From Orlando to The Mountain: Southern Region Collaboration and Transformation
The four UUA districts of the Southern Region met at The Mountain in September, 2013. There they created and announced plans (Mountain Meeting - Sept 2013) to further the goals and aspirations articulated in The Orlando Platform, which the same organizations (along with UUA Trustees, UUA Administration and UUA professional staff) jointly created at a meeting in Orlando, FL, in December, 2010. This is one article in a series that pertains to this transformative work to grow the impact of our faith in our UUA’s Southern Region.
You’ve probably noticed there’s a lot of talk about ‘clusters’. You may not have heard the meaning of the word in our UU context, let alone participated in any activities. Clusters can be thought of as a kind of small group ministry for congregations and can take many forms. Typically, clusters form around a geographical area. Clusters may also be formed through affinity groups, established around common interests.
Forming and developing clusters of neighboring UU congregations in a geographical area is a strategy for increasing the benefits of our polity in aiding congregations other than our own. Now we know, ‘neighboring’ can be a stretch – especially in my district SWUUC, where Amarillo, Midland and Lubbock are working on a cluster several hundred miles long.
And why talk about clusters in the context of regionalization? It may be counter-intuitive, but while our staff and governance resources may be organizing regionally, our use of those resources and others can be increased and leveraged through clusters.
We are fortunate here in Dallas, to be part of North Texas Unitarian Universalist Congregations (“NTUUC”, formerly “NTAUUS”), 13 congregations with over 2500 Unitarian Universalists from Fort Worth to Dallas to Tyler, Texas – about 300 miles wide. For 45 years, our congregations have joined forces to grow Unitarian Universalism, and make a difference in north Texas. Although the beginnings may not be replicable – NTUUC owned an apartment building for HUD subsidized housing which it sold creating a $2m endowment – the functions are.
The endowment produces approximately $160,000 per year. About half of that is awarded to our member congregations in grants of up to $10,000 for projects, staffing, materials and annual teacher training and dinner. The other half is used for programming, guided by a board of delegates from each congregation (including a employing a part time Executive Director) who in turn serve on committees of the board. The programming budget is used to host an annual awards luncheon with keynote speaker where the grants are given and received, an annual leadership conference, and annual Boards training. In addition, there are one-day educational programs on issues such as reproductive justice, media training and social justice.
But this is after 45 years, and only a dozen or so years since the endowment was created. It’s possible to start with small gatherings, self-funded, using the resources of people in the cluster, and calling on our regional Congregational Life Staff. It can start with the congregation Presidents meeting for lunch, then expand to a Boards gathering, or maybe a joint social justice project or choir sing.
Through these programs, members from our congregations learn, worship and socialize with one another, building relationships and sharing best practices as well as burdens of leadership. Imagine if you had the opportunity to develop relationships with Unitarian Universalists in other congregations nearby in similar roles with similar challenges, with perhaps different perspectives. How might that enhance your role in your congregation to the benefit of your congregation? How your congregation and the experience of every member might, be transformed?
Carrie Stewart,
Trustee, SWUUC Board
Member, Communication Task Force on behalf of the Southern Region Leadership
