The CUC Board met on May 16, 2013 in Calgary, on the day preceding the Annual General Meeting. All the Board members were present, as well as John Marsh, Observer from the UU Ministers of Canada, Micaela Corcoran, Youth Observer, and incoming Board member Fiona Heath and incoming Youth Observer Elena Basford. Staff members present were Vyda Ng, Interim Executive Director, Linda Thomson, Kelly McDowell, Antonia Won, Ariel Hunt-Brondwin, April Hope, and Vidya Sudama. Several members of congregations attended during the day.

A good deal of time was spent discussing a major presentation from Vyda Ng, interpreting the Ends that the Board has established as priorities. To put this in context, Ends describe the outcomes that the CUC exists to create; what the CUC is for, rather than what it does. The CUC exists so that current and emerging [congregations] have the resources and recognition they need in order to thrive spiritually, socially and economically. (This is a slightly edited quote from our current Policy Manual.) The Board has identified the following four Ends as priorities in the near future:

• Resources for religious education and spiritual growth
• Resources to nurture leadership
• Resources for social sustainability
• Resources for generational appeal and relevant life-stage ministries.

The Staff had added a fifth priority, which was affirmed by the Board:

• Resources for Effective Communication.

Vyda had been asked to present her interpretations (strategies that she believes will further the Ends). There was extensive discussion on these strategies. On the basis of the discussion, Vyda will be bringing a final document to the June Board meeting for acceptance.

The Board approved the following Sharing Our Faith awards:

• UU Estrie (North Hatley) for partial salary for ministry
• First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo for administrative costs to support a part-time minister
• First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto for ministerial internship
• UU Church of Saint John for ministerial services
• Comox Valley Unitarian Fellowship for part-time ministry

It was noted that all the applications this year related to ministry support of one kind or another.

The Board reviewed the agenda for the Annual General Meeting and firmed up the various roles for both the pre-meeting plenary and the meeting itself. Kristina Stevens, the Treasurer, Vyda Ng, and Vidya Sudama, Financial Administrator, presented the financial statements and the budget. It was noted that the Annual Deficit Allowance which had been authorized in 2010 for the period until 2014 had been used much more quickly than anticipated. The 2014 budget, which was presented at the Annual General Meeting, is very tight. Full financial statements are available from the CUC office on request.

There was also extensive discussion by the Board about how our reduced resources might impact achievement of our Mission, and how congregations might be involved in discussions of future directions.

After the Annual General Meeting, the Board announced its officers for 2013-2014:
President: Gary Groot (Western Region)
Vice-President: Glenda Butt (Eastern Region)
Secretary: Ellen Campbell (Central Region)
Treasurer: Kristina Stevens (BC Region)
Social Responsibility Liason: Leslie Kemp (BC Region)
Roger Rochester (Western Region)
Curtis Murphy (Eastern Region)
Rev. Fiona Heath (Central Region)
Minister Observer: Rev. John Marsh (Ottawa)
Youth Observer: Elena Basford (Winnipeg)

All Board members and Observers can be reached at firstname@cuc.ca.

During the Annual Conference and Meeting, there were opportunities for congregations to meet together according to small, medium and large congregational sizes. The three sessions were facilitated by CUC Congregational Development Staff – Kelly McDowell, Rev. Linda Thomson, and Rev. Antonia Won. Below are reflections from the staff about those dialogues

Small Congregations (<80 members): Kelly McDowell

It is always good to be together and our time together during the congregational dialogues was no different. On Sunday afternoon participants of the ACM were invited to gather on the basis of the size of their congregations. The focus for all of the groups was to identify and share initiatives and practices that have contributed to increased congregational vitality.

Approximately 25 participants came out to the small congregation gathering. There were many positive initiatives that were shared including the significant impact that Part-time Ministry has made for a number of small congregations. Those congregations that were able to acquire Part-time Ministers found that it helped give their congregation focus and direction.

