A Message From UUA Congregational Life Staff: Finding Our Way Forward

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Dear Leaders,

As we plan for an extended period of virtual gatherings, we recognize now more than ever just how much we need each other. Your Congregational Life staff of the UUA is grateful for the opportunity to share President Susan Frederick-Gray’s weekly message because it is important to us that you know how closely we hold you in our hearts.

The significance and accompanying grief around the recommendations shared last week for congregations to prepare for virtual operations until May 2021 continues to be in all our hearts. At the UUA, as we imagine being in virtual mode for the next year, senior leadership are taking the time to sort out what decisions need to come next and how to best support staff and serve our mission faithfully.

Over the next few months, your Congregational Life Staff will host online gatherings for leaders to process together what it could mean to move forward into a year of physical distancing. We will commiserate, wonder, dream, and support one another. We will connect, share ideas, ask questions, hope, and pray with one another.

To connect with these conversations and opportunities, sign up for your region’s monthly newsletter as well as your region’s calendar. If you are not already electronically connected to your region, please visit Regions. From the map on that page, you can find the region where your congregation is located. Next, scroll down the page to find more information from your region, connect with staff members, and subscribe to your region’s newsletter.

We can’t know fully what is ahead for the next six months or a year. These times pose exceptional challenges for leaders, and reaching out for support and connection is more important than ever. We—your regional staff—are here to faithfully partner with you as we all find our way forward. Whatever we do, we will do it together. You are not alone.

We look forward to connecting with you soon,

Jessica York, Director of Congregational Life
Woullard Lett, Lead for the New England Region
Rev. Megan Foley, Lead for the Central East Region
Connie Goodbread, Co-Lead for the Southern Region, Temporary Lead for the Pacific Western Region
Natalie Briscoe, Co-Lead for the Southern Region
Rev. David Pyle, Lead for the Mid-America Region