World Café serves up UU stew:
A Message from the District Presidents of the Southern Region
Hundreds of UUs in the Southern Region put on their chef hats in late April to fine-tune a recipe for healthy, vibrant Unitarian Universalist congregations. Those who participated in the World Café exercise held at the annual assemblies for the Southern Region Districts determined the basic ingredients are in place to create a tasty UU stew, but it could be further refined with a few additional seasonings, and a bigger portion of covenant to bind the ingredients together.
We started with the assumption that five ingredients are needed to create congregations at which members work together, actively being generous with Unitarian Universalism and positively changing our communities and our world. Those ingredients are:
• a common vision for a better world
• mutual accountability to each other to achieve that common vision
• commitment to active shared ministry in our work
• engaging in productive ideological conversation regarding our goals and the means to achieve them
• covenantal behavior with each other, among our congregations, and across our association that fosters trust and leads to empowering each other
Participants split into groups to discuss the recipe and each group had a chance to suggest ways to add more spice. There were hundreds of comments offered. Here's a summary.
A commitment to a common vision is one ingredient we embody well. The world would miss our voice if it were not there, participants agreed, although there are opportunities to create even greater alignment. A unified voice can create those opportunities. Covenant is another ingredient that's key, because it enables us to commit together and have deep discussions, but we have work to do to define what covenant is and to build stronger covenants as we work through changes.
We need heaping spoonfuls more of several ingredients, including active shared ministry, greater connections, confidence in our theology and covenantal behavior. The ideas offered suggest our members need to be more engaged both in their own congregations and in our communities, share resources and ideas more freely, and take more personal responsibility for growing our faith.
The ingredients we are missing generally focus on how we get our work done. We need better ways to incorporate our diverse visions and resolve conflicts. Instead of congregations working in silos, we need to make resources accessible so they can work together. Let's create processes that raise awareness of opportunities for change and ensure we have all the right people at the table. Our shared spiritual practices could include forming groups that would bring in more people in our communities. Our connections with others must be done in the spirit of covenant, and that applies not only to external connections. There were comments that more trust is needed between the UUA and congregants.
While the concept of covenant threaded through each discussion, participants agreed we need to do a better job of defining it. We're not talking about a disruptive behavior tool or an agreement based on fear, but rather creating trusting bonds that embrace accountability and commitment, that assume good intentions and are focused on shared goals. Covenant in this sense is not a contract but a promise that comes from the heart.
Just as a good stew blends the flavors from each ingredient into a unique concoction, our ingredients can meld to create strong congregations that make a difference in the lives of individuals, our communities and our world. Let's build on our strengths, incorporate new flavors, and get on with the work of cooking up a stronger Unitarian Universalism in the Southern Region.
In faith,
DeAnn Peterson, Mid-South District
Denise Rimes, Southeast District
Margie Manning, Florida District
Mark Anderson, Southwestern Conference
For more information on the outcomes from the World Café exercise, click here.