The initiative that generated the most interest by the small congregation participants was a very intentional process that was used by the Comox Valley Unitarian Fellowship. Prior to hiring their part-time Minister, Comox developed their Mission statement. After joining the congregation, Rev. Meg Roberts and their leadership used their mission statement as a vetting process in relationship to every aspect of congregational life, in addition to soliciting feedback to determine what was working. Comox Valley also created a Covenantal Agreement rather than a rental relationship with the United Church where they share not only a building but many other things such as a film night, Religious Education, Taize service, and a joint service once a year.

Medium Congregations (80-180 members): Rev. Antonia Won

The 20 participants at the medium congregation gathering focused on 3 areas for discussion: visibility/outreach, building issues, and music/choir. Congregations are clearly making efforts to increase visibility in their communities. Beyond well-known PRIDE parades and expanded offerings, simply doing visible things also seems important. Examples were a solstice service at Edmonton City Hall that sees an attendance of 400, and placing UU kids’ bookmarks in libraries and coffee shops. Several vouched for the effectiveness of a wayside pulpit (especially humorous signs) in attracting people, using the walls of your building to speak to outside users about Unitarianism, and the visual impact of colourful team t-shirts at public events.

Words of wisdom about building issues included: use UU purposes and principles to guide decisions; incorporate an income stream as part of a project; access Northern Lights, a fundraising program; and consider the appeal to multi-faith users.

Key insights about choirs and music are that they are key to congregational vitality and need to be integrated in wholistic ways, e.g. paid positions should not be limited to choir but be ‘music direction.’ Creativity is needed to find ways to support staff. Integration of children, a spiritual dimension to practices and some variety of styles and instruments were other recommendations.

Large Congregations (>180 members): Rev. Linda Thomson

The Large Congregation dialogue session at the Annual Conference and meeting was well attended, with over 40 attendees. We started when participants identified current actions or strategies that contribute to congregational vitality. The list was impressive, but in the end, four items were determined as ‘most interesting’, and the group self-selected into discussion groups. They looked at the following topics; outreach, theme-based ministry, young adult engagements and projects that serve and heal the world. Each group developed ideas on how to deepen the practice, how others might adapt and adopt it to their own setting and what some of the best ideas for effectively doing the work in question.

The conversations, in part, looked a bit like shopping lists, itemizing things to do. However, shortly before the end of the session, I asked the groups to consider how the work or the topic they were discussing was a reflection of UU theology, or how it mattered, or what it meant in terms of congregational life. It was fascinating to see how the mood in the room changed. People paused, and asked why the item they were discussing mattered, how it could serve as an expression of congregational mission or how it could help the members, individually and collectively deepen in their UU understanding and identity.

For me, one of the most important take-aways was the need to always ask the questions that help people go beyond the technical solutions. There is always lots of work to do in congregations; choosing priorities will always be a challenge. Yet, when we ask the questions that encourage us to go beyond the to-do list, we are able to get at the heart of the matter. Work done with intent, with an eye to the bigger picture and to the congregational culture, is more likely to be productive and in the end truly foster congregational vitality.

Yee-ha! The 2013 Canadian Unitarian Council’s Annual General Meeting and Conference in Calgary was a resounding success. Two hundred and ten adults, 23 Young Adults, 42 youth and 10 children came out to connect, learn and worship together. Out of those who attended, 74 completed our online survey, and for 10 of those respondents, this was their first ever ACM (we hope you had a good time!)

Continue reading →

Amanda Tarling, Capital UU Congregation & Salt Spring Island Fellowship

Do everything in your power to reserve the May long weekend of 2014 for a trip to Montreal. It’s the location of the next CUC Annual Conference and Meeting and I whole-heartedly encourage you to attend. I arrived in Calgary for the 2013 ACM ready for a weekend of learning and worship, making friends and creating Unitarian Community. Little did I know I would come away inspired beyond all measure by our religion, by our community and by our seven Principles.

