Table of Contents

Task Force Members *

Introduction *

From Then To Now *

The Mission and Vision of the CUC *

Starting Change: What do we have now? *

Four Regions *

How RNGS work *

RNG Team composition *

Volunteer Screening *

Role of CUC Board Members *

Role of UUA Appointees and Existing Regional Groups *

Taking on current district services *

Annual Regional Gatherings *

Specific Service Areas: Growth and Religious Education *

Lifespan Religious Education *

Youth and Young Adults –Canadians in a continental context *

Ministry – A shared continental connection *

Lay Chaplaincy *

Affiliated Groups *

Timeframe *

Evaluation *

APPENDICES *

Appendix 1: Volunteer Canada/Ontario Screening Initiative - Screening In Faith *

Appendix 2: Ministry *

Appendix 3: Proposed Budget 2002-03 *

Appendix 4: Five Year Projections *

 

Finally we would like to note the contributions of the CUC-UUA Transition Team. This group was co-chaired by John Slattery and the UUA’s Rev. Tracey-Robinson Harris with the contributions from Rev. Olivia Holmes and UUA Trustee Gini Courter. The Transition Team work has been marked by goodwill and good humour as we worked to find helpful solutions to the myriad challenges such a dramatic change brings. This document is one mark of that success. That we remain good friends and colleagues is certainly another.

We continue to welcome feedback to this document. Contact your CUC Board member or Task Force Chair, Brian Kiely (brikie@aol.com) Unitarian Church of Edmonton, 12530 110 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5M 2L5 (780) 455-9797.

The Canadian Unitarian Council is presently facing a period of unprecedented growth and change in its mandate to serve Canadian Unitarian congregations and individuals. This moment in time presents us with a unique and exciting opportunity to shape the future direction of our religion in Canada. With a new agreement with the Unitarian Universalist Association coming into effect on July 1^st, 2002, the Canadian Unitarian Council will have new resources to command and a new responsibility to, for the first time, provide made-in-Canada services for all our congregations. This document provides a blueprint for how we believe this change can be creatively managed, and our denomination enriched through this transition. It is our hope that this plan will be only the beginning of our envisioning a new and dynamic way of serving our denomination and inspiring growth in our religion across the country.

This plan is the work of the Implementation Task Force on Service Delivery, but has arisen out of many conversations with individuals and groups, including religious professionals and lay leaders in our congregations, as well as from input from grassroots members. We have endeavored to create a plan that is reflective of the wishes of our member congregations and the ideas and concerns of the people that make up those congregations, while holding fast to a shared vision for our future.

As people serving our faith in Canada, the country of our birth or choice, we have a profound passion for our religion and for its health and vitality in the land in which we serve.

We have come to this service from many different places. We have been born or lived in different countries; our heritage comes from different continents. Yet we are one in our belief that religion must come alive in its present and particular context if it is to be relevant in our lives and in the world. We have come from Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist churches, and we presently represent congregations from all three traditions. Yet we are one in our commitment to this free and loving faith, universal in its promise for a divided world. We affirm the diversity that is Canada’s strength and our religion’s strength, while recognizing the richness of a unique land and culture in which we have been called to live our religious lives.

Valuing our own religious identity, we are inspired to reach out in faithfulness and friendship to our world-wide connection of Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist neighbours, adding wherever possible, a Canadian voice to the chorus of those seeking religious freedom.

If we are to grow a more vital movement in Canada, each one of us will need to make a greater commitment to upholding our congregation’s ministry and the growth and vitality of our churches and fellowships. Each one of us will need to envision new ways of using our skills and talents for the betterment of our congregations and the sharing of our religion with the world. And each of us will need to make a renewed commitment to the success of our shared vision, best articulated in the Mission and Vision Statements of the Canadian Unitarian Council.

Unitarianism and Universalism in Canada began in the 19th century as transplanted religions, carried by American and British immigrants who brought their faith with them. But while congregations in Halifax, Montreal and Toronto have met continuously for over a century, most of our 50 congregations and emerging groups have a much more recent history.

