Minister’s Board Report
UU Fellowship of Santa Cruz County
September 18, 2008
Introduction
As I write this report, I’m reminding myself that I have only been officially on the job here for 18 days. So, we are off and running and that is good. I am working very hard and have managed to take Monday off twice in a row which is a record for me and one that I intend to break again and again throughout the rest of my ministry here. I am very aware that I don’t do any of us any good if I model poor self-care and I appreciate the understanding and support I have received from folks who have worked to schedule around my day off. In other good news on the personal front, it appears that Lloyd and I will be able to move into our house in Watsonville sometime next week.
The focus of my work during these first few weeks has been what you would probably expect. I’ve been meeting people and learning my way around. I have met with each of the staff members except the caretaker. I have met with my colleagues in the cluster. I have met with several committees including Sunday Services, Finance, Choir, Membership, and Caring Connection. In addition, I am very pleased to report having led a very satisfying day-long retreat with the Committee on Ministry. In addition, I have been meeting with members and especially leaders and am looking forward to meeting with those of you on the Board who haven’t come to see me yet. It is always important for the minister to have good relationships with the Board and other leaders. It is doubly important for a Consulting Minister who is only committed to being with you for two years. It is triply important when one of the major issues we have to work together on is the leadership culture and the shift from a family-style to a pastoral-style of leadership. So, please do come.
Last but certainly not least, I have led two worship services. For those of you who don’t know and because I always need to remind myself, the ongoing design and delivery of meaningful Sunday mornings is generally recognized as requiring up to 20 hours per week of a minister’s time.
Successes
The Start-Up workshop was a wonderful success and it would not have been if most of you hadn’t been there. Thank you very much for the high quality of your engagement in that event. I am feeling very good about the outcomes as I see them. First, what emerged as issues was not a surprise and that is a good thing. For the most part, the things that the selection committee had represented as needing work were the things that emerged there. I am calling them, Leadership and Climate, Quality Programs, and Stewardship. What’s more, each of these emerged with helpful twists and elaborations that give me more insight into them and into what might be helpful in working with them. Finally, the issue of the Fellowship’s location relative to the county’s population centers emerged for me in a new and exciting way so that it no longer feels like an obstacle but more like a threshold in developing a vision for growth.
Challenges
The work we have ahead of us is challenging. We are called on to lead this congregation through one of the most difficult shifts that congregations face – the shift from a family-style of leadership to a pastoral style. Although the language we use focuses on the presence of a professional minister, what this shift really involves is a movement away from a system dominated by personalities to one that consciously develops and relies upon a variety of leadership roles – not just the minister. A matriarch or a patriarch is a personality. Trustee and Minister are roles. And yet, who we are as persons is of primary importance because what makes the shift possible is a build-up of trust in the congregation’s ability to fill its leadership roles with caring, competent people. There is only one way that I know to do this and that is to encourage and support one another in developing the skills and qualities that we most admire and want to see in our leaders. In other words, you, the leaders of this congregation along with your minister, need to support and encourage one another to become the wise and skillful and compassionate people that we would hope our religious community would be capable of producing. Not that you aren’t already those people. Just that you consciously recognize and commit to the work of becoming them even more so.
Upcoming
I hope you will all plan to attend the Kite-Fly for Peace Event that I’m planning on October 12th. I’ve been working hard to keep my expectations in line with reality for this event which, as some of you know, I’m hoping might grow into a significant annual opportunity for outreach, positive activism, and community-building. I am very pleased that the Art Committee has agreed to get kites decorated. I’m still looking for volunteers to help with logistics but basically, for this first year, it will simply be an opportunity for fun and fellowship while standing with others all over the planet on behalf of our commitment to world peace.
I will be gone for three days at the end of the month, September 30th , October 1st and 2nd while I attend the district minister’s conference at St. Dot’s Retreat Center in Meeker.
With great affection,
Pallas Stanford
Consulting Minister