What an experience. Let me give you an idea of what I attended:

On Friday, I attended Danny Enright’s Lay Chaplain training “Queer Perspectives on Ritual,” which was marvelous. Danny shared his poignant insights and rich resources with us. I am thrilled to be taking his information back to my Congregation at Capital and to the Salt Spring Island Fellowship.

Friday evening was the Opening Ceremony with the banner parade. It was an emotional gathering and the hall was packed full of Unitarians of all ages, while banners of every hue, from every part of the country, flowed around the room accompanied by the sound of First Nations drumming and singing.

I must make special mention of Greg O’Neill’s “My Song is a Prayer”. It was written by Greg, a member of the Unitarian Church of Calgary (UCC), especially for the ACM. Jane Perry, the Music Director at UCC, arranged it and worked with the choir to present it. The chorus is:

LOVE IS GENTLE
LOVE IS KIND
LOVE IS PATIENT
LOVE IS BLIND
LOVE IS THE TRUTH

This hauntingly beautiful song ran through my head all weekend. It was the ideal sound track to the ACM. Jane and Greg have given the music as a gift to any congregation that would like it. See the Music link on the UCC website (http://unitarianscalgary.org/music/ ).

Following the moving Opening Ceremony, the Keynote address, “Radical Inclusion,” was given by Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed. (The Keynote is posted at http://cuc.ca/video-from-2013-acm/ ). Rev. Morrison-Reed presented an unflinching look at Canadian Unitarianism and challenged us to see that we are not diverse enough, in fact barely diverse at all. It was a dynamic and passionate talk which is still ringing in my ears.

On Saturday, I joined the early morning “Thinking about Ministry” breakfast. My thanks to all of the Minsters, especially Rev. Anne Barker of Westwood Unitarian Congregation, who gave such sound and practical advice to those of us aspiring to Professional Ministry.

Saturday morning’s initial event was the energetic Confluence Lecture, “The Risks of Relevance,” given by Rev. Shawn Newton (available at http://confluencelecture2013.blogspot.ca), whose powerful message resounded deeply with me. Rev. Newton made me question what we offer as Unitarians and how we can be a vital, growing, relevant religious presence in the future.

The hardest decision that I made about the ACM was which “Pool” to be in. The choices were intriguing: “Cultural & Ethnic Diversity”, “Economic Diversity & Justice”, “Theological Diversity”, “Music”, and “The Challenge of Diversity”. I chose “Sexuality through the Lifespan and Diversity”, which was expertly facilitated by Samaya Oakley and Sean Neil-Barron. It was a day and a half long workshop that so energized me I have already launched the idea of presenting the workshop to the Salt Spring Island Fellowship. I hope that Capital will be interested too. The core learning I gained was that talking about sexual diversity at church is imperative for the spiritual vitality of congregants and the health of our churches.

The tireless Joy Silver hosted a lovely Lay Chaplains’ lunch that presented an opportunity for Lay Chaplains to socialize, as well as a forum to acknowledge both new and retiring Lay Chaplains.

It is hard to describe the energizing feeling of being immersed in a 300 strong community of Unitarians for the weekend. Connecting with Unitarians far and wide and having the most interesting conversations in the hall ways, while lining up for food, even in the stairwells, was an enriching part of the conference that I had not anticipated.

Have you ever seen a Bridging Ceremony? It’s the ceremony when Youth and Young Adults “graduate” to becoming Young Adults or Adults. Those who were moving on walked under the tunnel of arms made by the standing Youth and Young Adults. It was so moving to see these profoundly connected people honour their peers. The Bridging was part of a Beatles inspired “All You Need Is Love”, Youth and Young Adult led worship. It was the preamble to Saturday evening’s entertainment, the much anticipated Hootenanny. Defined as an informal gathering to enjoy music, the Hootenanny was a melodious evening of great talent and joyful song.

