My collegue from the Northern New England Dist., the Rev Will Saunders, wrote about the Board's next meeting -- in San Antonio. Since he said it well, here's what he wrote:
"The UUA Board of Trustees will meet in San Antonio, TX in January, 2010. This is a significant change, as the tradition is to meet at the Association’s headquarters in Boston.
"There are at least three reasons for this decision. First, as the Trustee from the Southwestern Conference has written, this “is as purposeful move by the Board to visit a city that is on the forefront of demographic trends impacting the whole country…/and/ with a distinctly multi-cultural flavor.” As President Morales has observed, it is critical that the UUA engage directly and respond robustly with these changes if we are to remain relevant in the coming decades. This meeting will include opportunities for the Board to explore multicultural issues in new ways. We are taking our lead from President Morales, once a resident of San Antonio and Donna Morrison, current resident of that city.
"A second reason is to challenge widespread notions that the UUA is wedded to Boston. We take seriously the admonition that the past should have a vote, not a veto. We recognize that there is a widespread belief among Unitarian Universalists that all things Boston have too much sway, consciously or sub-consciously, on the life and work of the Association. We are determined to address these issues so that our movement may truly be national in both intent and design. The neighborhood of Boston, once an amusing third party in the Unitarian Universalist trinity, is no longer merely amusing. It is a subtlety which must be addressed. We meet in San Antonio to begin removing the shroud of all things Boston from our deliberations and our work.
"A third reason is that, as the Board lives into Policy Governance, we must be intentional about linkage with our congregations. This has proved to be challenging; our initial efforts at linkage have been mixed. We are very much in a learning mode on how to link effectively. Our meeting in San Antonio is part of this effort and we look forward to spending time with leaders of UU congregations in the area. We approach this opportunity for linkage with learners’ mind, with hope and with a desire to be servants of our congregations."
Watch for the Board's "Meeting Packet" to be posted, sometime in late December, at http://www.uua.org/aboutus/governance/boardtrustees/agendas/.
Peace,
Lew
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Board Observer
Afternoon all
The Board Observer has posted informal minutes of the last Board meeting. To read the whole summary, either click on the "Board Observer" words above or go to:
http://www.uua.org/documents/dpa/091018_board_observer.pdf
More soon as we prepare for our January meeting.
Peace,
Lew
The Board Observer has posted informal minutes of the last Board meeting. To read the whole summary, either click on the "Board Observer" words above or go to:
http://www.uua.org/documents/dpa/091018_board_observer.pdf
More soon as we prepare for our January meeting.
Peace,
Lew
Friday, November 6, 2009
First Board Meeting
First Board Meeting !
Wow, or, WOW ! Described it to a friend, “Long, intense and frustrating.” It was also rewarding, challenging and, well, actually fun (at times).
The board meeting is really almost a week of working group and committee meetings leading up to the day and a half of actual board meeting. The most impressive part was working closely with an outstanding group of truly dedicated UUs – everyone doing everything possible to make our association stronger and further the movement. They (oops, we) must be pretty dedicated – six days of twelve to-fourteen hour days of meetings.
One of the things we decided to do is share our perspectives on what the board did or plans to do. So, some of what you read below is my re-working of other trustee’s points. In some cases, I just used their sentences – and added my twist. However, all of this is unofficial. The official voice of the board will come out in the approved minutes. Everything you read here is strictly Lew Phinney’s take on things (with a little help of some of my fellow trustees).
After several years of study and preparation, this was the first board meeting actually convened under Policy Governance® procedures. In spite of the years of preparation and study, we all found that we had a lot to learn, many specific procedures to be worked out and many remaining discussions about how this will really work. The most important part of the Policy Governance approach is that the board sets limits on itself and its relationship with the UUA staff. While there is much yet to be done, the objective is to create a fully functioning effective board with a carefully defined, working relationship with the UUA staff. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about all of that as we progress.
So, some specifics:
Finances. The UUA has been very conservative in considering budget projections during these difficult economic times. Fortunately, contributions have continued, pretty much, as expected – yes a little down from previous years, but really quite good. Unfortunately, the endowment funds have taken substantial dip. However, the fiscal folks have presented a strong balanced budget for the current and next fiscal year.
Anti-Racism / Anti-Oppression / Multi-Culturalism (AR/AO/MC) permeates every board conversation on everything from the budget to what’s for dinner – well, almost. One of the ways that we further our Association goals within AR/AO/MC is through cooperation with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). We received a presentation by two UUSC staff members about the work that the UUSC and the UUA have been working side-by-side on recent disaster response efforts. The work, and the extremely positive legacy, in affected areas is impressive. The thrust of the discussion around the presentation concerned how the UUA board and partner more effectively with the UUSC board. I have the PowerPoint version of their presentation. Let me know if you would like to have the full presentation.
