If your Unitarian congregation is anything like mine, your membership is a gathering of enormously talented, educated and accomplished people. Many are leaders in the local community.
Even so, getting involved as a leader in a local Unitarian congregation means you will likely face some problems you have not faced before. And that can feel intimidating.
For example, let’s say you’re on a search committee for a new minister. Do you have a good understanding of what kind of minister the congregation needs in this moment? Do you know how to interview ministerial candidates? Is there a clear set of roles and responsibilities that you can present to the candidate? Are you capable of asking tough questions?
Or maybe you’re on the board of trustees; how will evaluate the minister’s performance? What is a healthy balance of power between the board and the minister? How will you hold your minister accountable? How do you create church policies that support and help maintain that healthy balance?
You may find some people in your congregation who can help, but that’s not always the case.
Wouldn’t it be helpful to be able to leverage the experience of other Unitarian lay people who have done this before? To get some tips on what works and what to avoid?
Whatever challenge you are facing in your church right now, you can be pretty sure that other Unitarians in other churches have faced or are facing similar problems. But you don’t know them, and they don’t know you. Our lack of communication and connection is costly in so many ways.
Shared identity means common problems. Let’s start solving our problems together. Join our community today!