In the same way, while there were earlier attempts at connecting Unitarians and Universalists in this country, the Canadian Unitarian Council can only trace its formal institutional history back to 1961. It began as a simple all volunteer operation with representation drawn from across Canada. It was designed to give a voice to Canadian Unitarians in the face of the newly formed and much larger continental Unitarian Universalist Association. But the early CUC remained small, its office space a corner in someone’s bedroom.

The CUC grew slowly in its first two decades, both in size and effectiveness. Throughout its history the CUC leadership made the best use of its human and financial resources. We relied on our dedicated volunteers and capitalized on development opportunities as they arose. A major step forward came in 1984 with the decision of delegates to hire a first Executive Director. Under Kathleen Hunter and later Ellen Campbell, the Council increased its ability to connect and grow both congregations and nationally created programs. The CUC became the voice for Unitarian social responsibility. We increased our ability to communicate with and among congregations, and started raising the profile of our faith. We developed the office of lay chaplaincy, unique to Canadian Unitarianism. When the opportunity arose we became partners in forming the International Council of Unitarians and Universalists.

Throughout these years we relied heavily on the Unitarian Universalist Association for delivery of most services to congregations. A complicated Accord governed the way we collected revenues and shared them with the UUA. For nearly 40 years this friendly arrangement supported the evolutionary growth of our faith in Canada. Yet there were problems. Many CUC and congregational leaders over the years felt hampered by curricula and programs not designed to fit the Canadian context. There grew a conviction that the full potential of the Unitarian and Universalist faith would not be realized until we developed more ‘made in Canada’ solutions.

In 2000 and 2001 delegates to the CUC Annual Meetings directed the CUC Board first to begin negotiations with the UUA and then to ratify an agreement that would see a substantial transfer of service delivery responsibilities from the UUA to the CUC as well as a substantial amount of endowment money. The transfer day is July 1, 2002.

This document outlines a proposed plan for the implementation of the details of this new CUC-UUA agreement.

• The Mission of the CUC is:

The Canadian Unitarian Council is an organization of Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist member congregations and individual members acting to enhance, nurture and promote Unitarian and Unitarian Universalist religion in Canada. The CUC provides tangible support for religious exploration, spiritual growth and social responsibility. It represents our faith in the larger social and religious environments

Which can be summarized as: "Growing Vital Religious Communities in Canada"

• In the year 2000, the CUC Board also adopted a Vision Statement to govern the negotiation of this new agreement with the UUA.

The Canadian Unitarian Council is a strong, respected Canadian voice for a vibrant, liberal faith community, relevant to contemporary life in the twenty first century. It takes a responsible role in the international community of Unitarians and Universalists and the interfaith community. It respects and

affirms diversity both within and among its congregations and within the Canadian mosaic. It connects, nurtures and empowers Canadian Unitarians and Universalists and their congregations, and fosters the growth and outreach of the Unitarian Universalist movement in Canada, particularly in the areas of:

- Life-span religious education

- Effective professional and lay ministries

- Active participation in national social issues

Taking these documents AND the written agreement between the CUC and UUA signed in June 2001, the Implementation Task Force drew some initial conclusions about our direction:

The New CUC must be flexible, responsive and driven by the concerns and needs of congregations. Individual members ‘own’ their congregations and congregations ‘own’ the CUC. One challenge to the Implementation Task Force has been to find a service delivery model that recognizes and honours this fact. A second challenge is to make sure the model is efficient, effective and above all, a reasonable investment of our financial and human resources.

We believe the model we are proposing not only respects congregational ownership, it depends upon it. Recognizing our interdependence is an essential principle of our faith. While feeling interconnected can be a challenge in this vast nation, we believe it is the core to growing our congregations and our CUC. And so we propose a model that will add three new program staff positions with clerical support. We will locate these staff in areas they serve. We also propose a model that serves congregations through

two new kinds of volunteer positions. One type of volunteer will serve to keep us connected, while the other will help with the delivery of services.

