Leadership.
Leader.
Chair.
Captain.
Do some of these words make your sweat glands activate, or your mouth go dry? Perhaps they excite you, and make you want to thrust your hand in the air and yell, “Pick me, pick me!"
We have members at all levels of comfort with the term ‘leader’ and we need all levels of participation to make our congregations healthy. I am fond of saying that even if you do not “put on the cape of leadership”, you can still be an influential leader in your congregation. Leading by presence and being, is as important as having a leadership title, if not more so in some cases. Your actions, even when you do not feel like you are leading, can inspire others to leadership. One of the cool, yet sometimes scary, aspects of this is that you might not even know you are doing anything inspirational at that moment!
Speaking of inspirational leadership, I want to take this opportunity to lift up the members of the four District Boards for their wholehearted leadership. Whether they wear their ‘capes’ or not, they have done an excellent job of guiding our Districts and Region! They have piloted our Region through some serious discussions about how might we further our Faith, and the best way to practice shared ministry in our next phase of being southern Unitarian Universalists.
Our District presidents have been meeting often, sometimes weekly, to discern the next steps for the Districts they serve and the Region as a whole. They have boldly moved us closer to deep, healthy, covenantal relationships, always remembering we are all interconnected and deeply longing for closer connection to our Faith and to one another. They are still hard at work, making preparations for the District Assemblies and facilitating several webinars for those who wish to become more familiar with the governance changes being proposed for a vote at the Assemblies. You can find more info on the webinars and how to register for one of them here: http://www.uuasouthernregion.org. I say a big “Thank You!” to our current and previous District Presidents that have led us where we are now, and continue to encourage our members to widen our circle of connection and possibility just a bit bigger!
This is not to leave any of the other Board members out! All District Board members have actively participated in various task forces to get all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed leading up to the Annual Assemblies and the governance vote. The Elders Taskforce worked in deep relationship to envision what is next for building up lay leaders, how we might bolster neighboring congregations and clusters through the deployment of recognized Elders, and how to best utilize the first of its kind Elders Council in the near future. You can read more on the Elders Model here: http://sruuacomm.blogspot.com/2015/01/everything-youve-always-wanted-to-know.html
The Communications Taskforce has been doing a fabulous job in keeping all our members up to date on the happenings in the Region as it pertains to the movements of the Boards. If you haven’t familiarized yourself with some of the recent news, you can read the blogs from the last few newsletters here: http://sruuacomm.blogspot.com. To these taskforce participants and to all the others, again a hearty “Thank you!” for all that you have done and will continue to do for the District you serve, our Southern Region, and our Faith at large!
I also wish to say a full-hearted “Thank you!” to all of our congregational leaders! Without your caring, forward thinking, and thoughtful action, our Faith would not be what it is. Without all of your tireless efforts, we would not be able to step into a new way of being together with deep covenantal relationships at our foundation. I invite interested members and all of our leaders, whether you wear capes or not, to attend our annual District Assemblies April 17-19. Take part in the bold move to deeper relationship with fellow congregations, the Southern Region, and our Association as a whole. Information on the Assemblies and how to register can be found here: http://www.uuasouthernregion.org/aa2015.html
In Faith and with great Hope for our shared future~
Maggie Lovins
Southern Region Congregational Life Staff
