John Reschovsky, President: November 2016

Governance Change Is Moving Ahead: The process of governance change at UUSS has now been ongoing for two years, first with many congregants taking part in our study sessions on church governance, then, with the formation of a Governance Task Force (GTF), followed by intensive work at every Board of Trustees meeting. During the first hour or more of each meeting, the task force members engage the Trustees in the process of designing new structure and establishing new policies. This work must be done carefully and deliberately, and it takes time. For many of us, the progress has been frustratingly slow. But we are moving ahead.

As we have reported in the past, our goal is to establish a policy based governance structure following the guidelines laid out in Dan Hotchkiss’ book, Governance and Ministry.  This structure will clearly define roles, responsibilities and lines of authority, empowering the Minster, as head of staff, to broadly lead the work of the Church.  In this new vision of governance, other staff and volunteer teams, under ministerial leadership, perform the many roles and activities that support the mission of our Society.  With stronger leadership and more clarity of roles and responsibilities, our organization becomes more agile.

The Board, no longer burdened with management roles, focuses on discernment, strategy and oversight.  It articulates mission, defines goals and strategies, establishes policies, and allocates funds.  It delegates authority and holds itself and others accountable for achieving our shared vision.

Bylaws change coming

Doing the work of governance change has been compared to rebuilding an airplane while you fly it.  We have been establishing new policies, while trying to operate under the mandates of our old structure.  We cannot change our structure overnight, and yet we must commit to moving forward.   One factor motivating the Board is the need to present a clear picture of our governance environment to ministerial candidates who are considering our pulpit.   It would certainly not be fair for our newly called Minister to have to start his or her tenure with the ambiguity of a half-baked governance change.  We may not have every “i” dotted and “t” crossed, but the essence of governance change must be behind us before a new minister is in place.

As you will learn in greater detail at our November 20th Congregational Meeting, this process will require a first set of revisions to our Bylaws over this winter and spring.  Our main focus in this interim change will be to greatly reduce the number of elected offices before the May Annual Meeting and to make the Bylaws consistent with our planned transition to Ministry Teams (Stay tuned).  In coming years, we can introduce additional changes, which, along with the release of a new Board Policy Book, will fully define our new governance structure.

So, governance change is our focus right now, but let’s look more broadly at where we are.  It is truly an exciting time.  It’s not just governance change, but everything.  A year from now, with a new settled Minister, with a new and better way of doing the work of the church, with a renewed commitment to strategically live our mission and with all the energy and drive that is stirring in our midst, we are poised to leap forward in ways that we cannot even imagine today.  In the four decades that I have been around this place, I cannot remember a time quite like this.  It is truly an exciting time.

In Peace,
John