Linkages: Part of the Policy Governance construct asks us to identify the needed linkages or connections that a PG board must have with, what the board has identified as, Sources of Authority and Accountability. Some time ago, the board identified these sources:
1. Our member congregations
2. Current and future generations of Unitarian Universalists
3. The heritage, traditions, and ideals of Unitarian Universalism
4. The vision of Beloved Community
5. The Spirit of life, love, and the holy
Note that the first item is “Our member congregations” -- That’s you, the congregations and districts that make up the UUA. So, basic question, How do we do that? We are trying to tackle the issues around connecting and listening to congregations and districts -- to whom we are accountable. Yup, being a bit more difficult, “The Spirit of life, love, and the holy” will come later.
To govern accountably, the Board must maintain meaningful connections, or what we call “linkage,” with these Sources, including constructive dialogues concerning the Sources’ values and the UUA’s Ends (goals). In other words, the focus of connection is not “telling” or “reporting” but rather listening to the Sources’ perspectives regarding their needs and what benefits the UUA can or should provide. When we have heard those inputs, we must be accountable – to respond by letting you know what action was taken, what happened, what were the successes (or not, and why). Watch for much more on this topic as we get this Linkage process going.
UUA Trustees in Districts. Mary Ellen Morgan, President of the District Presidents Association (DPA) met with the board. We were struck by the wide variety of relationships among UUA trustees and the boards in the districts that elected them. There is little consistency across districts – then again, maybe there doesn’t need to be consistency. I’m confident that these relationships will evolve as best suits individual trustees and district organizations. “If it ain’t broke ….”
The DPA has invited representatives of the UUA to board to return to meet with them during their regular meeting in early November. The meeting will focus on the roles and relationships among the UUA board, individual trustees, and the district boards and how the Policy Governance model will affect those relationships.
UUA Board of Trustees will hold its January meeting in San Antonio, TX. This is a important step. This is the first time in recent memory (probably in anybody’s memory) that the UUA Board, with the exception of GA meetings, has met outside Boston. Is there a westward movement afoot within the UUA? Well, our new president is from Colorado and our moderator is from Michigan. Leadership on the UUA Board is from all over the country. There just might be something significant going on here.
What is definitely happening is that the UUA Board is working to implement the “Linkage” goals that they set for themselves. Basically, get out there and connect with congregations in ways that we haven’t done in the past. In an earlier paragraph there is more on Linkages.
Youth Ministries. Following discussion among trustees based on inputs we received during the past two General Assemblies and at district gatherings, we voiced concern about the status of UUA Youth and Young Adult organizations and goals. In 2007 a decision was made to dismantle the national youth organization known as YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists). Unfortunately, despite many good intentions and a number of planning meetings, there is no national structure to take its place. It was apparent that some members of the Youth and Young Adult groups feel that they have been abandoned by the UUA; that there is no support in place for their unique issues and concerns.
Several members of the board volunteered to form an ad hoc task force to focus the board’s concerns. I’m pleased to be part of that task force. The board’s direction to the task force was to work within the Policy Governance constraints to devise an appropriate way to work with the staff to answer the myriad questions and work toward resolution of the issues involved. The results of the lunch-time meeting was a carefully crafted list of questions for the staff. The list of questions was winnowed down from a full page of questions to arrive at the following board motion:
VOTED: The UUA Board requests the Staff to provide the following information and reports to the UUA Board by December 1, 2009.
Chronology about what happened from 2004 on.
Where are we now on District and National Youth Leadership?
Administration’s vision.
What are the models of youth leadership in other denominations?
The task force will receive the staff report and initiate the board discussion for our meetings in January 2010.
District trustees agreed to contact youth leadership in their districts to try to determine our shared values around youth leadership and how should these be reflected in UUA policy?
Other stuff. The board does a lot of work electronically between meetings. Therefore, I’ll be posing to this space as significant things happen. For example, we will receive the auditor’s report on Monday. I don’t expect anything earthshaking from that report, but, if there is, I’ll certainly let you know.
So, stay tuned.
Lew
Wow, or, WOW ! Described it to a friend, “Long, intense and frustrating.” It was also rewarding, challenging and, well, actually fun (at times).
