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  • With unfortunate regularity, we hear heart-breaking stories of how honest and important debates in congregational life descend into nasty fights. Often, those in congregations where this happens express bewilderment that a fight could erupt. I too am bewildered, but my bewilderment is different....
    By Ian Evison, MidAmerica Region of the UUA | September 25, 2017 | From LeaderLab
  • Larry Ladd shares his wisdom from years of consulting with not-for-profit boards.
    Video | By Larry Ladd | September 15, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Bylaws & Policies, Governing Boards
  • Congregational boards hold the authority and responsibility for the congregation as an institution, as designated in the bylaws.
    Leader Resource | By Renee Ruchotzke, Larry Ladd | September 15, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Governing Boards
  • Congregational leaders today are facing challenges that have no easy answers or quick fixes. Developing practices that enable the congregation to use its collective wisdom to experiment with different ideas and approaches....
    Leader Resource | By Renee Ruchotzke | September 13, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Adult Faith Development, Change & Conflict, Leadership Development
  • Policies and procedures are a way of telling future boards “this is our best thinking and guidance on this subject.” 
    Leader Resource | By Congregational Life | June 8, 2023 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Bylaws & Policies, Governing Boards, Governance for Congregations
  • Bylaws guide the congregation’s board in governing by articulating board structure and key fiduciary committees and processes for key decision-making.
    Leader Resource | By Congregational Life | June 8, 2023 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Bylaws & Policies
  • Become more informed about and more comfortable with neuro-diversity (autism spectrum disorders, dyslexia, ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc) so that we can more fully live into a practice of radical welcome. With Linette Lowe(2015).
    Webinar | By MidAmerica Region of the UUA | September 1, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Healthy Behavior, Hospitality, Disability & Accessibility
  • Learn how to provide paths to leadership in your congregation,to identify potential leaders and to equip them for service in your congregation. (2016).
    Webinar | By Renee Ruchotzke, Central East Region of the UUA | September 1, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Membership in Congregations, Shared Ministry Teams, Leadership Development
  • Faith traditions are all in a time of transition and the UU faith is no exception. As we struggle to consider what our faith will look like in the world of congregations and beyond, let us come together to consider some new perspectives on the traditional ideas of membership. In this webinar, we...
    Webinar | By Marie Luna, Tandi Rogers | September 1, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Membership in Congregations, Path to Leadership, Membership Growth & Outreach
  • The opportunity is great in our congregations for rumors, miscommunication, gossip and, of course, conflict. Examine the barriers to open communication processes and will explore ways in which lay and ministerial leaders can open up channels of communication and create transparent systems where...
    Webinar | By Mark Bernstein, Central East Region of the UUA | August 31, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Covenant, Healthy Behavior, Communication
  • In many congregations, meetings are considered a necessary evil.  It doesn't have to be that way.  Learn spiritual and practical ideas for running efficient, effective and faith-based meetings
    Webinar | By Mark Bernstein, Central East Region of the UUA | June 7, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Effective Meetings, Governing Boards, Communication
  • Smooth and efficient meetings require planning, structure, transparency and practice!  It takes a lot of practice to be a good facilitator. Even more importantly, good facilitators don't go it alone--they ask other leaders to take on different roles to keep the meeting on schedule and on topic.
    Leader Resource | By Renee Ruchotzke | June 7, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Effective Meetings, Governing Boards, Communication
  • Learn how to tell a story that a multigenerational audience will enjoy and remember! Learn storytelling structures and techniques, basic mime skills, memorization tips, and how to project.
    Webinar | By Central East Region of the UUA | June 7, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development, Shared Ministry Teams, Worship
  • Vibrant congregations in today's world live out of a sense of core mission or purpose. Twenty-first leaders need to find ways to embed that mission into all parts of congregational life. This workshop will provide strategies to help your congregation focus its development of leaders and congregants...
    Webinar | By Renee Ruchotzke, Central East Region of the UUA | April 28, 2012 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Governing Boards, Mission/Vision/Planning, Leadership Development
  • A brief overview of how to budget for ministry. For more detailed information visit the UUA Office of Church Staff Finances or download Ministerial Compensation 101: A Basic Primer (PDF).
    Video | By Renee Ruchotzke, UUA Office of Church Staff Finances, Ministries and Faith Development | June 2, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Benefits & Compensation for Congregations, Support for Ministers
  • Learn how triangulated communication increases unhealthy conflict in congregations, and how to avoid and untangle triangulated conversations. Pacific Western Region (2016).
