Be strategic about your communications via email, including what to share and how often.

No one fact says more about a group of human beings than its size. Dan Hotchkiss shares some of the differences in dynamics.

Can you provide guidance and resources for completing W-2 forms for both ministers and other congregational staff? Deadline by January 31 after the tax year (February 1 in 2021), W-2 forms must be given to employees and sent to the Social Security Administration.

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. Your Minister is an Employee, Not...

The UUA Compensation Program is evolving! We launched Phase I of of our program revisions in early 2020 with the introduction of new Compensation Standards. Please sign up for Compensation and Staffing News and stay informed about upcoming changes....

These recommendations and reminders are provided in order to support you in having meaningful, fruitful conversations with any congregation you might consider serving. We want to help you maximize your chances of negotiating an offer that you feel good about, with terms that serve you well...

Last revised: July 2019 Highlights Nearly all congregational ministers are employees, not independent contractors. There are 3 important tax provisions for ministers – dual tax status, housing allowance, and optional tax withholding. Benefits recommended for all staff, including ministers, are...

Last revised: July 2019 Highlights The Ministerial Housing Allowance enables ministers to exclude a portion of their salary from certain taxes. For most active and retired ministers, it is their most important tax benefit....

We know that learning about staff compensation can be confusing. UUA Compensation Consultants are here to help! Compensation Consultants are trained volunteers who work under the direction of the Office of Church Staff Finances.

All systems need feedback loops and organizations like congregations are no different. Your Leadership Development program will be more responsive if you develop assessments and other tools to help you learn and adjust as needed. Things you might include in your assessments: How is the...

Spend your leadership development energy on relationship-building and connecting individuals to meaningful service.

Effective Leadership Development teams focus on recruiting and relationship building. By using our suite of four leadership development trainings, you can spend less time on content and more on connection. All of our courses have discussion questions that you can use for in-person sessions.

Congregations need to follow copyright laws and ensure their leaders and staff are aware of these laws. The issues surrounding copyright and worship are complex and often confusing. You will also want to review the resource Copyright Issues Related to Worship. Sample Policy Any use of copyrighted...

The board, as "trustees," have specific responsibilities to the congregation that should be articulated in fiduciary policies. Along with the governance policies that guide the board's work , the board also needs to set policies around safety, finance, capital assets, and personnel.

Governance policies augment the bylaws by giving more detail and guidance. Policies defining board member roles and conduct, meetings for both the board and congregation.

Online Course. Develop advanced leadership skills that will help identify challenges. Learn how to help others see challenges in new ways, empower others and find creative solutions together. This course includes developing your own case study.

Online Training. Develop a deeper understanding of how to focus your congregation on mission, build trust and develop a cohesive leadership team. Learn about stewardship, strategic planning, annual goal setting and ministry assessment and the basics of congregational governance.

Online Leadership School includes family and other systems thinking applied to congregations. (Similar to Healthy Congregations®) Learn healthy leadership practices, communication and conflict skills, the importance of being mission-focused and how to communicate across differences.

Online Leadership School for new leaders and those interested in possible leadership. Covers covenant, healthy communication and boundaries, shared ministry, and stewardship & an introduction to congregational polity, UU theologies, and the wider UU movement.

RACI charts are helpful to be clear about shared process, especially the part about which body gets to have “final” say.

Covenant centered classrooms; organizing a churchwide faith development program; and information about our professional association, the Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA).

How faith development leaders in smaller UU congregations and communities build a vision of covenant centered experiences and multigenerational opportunities for spiritual deepening.

The technology in our pockets now makes it possible to provide live translation of speech to text at church.

Webinar video: Many of us are at our carrying capacity for stress; we feel overwhelmed by the crises and events facing us. This ritual will help to heal us, to strengthen our resilience and find shared hope for our living planet.