Finally, we propose a new kind of fall regional gathering with three elements:

i) an opportunity for intensive weekend long training sessions in education, practical church topics and spirituality.

ii) an opportunity to gather regionally to build and renew friendships and to celebrate the distinctive qualities and character of each region.

iii) an opportunity to participate in a CUC business ‘Info and Input’ Forum where individuals can give direct feedback on present and future CUC business and goals.

The plan must also remain true to the Mission of the CUC and the Vision articulated by the Board, especially with regard to lifespan religious education, growth in numbers and quality of our congregational life and the building of networks. We believe our plan addresses these concerns.

The 2001 agreement with the UUA on service delivery is bringing about a dramatic reshaping of the Canadian Unitarian Council, its service mandate and its staff.

At present the CUC is staffed by the Executive Director Mary Bennett, Administrator Carol Dahlquist and Information Coordinator Kevin Virtue. In addition the CUC also employs a part-time Growth Coordinator (until June 2002), the Canadian Unitarian Editor, the editor of CANUUE and a Media Consultant on a part-time contract basis. These staff report to the Executive Director as will proposed new staff.

The new service agreement requires a significant increase in personnel capable of delivering and/or coordinating programs and congregational services in the field. It also requires a rethinking of service delivery models. We need a ‘made in Canada’ solution that responds to our needs and builds on our strengths. It has long been the wish of Canadian Unitarians and Universalists to have more control of Growth and Religious Education programs . This will be a prime focus in the new model. In addition, our agreement with the UUA calls for taking on some services presently delivered by districts. This, too, can be managed.

The first question facing the ITF was, "Given our geography, how do we make service delivery manageable and practical?"

After considerable consultation and discussion, we propose that Canada be divided into four service regions. These regions will be served directly by volunteer Congregational Networkers, by volunteer Service Consultants and two new regionally based field staff called Directors of Regional Services (DRS). The staff DRS will form the hub of a leadership team called a RNG –Regional Network Group. The exact composition and expertise of the RNG Teams will vary from region to region in response to the needs of congregations. We need to create RNGS that are responsive, flexible and designed to meet stated or perceived needs in the region. These are not to be cookie cutter models.

The lifespan religious education needs of Canadian Unitarians and Universalists will be served nationally by a new full time Director of Lifespan Learning (DLL). The DLL will also work with regionally based Lifespan Religious Education volunteers who will be part of the RNG teams.

The four regions envisioned are:

British Columbia Region would include all member congregations in B.C.

Western Canada Region would include all Western Canada District congregation. These are the congregations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Thunder Bay, Ontario

The Central Region, would include congregations in Ontario. Congregations in the eastern part of the province would be able to opt into the Central or Eastern Regions. These would include Kingston and both Ottawa societies.

The Eastern Region would include congregations in Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Quebec and those from Eastern Ontario opting for this region.

How RNGS work

Unlike current UUA Districts, CUC RNGS will have no governance function. With only 5200 Unitarians and Universalists in Canada and with regional representation on the CUC Board, another level of governance, bylaws etc. seems unnecessary at this time.

In the new CUC, the RNGS will have a four part mission:

1.  to connect congregations with one another including networking and organizing gatherings and celebrations.

2. to provide and /or manage training opportunities to enhance leadership skills and the quality of life in the congregations

3. to provide necessary services to congregations such as transition, part-time settlement, conflict resolution, gathering opportunities etc.

4. to provide opportunities for congregational leaders to reflect together on CUC policy and plans

This mission ensures that each of the four RNGS will stay focused on service delivery and building connections between congregations. Each RNG team will meet three times a year. This will give team members time for sharing, learning together, coaching and mentoring. It will allow them to discuss the present and future needs of their regions. It will also be a time for devising ways of best meeting those needs.

The key to improving service delivery in this model is good communication. The more RNG members know about what is going on in the region, the better they will be able to serve.

