For congregations that own a parsonage, consider the possibilities as well as implications for structuring a ministerial agreement.

In this seven-part series, participants are introduced to Spiritual Leadership and its five practices: Covenanting, Tending Our Tradition, Doing Our Inner Work, Centering in Gifts, and Faithful Risking. The series centers on questions faithful people are asking: "How can we more actively imagine,...

The Sermon of the Month series is a monthly subscription service that provides recorded sermons congregations can download and use for worship. Along with a transcript of the sermon, each month’s offering will include suggested readings and hymns.

Our spiritual communities are at their best when we support one another. In order to support young adults with mental health issues well, we need to fight the stigma, watch for signs, reach out proactively, and maintain healthy boundaries....

This “next level” training for boards goes into its roles as fiduciary agents, spiritual leaders, strategic thinkers, and change agents.

A few weeks ago, I joined Joe, Meck, and our Region’s Spiritual Leadership for Culture Change Community of Practice (join anytime!) for a conversation on Tending Our Tradition through Reparations. We were looking at how this practice of Spiritual Leadership invites us to bring forward the gifts...

Ministry is a complex profession with a lot of regular duties that are not always apparent. Here is short summary of what parish ministers do.

The seventh in our Skill Up series was a BIPOC panel with Rev. Marisol Caballero, Ayanna Kafi, and Mackenzie MacDade in June 2023. The webinar explored the intersectionality of being BIPOC and neurodivergent. Both of these identities require navigating systems that were not meant for them....

It’s that time of the year again, when new leadership joins congregational boards. Summer is a time of transformation for some congregational leaders. I often receive questions around this time on how to hold a board retreat. Last year, Pat Infante and I held a webinar on holding a board retreat.

[This post is a follow up to "When We Wonder Together" (Practice Makes Possible - March 7, 2023)] In March, the theme for the bi-monthly gathering for our community of practice Spiritual Leadership for Culture Change (SL4CC) was "Discernment for Faithful Risking." We distinguished discernment fro...

Pledging trends show that the most efficient methods in stewardship are rarely the most effective.

On top of managing the “logistics” of a staff member’s departure, you will need to manage the emotional component. Congregants may have a whole range of feelings and reactions. It’s important to acknowledge all feelings.

Boards, especially in congregations with 100 or more members, find that delegating part of their fiduciary work to committees and/or task forces helps to free them up for big-picture and visionary discussions.

Personnel Committees don't hire, manage or supervise staff. Instead they advise the board and the senior minister on best practices.

Policies and procedures are a way of telling future boards “this is our best thinking and guidance on this subject.” 

Bylaws guide the congregation’s board in governing by articulating board structure and key fiduciary committees and processes for key decision-making.

One of the most important keys to congregational health and vitality--along with a clear purpose--is a cohesive leadership team.

A summary and commentary of the UU congregational results of the Faith Communitities Today (FACT) 2023 survey that was conducted this past February-April. 

Among the things that has kept regional staff busy lately is conducting transition interviews. When a settled ministry ends, we meet with the departing minister to get their responses to a set of questions designed by the Transitions Office. We also meet with the board and ask them the same...

Recordings of workshops on Dream Team Ministry and Productivity to Possibility.