Sunday brought the morning worship service which was extraordinarily beautiful. When you come from a congregation of 50 to worship with 300 people is so very moving it is hard to stay grounded. Surrounded by music and uplifted by the words of Rev. Debra Faulk, it was a fitting finale.

The penultimate workshop I was able to participate in was Liz James’ Multigenerational workshop, entitled “The Church and Technology”. Liz presented a great, hands-on learning lab for novices and tech-savvy people alike.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, I dashed in to be a part of Kelly McDowell’s (Congregational Development Staff – Eastern Region) excellent Congregational Dialogues for Small Congregations.

Literally minutes before the airport shuttle left the hotel, I had a quick glance in the door of the UU-UNO reception hosted by the Director of the UU-United Nations Office, Bruce Knotts.

My only regret was not having the time to do everything – some of the events I had to miss were: the Early Morning Spiritual Practices, singing with the Conference Choir, attending the numerous special meals, attending the CUC Board’s Meetings and functions, attending the AGM, the Social Justice Gathering, the Women’s Tea and the Closing Ceremony.

Attending the ACM was invigorating to my spiritual health; I felt nourished and challenged, inspired and renewed in all things Unitarian. I’ve come back ready to give multiple homilies, teach workshops and wax lyrical about how wonderful it is to be a Unitarian. My sincere thanks to CUC staff – Vyda, Jorge, Karen, Ariel, April, Rev. Antonia, Rev. Linda, Kelly and Vidya, and the entire Host Committee for all of their hard work. The ACM was a resounding success and I think it was one of the best weekends of my life – thank you CUC.

Jo-Anne Elder Gomes, Unitarian Fellowship of Fredericton

It is not surprising that this year’s Annual Conference and Meeting theme, “Diversity: Creating a Shared Understanding,” would stimulate discussion about what it means to be different (from whom? in what ways?), to embrace diversity, and to build on common ground. The facilitators of the “Pools” (lifeguards?) were asked to help participants look within and examine their own attitudes; participants were also invited to attend a pool outside of their comfort zone. By all accounts, everyone did some growing around their edges.

To lead us into the pools, Reverend Mark Morrison-Reed offered a provocative and moving keynote speech. U*Us in Canada often see themselves as welcoming of diversity, but Morrison-Reed made it obvious that there was a gap between our perceptions and our actions. Little has been done to bring people of colour into our congregations. While the CUC’s Diversity Monitoring Group has often urged the federal government to resolve land claims with our First Nations or protest the persecution of Baha’is in Iran, for instance, the lack of non-whites in our own congregations is stunning. Morrison-Reed gave the example of a woman dressed in her “Sunday best,” including a hat. Would she feel out of place when she entered your sanctuary? This is an example of the kind of subtle exclusion African-Americans experience when they come to worship with U*Us. For that matter, the majority of U*Us have similar political and theological positions, so Christians and both large-C and small-c conservatives can feel like outsiders. And what about our income and education levels? Are we overly proud of our collective ability to reason and to think for ourselves? While serving the less fortunate outside our walls, do we assume that everyone within is all right?

We seem to do better on gender and sexual orientation issues, with the Welcoming Congregation program pioneered by Art Brewer. However, before we extol our virtues on taking an extremely progressive stand on LGBTQ issues, we need to remember that, until very recently, a significant percentage of U*Us indicated on congregational profiles that a gay minister would be a bad fit for them. Ministers often felt they had to hide their own truth.

It would be impossible to tell the whole story of diversity in Canadian U*U congregations. Not only are the breadth and detail required overwhelming, but some of the stories have never even been told. Morrison-Reed recognized some of the individuals who have worked on diversity. Sadly, many of them resigned themselves to our complacency, and many more are unknown or forgotten names. His talk reminded us that we need to tell our own stories, even those which require us to think differently about who we really are. Perhaps, especially those ones.