Once a specific need for service is identified, the RNG team (the Director of Regional Services and the volunteers), will decide how it can best be addressed. In some cases the Director of Regional Services will deliver the service. In others a Service Consultant will make a visit. In other cases, the Congregational Networkers will feed back ideas and networking possibilities to the congregation. And finally, in some cases the program or service will come from elsewhere: from the CUC, the UUA or an outside provider.

Two Directors of Regional Services will be hired. One position will be shared between B.C. and Western Canada Regions. The other will work with the Central and Eastern regions. They will be hired by the CUC Executive Director. Separate search committees will be formed for each position. One will include representatives from the two eastern regions and the other two from the west. The Executive Director will chair both committees. Regional input on priorities and desired qualities and skills for these staff people will be solicited and welcomed by the Executive Director.

The Directors of Regional Services will:

1. Enhance the life in our congregations by providing access to services and expertise.

2. Encourage the growth and development of Unitarian Universalism in Canada through

provision of training, identification of growth potentials in new and existing societies and by

fostering the idea of demographic and programmatic growth in all areas of her/his activity.

3. Provide direct services to congregations as needed.

4. Liaise directly with the largest congregations in each region.

Each Director of Regional Services will serve as the hub of two RNG teams. Information on needs will flow in from a variety of sources including the Congregational Networkers, direct contact with congregations, other CUC staff, CUC Board members and the Service Consultants (see below).

With their input and counsel the Director of Regional Services will help determine what kind of service is required in a particular congregation and then will work to provide that service.

Using a start-up advisory committee of experienced local people, the Director of Regional Services will identify volunteers for the Service Consultant role. This advisory body will be chosen by the Executive Director of the CUC and the DRS person in cooperation with regional leadership where it exists. The Director of Regional Services’ role will be to train, support and coach Service Consultants (or arrange for this) in such specific areas of expertise such as growth, LRE, finance, leadership development, etc. so they can deliver direct services to congregations, much like the Helping Unitarian Universalists Grow (HUUG) model does today.

Service Consultants are a second kind of regional participation. They will be specially trained volunteers who will deliver services directly to congregations.

They will:

1. Use provided training opportunities to develop expertise in one or more specific areas of congregational life.

2. Deliver such workshops, trainings and other programs as may be needed by congregations or groups of congregations and mandated by the Director of Regional Services.

3. Develop networks of people within their region who share the Service Consultant’s interests in specific areas of congregational life.

4. Network with Service Consultants in other regions.

Service Consultants will be trained in one or two areas of expertise such as religious education, growth and leadership development, finance and fundraising, youth and young adult areas and social action. Training will be done by the Director of Regional Services, by the CUC or through existing UUA programs at CUC expense.

In cases where the Service Consultants can best deliver the needed service or training, the region will pay the SC all out of pocket expenses as well as a per diem.

Service Consultants will be asked to serve a three-year term and will be limited to two consecutive terms. We believe such opportunities for volunteer leadership should be shared among as many Unitarians and Universalists as possible.

The third kind of participation will be through Congregational Networkers. These are volunteers whose job is to keep in touch. Serving three or four (relatively) nearby congregations they will be expected to visit at least once a year and to keep in quarterly contact with church leaders. They will identify concerns, suggest possible contacts and programming ideas and help leaders determine where to get the help they need. At the RNG level, Congregational Networkers will feed information to the Director of Regional Services and help shape service delivery responses.

Congregational Networkers will be asked to serve a three-year term and will be limited to two consecutive terms. We believe such opportunities for volunteer leadership should be shared among as many Unitarians and Universalists as possible.

Congregational Networkers will be named by the group of congregations they serve. Where no nominations are made, the Director of Regional Services will recruit volunteers with the advice of local leaders.

i CUC Board Policy Statement on Risk Management,

ii. Guidelines when working with children or other vulnerable individuals (of particular significance to our lay Chaplains),

iii. disruptive behaviour policies,

iv. grievance procedures,

v. clear job descriptions and other "safe steps" recommendations,

vi. good financial stewardship, etc.

