A deeper dive of questions into what is needed to foster and support diverse leadership in our congregations.

Are you okay with being routinely spiritually challenged by your UU leaders? In the midst of that, how much comfort, support, and/or reassurance do you need?

What is meant by “collaborative leadership?” Can collaboration exist side-by-side with clear lines of accountability?

How might past experiences of leaders create a "mold" that doesn't fit subsequent leaders?

What does genuinely being present to the difference of others require of us Unitarian Universalists? What makes being present to the difference of others hard or challenging?

How are the community's unspoken expectations of "how one shows up as a leader "in alignment or not in alignment with our UU commitment to diversity?

A discussion guide to help your congregation foster diverse leadership, both lay and ordained, making it more survivable and vibrant.

Our guest, Aisha Hauser, outlines the basic tenets of restorative and transformative justice and invites us into conversation about the ways we already affirm many of these practices in our spaces. 

Before serving on the search team, potential members should have a clear understanding of the commitment of time over the course of the year-long search process.

The goals of the search team selection should be to have a high-functioning, wise, and thoughtful group that is committed to the congregation and its vision for the future.

The governing board usually holds the responsibility of the search process—with the Congregational Transitions Director's support and guidance—until the settled search team begins its work.

The governing board should review their bylaws, so they can determine if the UUA's recommendations for a search team selection process will be compliant.

Learning about the flow of the search cycle, breaking down the process into phases, and doing each element within each phase helps make the search process more manageable.

The UUA search process includes opportunities to examine how oppression, supremacy, and bias work in the world and how they are at play in our search system's processes and practices.

The ministerial search process requires lay leaders to practice skills of holding confidentiality about detail while being transparent about the process.

Congregations that have a two-year interim ministry between settled ministries give themselves time to process the previous ministry and get ready for the next ministry.

This phase includes ending well, begin interim ministry, overview of the search calendar, work on anti-oppression practices, budget considerations

Is developmental ministry your calling? The search process for developmental ministers has a specific process and timing.

The search process leading up to calling or hiring a minister (or other program religious professional) sets the tone for the covenantal relationships vital to the congregation's ministry.

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron and Rev. Jami A. Yandle explore what is sometimes perceived as the gulf between cisgender/heteronormative and transgender/queer communities.