    Webinar | By James Kubal-Komoto, Pacific Western Region of the UUA | June 2, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Competencies for Leadership, Healthy Behavior
  • Learn from Rev. Julie Taylor, a member of the UU Trauma Response Ministry, and Rev. Lisa Presley, MidAmerica Staff person and responder, as they discuss what a congregation can, and should do, to prepare themselves for disasters, whether natural or human caused.
    Webinar | By Lisa Presley, Julie Taylor, MidAmerica Region of the UUA | April 14, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Safety and Staffing in Congregations, Trauma and Disaster Response
  • Congregational budget-makers frequently divide into two camps that approach the task in different ways. The first camp is likely to include children of the Great Depression, experts in finance, elementary school teachers, and persons anxious about their own money situation....
    Leader Resource | By Dan Hotchkiss | March 20, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Governing Boards, Finance for Congregations, Leadership Development
  • When you understand the purpose of governance and what it needs to be effective, your work as a board becomes much clearer. 
    Video | By Dan Hotchkiss | March 16, 2017 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Bylaws & Policies, Governing Boards, Governance for Congregations
  • Is your congregation being held hostage? Is there a troublesome personality who tries to get his or her own way by withholding money, by loud assertive behavior, or by misusing Joys and Concerns?...
    Audio Recording | By Donald E. Skinner | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Conflict Management in Congregations, Safe Congregations
  • Too often our leaders lead from unexamined fear and frustration. We need to lead from our hopes as embodied in the vision of the Beloved Community.
    Audio Recording | By Paula Cole Jones | February 23, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Conflict Management in Congregations, Healthy Behavior, Small Congregations
  • How might the small church need to change to meet future needs of tomorrow's members?
    Audio Recording | June 15, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Membership Growth & Outreach, Small Congregations
  • Emotions play a major role in the leadership of congregations, and if we do not take that into consideration as leaders, we will walk into situations that tear at the fabric of communal life and possibly thwart any growth that had been planned.
    Audio Recording | By Richard Speck | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Healthy Behavior, Small Congregations
  • If you’re listening to this CD, chances are you think your congregation is small. But not all small congregations are alike. These differences are not just about numbers. They’re about attitude, and group behaviors, and organizational structure. It helps to know how your congregation does...
    Audio Recording | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Membership Growth & Outreach, Small Congregations
  • Don’t try to do everything! Instead, figure out what your congregation does well, and do it, and do more of it!
    Audio Recording | By Karen Lewis Foley | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Membership Growth & Outreach, Small Congregations
  • Change is always difficult, yet it happens every day in our lives in small and big ways. It is also is a regular component of congregational life. When a visitor shows up on a Sunday, the dynamics in a congregation have changed, particularly if the newcomer stays. We all need to be aware of the...
    Audio Recording | By Kenneth Brown | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Change & Conflict, Small Congregations
  • Small congregations are trying to do too much. They are struggling to put together a quality meaningful worship service and a Children’s Faith Development Program every Sunday. Let’s try something different.
    Audio Recording | By Connie Goodbread | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development, Membership Growth & Outreach, Small Congregations
  • A couple of years ago I started wondering about how many visitors come to our churches. I found out that nobody knows. Even that, I find fascinating. Here we are, a movement that is made up of over 80 percent of people who were not born Unitarian Universalists. Converting visitors into members is...
    Audio Recording | By Peter Morales | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Hospitality, Membership Growth & Outreach
  • In its 7th year and with about 40 adult members, a small congregation in the South realized it was stuck—its membership hadn’t increased in 3 years. True, a few new folks joined each year, but the new folks only replaced those who had moved or left for other reasons. ...
    Audio Recording | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Hospitality, Small Congregations
  • membership coordinator, and she focused much of her energy on integrating new and not-so-new members.
    Audio Recording | By Donald E. Skinner | June 15, 2006 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Hospitality, Membership in Congregations, Membership Growth & Outreach
  • How all ages can come together to make a rich and vibrant spiritual community.
    Audio Recording | By Jesse Jaeger | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development, Young Adult Faith Development (ages 18-35)
  • Young adults, just like older adults, want worship that speaks to their experiences in life, that challenges them to develop deeper relationships, and that connects them to things that are beyond themselves.
    Audio Recording | By Michael J. Tino | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development, Membership Growth & Outreach
  • We need to think beyond increasing the membership rolls and focus more on developing what the workshop leaders called an “outward orientation.”