The board meeting is really almost a week of working group and committee meetings leading up to the day and a half of actual board meeting. The most impressive part was working closely with an outstanding group of truly dedicated UUs – everyone doing everything possible to make our association stronger and further the movement. They (oops, we) must be pretty dedicated – six days of twelve to-fourteen hour days of meetings.
One of the things we decided to do is share our perspectives on what the board did or plans to do. So, some of what you read below is my re-working of other trustee’s points. In some cases, I just used their sentences – and added my twist. However, all of this is unofficial. The official voice of the board will come out in the approved minutes. Everything you read here is strictly Lew Phinney’s take on things (with a little help of some of my fellow trustees).
After several years of study and preparation, this was the first board meeting actually convened under Policy Governance® procedures. In spite of the years of preparation and study, we all found that we had a lot to learn, many specific procedures to be worked out and many remaining discussions about how this will really work. The most important part of the Policy Governance approach is that the board sets limits on itself and its relationship with the UUA staff. While there is much yet to be done, the objective is to create a fully functioning effective board with a carefully defined, working relationship with the UUA staff. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about all of that as we progress.
So, some specifics:
Finances. The UUA has been very conservative in considering budget projections during these difficult economic times. Fortunately, contributions have continued, pretty much, as expected – yes a little down from previous years, but really quite good. Unfortunately, the endowment funds have taken substantial dip. However, the fiscal folks have presented a strong balanced budget for the current and next fiscal year.
Anti-Racism / Anti-Oppression / Multi-Culturalism (AR/AO/MC) permeates every board conversation on everything from the budget to what’s for dinner – well, almost. One of the ways that we further our Association goals within AR/AO/MC is through cooperation with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). We received a presentation by two UUSC staff members about the work that the UUSC and the UUA have been working side-by-side on recent disaster response efforts. The work, and the extremely positive legacy, in affected areas is impressive. The thrust of the discussion around the presentation concerned how the UUA board and partner more effectively with the UUSC board. I have the PowerPoint version of their presentation. Let me know if you would like to have the full presentation.
Linkages: Part of the Policy Governance construct asks us to identify the needed linkages or connections that a PG board must have with, what the board has identified as, Sources of Authority and Accountability. Some time ago, the board identified these sources:
1. Our member congregations
2. Current and future generations of Unitarian Universalists
3. The heritage, traditions, and ideals of Unitarian Universalism
4. The vision of Beloved Community
5. The Spirit of life, love, and the holy
Note that the first item is “Our member congregations” -- That’s you, the congregations and districts that make up the UUA. So, basic question, How do we do that? We are trying to tackle the issues around connecting and listening to congregations and districts -- to whom we are accountable. Yup, being a bit more difficult, “The Spirit of life, love, and the holy” will come later.
To govern accountably, the Board must maintain meaningful connections, or what we call “linkage,” with these Sources, including constructive dialogues concerning the Sources’ values and the UUA’s Ends (goals). In other words, the focus of connection is not “telling” or “reporting” but rather listening to the Sources’ perspectives regarding their needs and what benefits the UUA can or should provide. When we have heard those inputs, we must be accountable – to respond by letting you know what action was taken, what happened, what were the successes (or not, and why). Watch for much more on this topic as we get this Linkage process going.
UUA Trustees in Districts. Mary Ellen Morgan, President of the District Presidents Association (DPA) met with the board. We were struck by the wide variety of relationships among UUA trustees and the boards in the districts that elected them. There is little consistency across districts – then again, maybe there doesn’t need to be consistency. I’m confident that these relationships will evolve as best suits individual trustees and district organizations. “If it ain’t broke ….”
The DPA has invited representatives of the UUA to board to return to meet with them during their regular meeting in early November. The meeting will focus on the roles and relationships among the UUA board, individual trustees, and the district boards and how the Policy Governance model will affect those relationships.
UUA Board of Trustees will hold its January meeting in San Antonio, TX. This is a important step. This is the first time in recent memory (probably in anybody’s memory) that the UUA Board, with the exception of GA meetings, has met outside Boston. Is there a westward movement afoot within the UUA? Well, our new president is from Colorado and our moderator is from Michigan. Leadership on the UUA Board is from all over the country. There just might be something significant going on here.
What is definitely happening is that the UUA Board is working to implement the “Linkage” goals that they set for themselves. Basically, get out there and connect with congregations in ways that we haven’t done in the past. In an earlier paragraph there is more on Linkages.
