In my last blog post I wrote about the Baby Boomers and the Millennials.  I received a few requests to write about the generational cohort labeled Gen X (rough birth years 1960-1985), sandwiched between the two and much smaller than either.  Most of the ministerial settlements...

There can be a significant cultural divide between baby boomers and millennials in our congregations, which is obvious to the millennials, but often invisible to the boomers.   I was reminded of this after seeing various reactions on Facebook to a recent article on...

How do we find volunteers for the different jobs in our congregation?  How do we fire a volunteer who doesn't perform?  How do we renew a committee stuck in stale ideas and that repels any new committee members and their potential energy? Volunteer recruitment and dealing with...

The Addictions Ministry offers resources and information to support reflection and transparency, and to help those with addictions, their families, and their communities along the path to recovery.

Has something like this ever happened to you when you're travelling during the summer and decide to check out the local UU congregation? You check their website, find out the service time and see that the topic is "The Secret Life of Bees," the title of one of your favorite novels.  But...

An intercultural framework can help us be in community across difference.

Using Process Theology, we offer a framework as well as practical spiritual practices showing how living in covenant can create space for sacred conversations and authentic living.

If Unitarian Universalism’s crux were reduced to a few points in space and time, they would be those potent moments just before and just after we keep promises, or break them. The power of those moments is simple, shocking, and science-based. Explore that power—its science, theology and practice.

One of the most important factors in a vibrant congregation is a high level of covenantal trust between the minister and the lay leaders.  When I say covenantal, I intentionally mean the promises made between the leaders and members and in service to that which is greater than the congregation...

Imagine that your congregational leaders are talking to the bank loan officer in anticipation of a major capital campaign project.  The loan officer asks who has the authority in your congregation to sign for the loan.  "Why, our president!"  ...

Church leaders that I work with are often frustrated with the slow, almost glacial speed of change in congregational life.  What might take a month or two in the workplace takes a year in the church. ...

You will need at least 30 adult members to start a new UU congregation. Here is how to start the process!

Sometimes taking a break from leadership is the best way forward.

If I could give one piece of advice for congregational leaders who wish to grow others into leadership, I would say, "Have one-on-one, personal conversations.  Ask about their passions. Ask how they are doing. Focus on the positives while encouraging them to stretch and grow." A...

We are heading into the time of year where some nominating committees are scrambling to recruiting potential leaders for governing boards and other elected positions to be offered for election at Spring congregational meetings. Hopefully, your congregation is transitioning toward having a...

Many of our congregations are wondering what our home congregation might look like in a changing context.  So today, we’re going to use a different part of our brain. 

Unitarian Universalists tend to use a lot of words when we attempt to explain our religious beliefs and values. We have a complicated faith that does not fit into typical questions about religion from outsiders. This makes sense at a national level. We have a big tent that makes room for a lot of...

Like many Unitarian and Universalist ministers of yore, I’m a circuit-riding preacher: a perpetual guest minister. (Not many 19th century traditions merit revisiting, but this is one of them.) On any given Sunday, I pull up to an unfamiliar UU congregation, meet in person the lay leaders I’ve...

Congregations who care about growth keep detailed tracking records and look for long-term trends.

...self-culture is possible, not only because we can enter into and search ourselves. We have a still nobler power, that of acting on, determining and forming ourselves. This is a fearful as well as glorious endowment, for it is the ground of human responsibility. We have the power not only of...