Transcript UUA Fifth Principle Task Force

UUA Fifth Principle Task Force
Reformulating our General Assembly:
Status Quo Is Not An Option
Task Force Charge & Timeline
To present two or more recommendations on the future
configuration and content of General Assembly. Areas to be
examined include but are not limited to:
a) Off-site participation in GA, including voting
b) Reconfiguration of GA content to include current pre-GA
functions, i.e. leadership development and continuing education
for laypersons and religious professionals
c) GA frequency
d) GA duration
Interim report: April, 2009
Final report: January 2010
Assumptions
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UUA Board of Trustees is moving to Policy Governance
The current multi-event GA is no longer an effective mode of
governance
We will pay for what we value
Some things work better smaller
Money & staff time required to produce annual GA can be better
spent
End of the church year (June) is not the best time for the
governing assembly of the UUA
Association governance would benefit from more active
involvement by clergy
Meaningful change will require bylaws revisions
Successful association requires good lateral relationships
Values
- Economic accessibility & sustainability
- Empowered delegates capable of representing their
congregations
- Excellence in shared leadership & ministry
- Multi-generational participation & decision-making
- Excellence in governance --
Business decisions reflect and articulate ultimate questions
Linkage between congregations, Trustees & Administration
Accountability between Association & congregations
Awareness and inclusiveness of AR/AO/MC concerns
Imagining a UUA National Biennial
Conference
Whose meeting is this?
Congregational Delegate Teams, UUA Board & Administration
Congregational Delegate Teams:
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Clergy & Lay delegates
Elected & certified by their congregation or board
Teams include alternate delegates
All settled ministers, ministers emeriti & community ministers are
part of delegate teams, as per current rules
– Congregations encouraged to select youth to delegate teams –
goal of at least one for every five delegates
No delegates from Associates: UUWF, UUSC, UU-UNO
No delegates from UUA Board of Trustees
UUA National Biennial Conference
Congregational Delegate Teams
– Core teams of at least five delegates
– Congregational delegations of fewer than five will join
with others from their geographic area
– Seating on plenary floor arranged geographically
• Teams seated contiguous to neighboring congregations
• Then grouped by UUA District … Then by region.
– Intentional space on floor for teams to meet and work
together
– Know our neighbors to build UU community &
effectiveness beyond the walls of our churches
UUA National Biennial Conference
Conference purpose
– Experience high powered, team-based learning
– Achieve linkage through structured conversations among
teams and with Trustees about the “ends” of the Association
– Hear, question & discuss assessment reports from President
on execution & results of strategic plans
– Offer Responsive Resolutions to “ends” conversations &
assessment reports in energized, focused plenary sessions
– Elect Association officers. Off-site voting technology will be
used by duly elected delegates who cannot attend
Conference will be governance-driven, not program-driven
UUA National Biennial Conference
What else?
– Feed our spirits with daily worship and Sunday morning service
– Feed our intellects & imaginations with one or more keynote
addresses
– Feed our bodies in fellowship with communal meals
– Exhibit area open during mealtimes, evening and during breaks
– Childcare provided and partially subsidized for delegates and
alternates
– Timing -- August (closer to start of church year) rather than June
UUA National Biennial Conference
Day One: Concentrated team-based learning
Delegates develop governance-related leadership skills designed
to:
– Enable effective participation at National Conference
– Share best practices to take back to our congregations
Days Two and Three: Governance sessions
In structured conversations and plenaries, delegates use these
skills to conduct UUA business
Days Three and Four: Service projects and worship
Participants express UU values through collective service and
Sunday worship
UUA National Biennial Conference
Will non-delegates be able to attend?
– Observers will be welcome to attend all
Conference activities, but with the exception of a
local service project, there will be no special
programming for them
– Observers will pay a registration fee and be
responsible for their own expenses
UUA National Biennial Conference
Funding the congregational delegates
– Lay delegates’ expenses (registration, travel, hotel,
on-site meals) are fully paid by the Association for Fair
Share congregations
– Merit Increase Congregations’ lay delegates could be
substantially paid
– Ministerial delegates responsible for their own
expenses
UUA National Biennial Conference
What will the grid look like?
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Wednesday afternoon: Delegate check-in & orientation
Wednesday night: Opening
Thursday: Learning day for delegate teams
Friday morning: Breakout sessions for delegate teams &
Trustees to discuss ends and big questions
Friday afternoon: Plenary including forum for candidates
Friday evening: Keynote similar to Ware Lecture
Saturday morning: Breakout session discussion continued;
Observers invited to participate in daylong community
service project
Saturday afternoon: Free time
Sunday Morning: Worship & Closing
What about the Alternate Years?
National Biennial Conference would be in odd
years. Anticipate beginning in 2013.
What would happen in even years?
Some possibilities:
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Another kind of National Meeting
Thematically aligned Regional Gatherings
A Unitarian Universalist “Week of Service”
A year off
Even-Year Possibilities
A. Another kind of National Meeting:
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Revival with music, worship, inspiration
Seminars focusing on theological questions
A UU University learning format
Workshops
Encounters with UUA leadership
All of these? Some of these?
Even-Year Possibilities (cont.)
B. Thematically aligned Regional Gatherings
– Heavy use of technology to bring programming to
as many UUs as possible
– Include some region-based independent
programming at each site
C. A Unitarian Universalist “Week of Service”
- we “do” rather than talk
D. A year off
Current GA Elements to consider:
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Service of the Living Tradition
Ware Lecture
UU University
Affinity Group Annual Meetings (~40)
Seminaries annual dinners
Donor reception
Vendors (UUA Bookstore, Beacon Press, others)
would have national venue only every other year
• Annual networking with UUA Staff
Task Force Process to Date
– Task Force meetings since Jan 2008:
– 3 in person
– 3 conference calls
– Interviews/feedback from:
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UUMA Executive Committee
District Presidents Association
District Staff
UUA Board Governance Working Group
– Interviews of other denominations:
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UCC
Presbyterians
Episcopal Church
Reformed Judaism
Cost Implications / Considerations
• Current annual UUA expense & staff/volunteer
time for General Assembly
• Estimated annualized UUA costs for a Biennial
National Conference
- UUA expense & staff/volunteer time
- Cost to subsidize delegates
Potential Associated Bylaw & Business
Process Changes & Timing
Potential Bylaw & Business Process Changes:
- From annual General Assembly to biennial National
Conference
- Possibly reduce the number of delegates
- Possibly change or eliminate the Commission on Social
Witness process
Potential Timing of Changes:
- UUA BoT place proposed Bylaw changes on agenda for
2010 GA
- Two-year process for Bylaw changes. Final approval by
delegates at 2011 GA
Task Force members:
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Denise Davidoff
Janiece Sneegas
Jose Ballester
Gini Courter
Mark G. Gibbons
Daniel O'Connell
Barbara Prairie
Esther Rosado
Joe Sullivan