Youth Ministries. Following discussion among trustees based on inputs we received during the past two General Assemblies and at district gatherings, we voiced concern about the status of UUA Youth and Young Adult organizations and goals. In 2007 a decision was made to dismantle the national youth organization known as YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists). Unfortunately, despite many good intentions and a number of planning meetings, there is no national structure to take its place. It was apparent that some members of the Youth and Young Adult groups feel that they have been abandoned by the UUA; that there is no support in place for their unique issues and concerns.
Several members of the board volunteered to form an ad hoc task force to focus the board’s concerns. I’m pleased to be part of that task force. The board’s direction to the task force was to work within the Policy Governance constraints to devise an appropriate way to work with the staff to answer the myriad questions and work toward resolution of the issues involved. The results of the lunch-time meeting was a carefully crafted list of questions for the staff. The list of questions was winnowed down from a full page of questions to arrive at the following board motion:
VOTED: The UUA Board requests the Staff to provide the following information and reports to the UUA Board by December 1, 2009.
Chronology about what happened from 2004 on.
Where are we now on District and National Youth Leadership?
Administration’s vision.
What are the models of youth leadership in other denominations?
The task force will receive the staff report and initiate the board discussion for our meetings in January 2010.
District trustees agreed to contact youth leadership in their districts to try to determine our shared values around youth leadership and how should these be reflected in UUA policy?
Other stuff. The board does a lot of work electronically between meetings. Therefore, I’ll be posing to this space as significant things happen. For example, we will receive the auditor’s report on Monday. I don’t expect anything earthshaking from that report, but, if there is, I’ll certainly let you know.
So, stay tuned.
Lew
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Policy Governance
Policy Governance®
The transition to Policy Governance is at once frustrating and empowering. This was the first board meeting in which the board tried to operate completely under the PG model. We found that there are a mere 2.7 million details to be worked out as we go forward. However, my board colleague, the Rev. Dr. Susan Ritchie, Trustee from the Ohio Meadville District, wrote the following about that transition. Her words are certainly more understanding and elegant than what I had started to write.
“Chances are you’ve not heard a really rousing sermon or children’s story lately about the development of English Unitarianism out of Presbyterianism. There are no martyrs, and not so many distinguished individuals. Instead there were the Middle Way Men. These good people felt that their chief job as church leaders was to concentrate on good basic governance. Within their congregations and larger associations, they promoted democratic principles, a broad understanding of the population congregations should serve, and they worked hard to develop and empower lay leadership (whom were charmingly referred to as “gifted brethren”). Over the course of generations, this focus had a liberalizing effect on their congregations’ theology, many of which eventually embraced Unitarianism. Who knew? Apparently what we do matters as much if not more than what we say we believe.
“I bring this up to say that the October UUA board meeting was the first in which our association went fully into a policy governance mode. I attended preparing to support and advance this governance choice, but not expecting to find much of a precedent for this latest thing in our own history. So I was pleasantly surprised to experience a sense of déjà vu. Others have rehearsed better than I can the basic principles of policy governance. And there are kinks to be worked out. We need remember to empower rather than manage our UUA staff, we need as a board to make sure that our relationships of accountability are real, function, and two-way. But the historian in me just has to say that I find policy governance’s unrelenting focus on making sure that our “hows” are really and always truly reflective of our values a special and good match for our tradition. It is an impressive way of not only reflecting our values but manifesting them for the future.”
Thank you Susan.
The transition to Policy Governance is at once frustrating and empowering. This was the first board meeting in which the board tried to operate completely under the PG model. We found that there are a mere 2.7 million details to be worked out as we go forward. However, my board colleague, the Rev. Dr. Susan Ritchie, Trustee from the Ohio Meadville District, wrote the following about that transition. Her words are certainly more understanding and elegant than what I had started to write.
“Chances are you’ve not heard a really rousing sermon or children’s story lately about the development of English Unitarianism out of Presbyterianism. There are no martyrs, and not so many distinguished individuals. Instead there were the Middle Way Men. These good people felt that their chief job as church leaders was to concentrate on good basic governance. Within their congregations and larger associations, they promoted democratic principles, a broad understanding of the population congregations should serve, and they worked hard to develop and empower lay leadership (whom were charmingly referred to as “gifted brethren”). Over the course of generations, this focus had a liberalizing effect on their congregations’ theology, many of which eventually embraced Unitarianism. Who knew? Apparently what we do matters as much if not more than what we say we believe.
