WUU’s Story
In 1988, a small group started meeting with the dream of establishing a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Williamsburg, Virginia. With the assistance of UUA district personnel, the core group developed a sense of community based on a covenant and organized what came to be Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists. Their first public meeting on April 10, 1988, announced the presence of UUs in the community and the commitment to becoming a congregation.
Eighty-nine people braved a huge snowstorm in Williamsburg on February 5, 1989, to sign the membership book. That was the first Charter Sunday that is now celebrated annually by placing another bolt in Pat Winter’s Spiral art piece that is located at the front of the Sanctuary. WUU became a reality. Ten more people joined later that week. In the beginning, services were held inside Clara Byrd Elementary School.
In 1990, courageous members purchased property on Ironbound Road, hoping the congregation would be able to build a sanctuary sometime in the future. The land was approximately seven acres and included two small houses, which became known as Fahs House and Parker House.
In 1995, the WUU sanctuary was dedicated and services began inside the building. The houses on the campus were renovated for use initially as congregational offices and religious education classrooms. Children were led across the parking lot every Sunday to have classes in Fahs House. In the decade that followed, WUU grew to more than 275 members and established a solid financial footing. Improved space for offices and religious education classes were always on the minds of members.
In 2016, WUU launched a capital campaign to complete a major expansion and renovation project. The new space was completed in late 2017 and included new space for religious education, small groups, an additional small sanctuary, and offices all under one roof. A new gathering hall provides a welcoming entry. It was designed by the architectural firm of GuernseyTingle with guidance by WUU member architect Roger Guernsey and the WUU Design-Build team of Building Our Future. The two houses were renovated again and have been home to the Williamsburg Friends Society and Journey to Asylum families.
WUU continues to grow and flourish and offers a welcoming congregation to all.
About Our Organization and Leadership
All authority for our governance rests with our congregation. Our governance structure includes:
A Minister
Leads the Ministry Teams to carry out the daily work of the congregation.A Nine-Member Board
The congregation elects members to set policy and strategic plans, care for resources and monitor and evaluate the congregation’s work toward its mission.
Committees of the Board
Committees of the Congregation
Our congregation elects the members of the Trustees, Nominating Committee, Committee on Right Relations and Endowment Committee.
The congregation meets semi-annually. In January or February the congregation elects Board and congregational committee members. In May or June the congregation hears end-of-fiscal-year reports from the minister, the Board’s out-going president, and the treasurer, who presents the upcoming fiscal year operating budget. On occasion, special congregational meetings may be called to address specific issues.
About Our Philosophy of Governance
Hotchkiss Model - Shared Governance
The WUU congregation elects a board to function as its governing body and a minister to serve as its spiritual, programmatic, and administrative leader. Therefore, the WUU Board intends to govern primarily by:
Discerning and articulating the congregation’s mission and vision of ministry;
Setting goals, making strategic choices, and ensuring appropriate resources;
Creating written policies to guide the congregation’s ministry; and
Monitoring and evaluating the congregation’s leadership, including itself.
Based on Governance and Ministry: Rethinking Board Leadership by Dan Hotchkiss, pp. 220-221 (Philosophy of Governance)
Adopted by the WUU Board, August 24, 2013; reaffirmed May, 2015
About WUU Staff
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Felicity Montgomery
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Our Commitment to Right Relations
Our Covenant of Right Relations is a statement of how we, as a congregation, strive to support and work with each other to create a living, growing spiritual community. The goal of this document is to provide clear statements about how our principles are demonstrated through our actions. Ultimately, it is the way we treat each other that reveals who and what we are as a congregation. Each of us is responsible to make, and support each other in making, good-faith efforts to abide by this covenant in both letter and spirit.
The Committee for Right Relations (CRR) is charged with facilitating resolution of conflicts brought to it under the Covenant of Right Relations (CORR) by member(s) of the congregation.