    Audio Recording | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Membership Growth & Outreach, Small Congregations
  • Supporting one another is important, but if that is primarily what you do, then your congregation will decline. For a congregation to be alive, vital, and growing, it must have a sense that it exists to serve as well.
    Audio Recording | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Mission/Vision/Planning, Membership Growth & Outreach, Small Congregations
  • Community ministers benefit by having a place that supports them spiritually and provides social connections. The congregation gains by its connection with a minister who has insights beyond the congregation's walls.
    Audio Recording | By Donald E. Skinner | June 15, 2006 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Shared Ministry Teams, Membership Growth & Outreach
  • Is it hard to find a place to sit on Sunday morning? If YOU think so, think how newcomers must feel. Studies show that newcomers are much less likely to return if the sanctuary or fellowship hall feels too crowded. Plus longtime members may feel they aren’t needed and they may stay home. If...
    Audio Recording | By Margaret L. Beard | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Membership Growth & Outreach, Worship
  • At our best, Unitarian Universalism has been a beacon of freedom, justice and wholeness; at our best, we create religious communities that make a crucial difference in the lives of many people. ...
    Audio Recording | By Rosemary Bray McNatt | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Nourishing the Spirit, Membership Growth & Outreach
  • How a spritiual practice sustained Denny Davidoff, former UUA moderator and all-around leader.
    Audio Recording | By Denise T. Davidoff | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Nourishing the Spirit, Leadership Development
  • No person is perfect. How do we ask each other to return to covenant when someone makes a mistake?
    Audio Recording | By Karen Brammer | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Covenant, Healthy Behavior, Small Congregations
  • When InterConnections wrote a lengthy article about church websites in 1998 an estimated 40 to 60 percent of our congregations had them. In 2006 the figure was over 90 percent. (It's close to 100% in 2019) Increasingly, it’s the way that visitors find us. Many congregations report that most of...
    Audio Recording | By Donald E. Skinner | February 15, 2006 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Outreach & Marketing, Websites
  • Help your members and friends build personal connections in an atmosphere of mutual trust.
    Audio Recording | June 23, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Covenant Groups & Small Group Ministry
  • If we are not so busy doing church business on Sunday mornings, we will be more welcoming to our visitors and attentive to the fact that they are guests.
    Audio Recording | By Dori Davenport Thexton | June 15, 2005 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Hospitality, Membership Growth & Outreach
  • Families with children no longer feel a sense of obligation to attend church. Participation in a religious community is often considered one option among many competing interests. How do you go about creating a multigenerational culture in your congregation?
    Audio Recording | By Michelle Richards | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development, Small Congregations
  • Before we decide whether we want to be an institution, it might be helpful if we thought about what an institution is, and what it is not. ...
    Audio Recording | By Gordon B McKeeman | February 15, 2009 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Small Congregations
  • A dedication ceremony provides a finish line for the congregation to cross, a time to say “well done” and “we’re done.”
    By Donald E. Skinner | January 1, 2013 | From LeaderLab
    Tagged as: Facilities Management, Congregational Administration, Governance for Congregations
  • From “The Committee On Ministry (COM) Model” by Rev. Robert T. Latham I Education (Ministry Awareness) Hold high the congregation’s mission and ministry: New member orientations Annual Mission-Covenant Renewal Service Appropriate usage of the Mission Covenant statement (brochures,...
    August 19, 2013 | From The Congregational Handbook
    Tagged as: Congregational Administration
  • How to Develop a Healthy and Vital Unitarian Universalist Congregation
    May 6, 2020 | From The Congregational Handbook
    Tagged as: Congregational Administration
  • The Unitarian Universalist Association recommends putting church records on CD-ROM and storing multiple copies in several locations for greatest safety. All your financial record keeping and official church documents should be backed up on the computer, periodically. When the threat of a severe...
    May 6, 2011 | From The Congregational Handbook
    Tagged as: Congregational Administration
  • Personal Safety of Congregation Members Clergy Misconduct Complaint Process The Safe Congregation Handbook: Nurturing Healthy Boundaries in Our Faith Communities Background Checks Liability Insurance: Search "Liability"on the Church Mutual Site Trauma Response Resources Minister to Those Who Have...
    September 30, 2013 | From The Congregational Handbook
    Tagged as: Congregational Administration
  • All congregations experience conflict. While many people’s stomachs knot up at the idea of conflict, conflict itself is not bad. Actually, conflict can present great opportunities for creativity, growth and transformation. How we handle conflict is the key.
    May 6, 2011 | From The Congregational Handbook
    Tagged as: Congregational Administration