may be the only person who knows how to do a critical task on Sundays. Or perhaps there isn't the lay caring capacity in the congregation to assure the staff team that pastoral care needs will be met when the minister is takes extended time off.
Regular days off and vacation/study time are essential for your staff's well-being. Provide the relief they need and deserve by cross-training and building up a volunteer infrastructure to support the congregation's essential activities.
Living Our Values
Continued support of your staff is a way of demonstrating Unitarian Universalist values and theology. Our faith is grounded in relationship and interdependence. We commit to justice and compassion within the world around us as well as within our own walls. Taking care of your staff is a matter of both practicality and conscience.