One of the key things I didn’t address following our January meeting, because it was rather incomplete, was the Board’s agreement in principle to initiate a transformation in Association governance. With fairly minor changes, we have the same governance structure that was created when the Us and the Us merged in 1961. We have studied our organization many times and come to substantially the same conclusion each time: our organization is too complex to be effective. So, now is the time to make some substantial changes.
Basically, in San Antonio, we ran out of time. I was pleased to be part of a small committee charged with drafting the specific language that was to become the motion initiating transformation, but I have to give Rev Jake Morrill, trustee from the Thomas Jefferson District, credit for doing the lion’s share of the actual drafting. Earlier this month the whole Board had a virtual meeting (web and telephone meeting) in which the full Board considered and approved the motion.
Click on this link to read the meeting agenda (gotta have an agenda even if there’s only one item on it), supporting contextual paragraphs, and the motion itself:
http://uua.org/documents/boardtrustees/100204_agenda.pdf.
Click here to read Gini Courter’s cover letter.
http://uua.org/documents/moderator/100204_special_meeting.pdf
Or, click on this link to read what the UU World had to say:
http://www.uuworld.org/news/articles/158307.shtml
Members of the Board are already working with key leaders in our Association to take substantial steps toward implementation of the vision of a smaller Board and a much more effective governance structure throughout the Association. The president of the District Presidents’ Association, Mary Ellen Morgan, attended most of the meeting in San Antonio and contributed valuable insights from her perspective. Next month I will meet with the MDD Board. Certainly I’ll talk with them about what the UUA Board is doing and hopes to do, but I expect to do a lot of listening, learning from their perspective on how we can best implement the changes that will make our Association a better, more effective organization. I’m pleased to report that the UUA Board has emphasized during every conversation about this transformation that the major focus must be support to congregations.
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The job of finding a way to work from the bottom (congregation) up is a tremendous undertaking. I think we might consider hiring more community organizers to pull it together.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope care is taken to determine clear, specific, objectives and design changes to fit, rather than starting with a list of changes hoping to see good things come.
Hmmm....Community Organizers.
ReplyDeleteDistrict Board members are often among the most passionate supporters of the Association and of local congregations.
Might District Boards re-imagine themselves as community (aka district/regional) organizers?
Rosemary Donahoe
Vice President
Ballou Channing District
Here is My concern of removing District Boards from the governance structure:
ReplyDeleteMuch of the time, our congregational leaders only pay attention to the district Board becuase they have the teeth of governance behind them. What happens when they become community organisers, along side the organisers of the district staff but without ANY accountability nor ability to hold others accountable?
Dave,
ReplyDeleteYes, this is a tremendous undertaking, and it is a necessary one. You’re absolutely right – congregational involvement in this transformation is vital to its success. Over the next several weeks, the UUA Board, the District Presidents’ Association, district board members, UUA staff, and many others will be meeting, focusing on the specific objective and the strategies needed to realize those objectives. Stay tuned, particularly at GA. There’s a lot happening.
Rosemary,
The support of district boards (and congregations) is vital to the success of this transformation. The UUA Board understands and appreciates that support.
By now you should have received an invitation to a pre-GA meeting to be hosted by the UUA Board and the District Presidents’ Association. The meeting will include district board members as well as the UUA board and DPA members. It will focus on strategies for making the transformation successful and beneficial to all involved.
I was pleased to see the announcement that the Mass Bay and Ballou Channing districts are about to begin a two-year trial period of sharing staff expertise. While this probably isn’t part of the re-imagining you mentioned, that kind of organizational sharing is a major step in the direction of providing more effective support to congregations – the bottom line objective of what we do at both the UUA and district levels.
Lew