Who owns our congregation? As your current President I find myself asking this type of question on a regular basis. During this pandemic, WUU congregational life has been much like the rest of societal life filled with struggle, division, pain, and loneliness. We here at the WUU are not atypical of those feelings. Recently, I hosted a quarterly Zoom discussion among the Presidents of our sister Tidewater Cluster, and all of us are struggling with difficult decisions in the life of our congregations. Yesterday, I was sent an article written by Dan Hotchkiss, the guru of our governance structure, that really hit home for me regarding my role as both the President and a member of our Board (UU World Magazine, Spring 2010). I believe the ideas outlined in his article can definitely help us all to better understand this entity known as “the Board,” and possibly shed light on how I see my role as President, and as a congregational leader.
Over the last few months I have received countless communications related to reopening, strategic planning, building use, and appeals for programmatic funding. You name it, I’ve heard about it, and so has your Board. As Hotchkiss points out, many congregants believe the Board is there to serve the congregation. There is roundabout truth to this belief, but one needs to remember that a UU Board serves not just the current congregation, but the disenfranchised congregation of the future. They have no voice in the present, they have no input, but we as a Board must think beyond the here and now, and we must think and serve beyond the congregation of today: we must serve our mission, first. As Hotchkiss states, the “owner that the board must serve is the congregation’s mission, the covenant the congregation has set its heart to and the piece of the Divine Spirit that belongs to it. Or to put it differently, the congregation’s job is to find the mission it belongs to, the real owner for whose benefit the leaders hold and deploy resources.”
Board decisions are never easy, and often require hours of reflection on the part of the leaders you have chosen to make them, but at the heart of every decision we as a Board must base our decisions not on our own personal wants, but what will “best serve to articulate and serve the Mission of the WUU congregation” (Bylaws, Article VII). In essence, it is not the members, minister, or the Board who owns the congregation it is actually our mission. This is the barometer by which we as a Board must base our decisions, and by which the congregation must judge our effectiveness: are we putting our mission at the basis of decision making? If we limit our decision making to only what makes our current membership happy, and not based on our mission, to what extent are we achieving our mission? If we only think about what we want now, how will this impact our ability to reach out and change lives beyond our campus, the greater community, and the world itself? How will this impact our disenfranchised congregation of the future?
Soon, we will come together for the Annual Congregational Meeting in which a slate of Board officers will be presented by our Nominating Committee to you, our members. When casting your ballot, I hope you put our mission first, when making your decision. Do you want a governing Board that only considers the needs of the current congregation, or do you want leaders who will make the difficult decisions to consider those who will come behind us as well? Do you want your chosen leaders to put their own passions or program involvements first, or do you want them to protect all our ministries so that all can serve our mission? As Hotchkiss suggests: “A congregation that limits its vision to pleasing its members falls short of its true purpose. Growth, expanding budgets, building programs, and such trappings of success matter only if they reflect positive transformation in the lives of the people touched by the congregation’s work.”
In closing, I hope all of our members will take the time to think about our mission and ask these questions of yourselves:
Is our WUU mission still relevant, and if not, are you willing to help the congregation draft a new one?
Are you willing to support our mission financially and/or by volunteering your resources/time to ensure that all our ministries can serve our mission? Are you willing to see beyond your own passions and consider the needs of all ministries both in our present congregation, and of those who come in the future?
As we wait for the promise of springtime, and new beginnings, I hope you will be inspired to continue to support our mission, and the inspiration and hope it provides not only to us, in the here and now, but those who come behind us. I hope you will feel that even in the midst of a crippling pandemic we can still have hope for our WUU future. Please have faith that your chosen leaders serve you best when they keep our Mission at the center of their service to you, our community, and the world beyond.
Katrina Landon, WUU President