We live in anxious times, and this anxiety spills into our workplaces, homes, neighborhoods, and congregations. How can we productively work with anxiety? How can we prepare ourselves and our congregations for anxious challenges that may arise?

The primary responsibility of the denominational affairs committee is to provide a liaison between the congregation and both the Unitarian Universalist Association and the region. The committee meets to discuss issues of denominational concern....

Unitarian Universalism is faith that welcomes people from all walks of life into community with their local congregation, community, and the wider Association. If you are part of a community that is interested in joining the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) we encourage you to contact us.

Healthy groups provide feedback loops so they can learn and grow as a group. One practice is to designate a "process observer" who takes notes on group process.

Practicing radical hospitality opens up possibilities for interaction with different people, allowing for diverse experiences and an expanded creative interchange.  And it’s about meeting people where they are.  It’s about learning together.  We are all works in progress. 

Any tool, including NonViolent Communication, can be dangerous if it is used as a weapon, so let’s use the best tool for the job – and let’s use it in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone, including ourselves.

Every congregation I go to has a list of things they have to do or want to do that they just can’t do because they don’t have the resources – money, volunteers, energy, space, whatever it is. Maybe it’s time to change your framing so that you can create abundance.

When thinking about needed or wanted change, congregations can sometimes feel stymied. And, let’s face it, human systems like religious communities don’t tend to like to change. In a way, we need to trick the system in order to allow in energy and creativity.

Bylaws changes require approval by the congregation in a meeting of the whole. Like any significant change, changes to bylaws should be communicated as clearly as possible with lots of opportunity for questions and comments.

Overview of the Context and Premises for this Training Model West Shore’s worship associates team was established in 2001. Most years the team had as many as six people, serving overlapping two-year terms. People had to apply for the program, and understood they could only serve two years. The...

A congregation's web presence is often its first chance to make a good impression. Design policies that balance accountability,creativity, and engagement.

Planning to Show a Film? You are legally and ethically required to follow public performance laws.

Your UUA staff loves to use photos from our congregations on the UUA website! Here's how:

Congregations and other Unitarian Universalist (UU) organizations should adopt a permissions policy for photos and video. Here is a sample.

Even with the wide sharing of photos and video on social social media, congregations still need policies that enable them to follow copyright law, protect the vulnerable and follow the core value of consent....

In most cases, a communications vehicle that represents a congregation should be owned and operated by the congregation as a whole, and be used to further the mission and values of the congregation. Along those lines, here are some specific areas that might be helpful for congregations to consider...

Giving to the annual operating fund is the “monthly expenses” pocket, giving to the capital campaign is the “home renovations” pocket. What other pockets of giving do we see in congregations?

Personnel Committees operate like Human Resources departments in that they don't hire, manage or supervise staff. Instead they advise on best practices.

The interdependence of our faith communities is integral to our polity (as is our independence). This is what makes us an Association of congregations. What can this interrelationship look like when it comes to congregational staff? Here are a few examples: Newly hired staff are welcomed and...

How might we see the impact of our hospitality with “fresh eyes?”

The Finance Committee assists the board and financial officers (i.e. the Treasurer) in monitoring and managing the congregation's financial resources by providing reports and making recommendations. The authority to make decisions from this information rests with the board....

Consulting Congregational Finance LLC for free and paid subscriptions to access excellent resources, including the webinar she led last winter for the New England Region UUA: Financial Management for Your Congregation led by Rev. Karen McArthur...

Endowments need special handling to ensure transparency, accountability and impact.

Introduction As organizations largely staffed by volunteers who may not have a business or accounting background, congregations will want to establish systems, policies, and procedures to reinforce financial health and vitality. It’s also vital to prevent the opportunity for mistakes or...

Embezzlement from congregations is not unusual, and it almost always occurs when one individual has been granted such a high degree of trust with no safeguards.

Rarely can congregations pay for a full-blown audit of the church books by a CPA. Audits are expensive, often ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the annual budget of the organization....