“I bring this up to say that the October UUA board meeting was the first in which our association went fully into a policy governance mode. I attended preparing to support and advance this governance choice, but not expecting to find much of a precedent for this latest thing in our own history. So I was pleasantly surprised to experience a sense of déjà vu. Others have rehearsed better than I can the basic principles of policy governance. And there are kinks to be worked out. We need remember to empower rather than manage our UUA staff, we need as a board to make sure that our relationships of accountability are real, function, and two-way. But the historian in me just has to say that I find policy governance’s unrelenting focus on making sure that our “hows” are really and always truly reflective of our values a special and good match for our tradition. It is an impressive way of not only reflecting our values but manifesting them for the future.”
Thank you Susan.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2010
Next year's General Assembly, the annual meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Association, will be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center on June 23 - 27, 2010. You can register to attend GA, and apply to be a GA volunteer, at www.uua.org/ga beginning on March 1, 2010. Last year, the Mountain Desert District welcomed UUs from across the country and, yes, around the world. In June the Prarie Star District will try to match the welcome we MDDers provided. See you in Minneapolis!
Want to Offer a Workshop? Do you or your congregation have something to offer congregations from other areas of the country?
The deadline is fast approaching.
The UUA has developed a new process for the selection of workshops to be offered at General Assembly. A team comprised of Unitarian Universalist Association staff and GA Planning Committee members is responsible for developing and/or inviting proposals for quality, mission-based GA programs for GA 2010 in Minneapolis. Proposals are due no later than November 16, 2009. In the past, each District had two guaranteed workshop slots to use or to give to their congregations to use. This will no longer be the case. Everyone who wants to submit a workshop application will have to use the new process. The new process is open to everyone.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
First Post
Thanks for finding Lew Phinney’s Blog.
I’m the guy that you, the UU congregations of the Mountain Desert District, elected to be your trustee on the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees. First, thank you for putting your trust in me. I promise to represent the District to the best of my abilities and to consistently do what is needed and appropriate to further the mission of the Association.
So, what can you expect from this blog? Well, for the moment, not much. However following each UUA Board meeting, I’ll post here an informal summary of what happened at the meeting. It’s important to remember that what I write here will be my thoughts. I won’t be providing approved minutes of the meeting. Although when the minutes come out and I find that I’ve missed something, expect an update here.
Much of what the Board does is pretty routine. I promise not to bore you with that stuff. Rather, I’ll deal with current and emerging issues that will have an impact on the Association and the District.
Examples of issues coming up at the Board’s October meeting:
Those of you who were at General Assembly know that the assembly defeated the motion to change the Principles and Sources. Near the end of GA the delegates directed the Board to further deepen discussion of the Principles and Purposes begun by the review conducted by the UUA Commission on Appraisal so that it can be addressed at a future GA. I’ll try to give you some sense of how the Board plans to implement that direction.
Oh yes, we have a new Association President. Therefore, there will be changes. I’ll try to give you some sense of where Peter Morales wants to take our Association and what it’s like to work with him.
You’re welcome to post questions or comments here. I don’t promise to answer questions posted here or comment on your comments. If you want my direct attention, send me an e-mail: lphinney@uua.org. That’s the best way to get a response.
That’s enuf for now.
Cheers,
Lew
I’m the guy that you, the UU congregations of the Mountain Desert District, elected to be your trustee on the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees. First, thank you for putting your trust in me. I promise to represent the District to the best of my abilities and to consistently do what is needed and appropriate to further the mission of the Association.
So, what can you expect from this blog? Well, for the moment, not much. However following each UUA Board meeting, I’ll post here an informal summary of what happened at the meeting. It’s important to remember that what I write here will be my thoughts. I won’t be providing approved minutes of the meeting. Although when the minutes come out and I find that I’ve missed something, expect an update here.
Much of what the Board does is pretty routine. I promise not to bore you with that stuff. Rather, I’ll deal with current and emerging issues that will have an impact on the Association and the District.
Examples of issues coming up at the Board’s October meeting:
Those of you who were at General Assembly know that the assembly defeated the motion to change the Principles and Sources. Near the end of GA the delegates directed the Board to further deepen discussion of the Principles and Purposes begun by the review conducted by the UUA Commission on Appraisal so that it can be addressed at a future GA. I’ll try to give you some sense of how the Board plans to implement that direction.
Oh yes, we have a new Association President. Therefore, there will be changes. I’ll try to give you some sense of where Peter Morales wants to take our Association and what it’s like to work with him.
You’re welcome to post questions or comments here. I don’t promise to answer questions posted here or comment on your comments. If you want my direct attention, send me an e-mail: lphinney@uua.org. That’s the best way to get a response.
That’s enuf for now.
Cheers,
Lew
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