For Nominating Committees: Leadership Development 2.0

By Renee Ruchotzke

What is the future of Unitarian Universalist congregations? Are we slowly declining, as hinted at in the article UUA membership and attendance declined in 2011 in the UU World? Or are we at the cusp of societal changes where we can be A Religion for Our Time?

I believe that Unitarian Universalism offers a way of being in the world that the world yearns for. We offer the love of the Universalists, the critical thinking of the Unitarians, both grounded in the covenantal faithfulness of our Congregational Polity. I also believe that there are millions of people who have gifts and passions, and a desire to serve something greater than their own needs and we could be their spiritual home.

It is in this context that we at the UUA offer this new blog on leadership development. In the illustration on the right, there are two groupings of successful and popular “brands” but why they are successful is quite different. The brands on the left depend on user-generated content (often referred to as Web 2.0), where the brands on the right are content delivered to the user. I go into more depth in this presentation (about 5-1/2 minutes in).

I believe that our congregations will flourish if we adopt a similar ethos of “user-generated” content, that is, if we find a way to help our members find ways to serve that tap their creativity, their passion and their deepest held values. This is not your parent’s nominating committee–this is Leadership Development 2.0.

About the Author

Renee Ruchotzke

Rev. Renee Ruchotzke (ruh-HUT-skee) is a Congregational Life Consultant and program manager for Leadership Development.

For more information contact .

Web 2.0

Vital Leaders for Vibrant Congregations