We also need to look at adding a statement to our CUC Board operations and staff job descriptions along the lines of " the individuals agree to work in accordance with all CUC Board Policies and Procedures."

Responsibility for implementing these procedures will rest with the Board and the Executive Director.

(for more detail on existing models see Appendix 2)

CUC Board members will continue to represent the member congregations of each geographic area. The CUC Board is the only elected level of leadership. The Board makes policy in consultation with the staff of the organization and with delegates of member congregations. The staff then carry out those policies with the help and cooperation of volunteers and congregations.

In the new service delivery model, the role of individual board members will only change slightly. They will continue to represent their areas, continue to monitor life in the congregations they are assigned and carry out such tasks as they take on at Board level.

In the new RNG model, Board members will keep in contact with the RNG teams and attend annual regional gatherings. At these gatherings the Board members will host a forum for interested individuals. Board members will update people on current CUC business and seek input on present and future business and goals.

Ministerial Settlement Representatives (MSRs) and Compensation Consultants: These are positions appointed by the UUA in conjunction with the CUC. They deliver direct UUA programs which will continue under the new agreement. There are also several US based UUA staff working in the areas of ministry, youth, young adults and campus ministry. These areas will continue to remain continental concerns. Where appropriate these people may interact and share information with RNG teams, but will not generally be considered part of those teams.

Existing Regional Bodies: Across the country there are a variety of existing regional bodies. They are differently constructed ranging from very formal structures to very informal ones. The limited number of volunteers available for denominational activities suggest the wisdom of merging at least some of these groups into a CUC RNG. However, the CUC has no authority to insist on this. The CUC Board and the emerging groups will have to negotiate workable solutions where such groups exist.

Under the agreement with the UUA, the CUC will take over responsibility for several services provided by current District staff.

1. Part-time ministry: In the UUA Districts, small ministerial settlements (Total Cost of Ministry of $40,000 or less) are managed by the Field Staff, In Canada this will become the task of the Director of Regional Services assisted by the Ministerial Settlement Representatives.

2.Conflict Management:. In UUA Districts finding ways to assist congregations in conflict is the responsibility of the staff person. In some Districts, Conflict teams of trained lay leaders exist. Reviews of these programs are mixed. We recommend that the Director of Regional Services work to identify conflict resources within the regions, whether they be their own skills or outside professional consultants. Staff will evaluate conflict situations and either intervene or direct congregations to appropriate resources.

3. Exit and transition interviews for ministers and congregations: When a minister and a congregation part ways, UUA field staff conduct exit interviews with the minister and transition interviews with the congregations. We will ask the UUA to train our new Directors of Regional Services in these procedures and carry on with the UUA model.

 

District meetings have served several purposes. One of the most important is to provide opportunities for socializing, training, worship, celebration and networking in the larger UU community.

With the CUC Annual Meeting in May, we recommend that Regional Network Groups (RNGS) set up Fall Gatherings for those networking and training purposes.

Several models are possible. A common form involves a Friday-evening to Sunday afternoon gathering featuring several 90 minute workshops, a theme speech, a banquet and worship opportunities. One drawback where such a model is used is that it tends to attract the same group of people from year to year.

Some variations to this model might make the meetings attractive to a larger number. We recommend combining one or more training opportunities with the traditional meeting model. This would bring a broader cross section of Unitarians and Universalists together. Religious Educators might attend a two day Renaissance or OWL training module. Variants of the successful HUUG model (Helping Unitarian Universalists Grow) might offer another good program. There could be a spiritual retreat built in to a Fall Gathering.

CUC Board members in each region will host an Info & Input Forum where present and future CUC work and goals will be discussed. This will give congregational leaders an opportunity to deliberate together and to have regional influence on CUC policy and practice.

The key is that all groups would come together for shared meals, some worship events and other significant events. This will be an ideal opportunity for presentation of such awards as regional leaders deem appropriate.

Planning the Regional Fall Gatherings would be the task of a committee formed by the RNG team. This ad hoc committee will shape programming with the input of the Director of Regional Services and the Director of Lifespan Learning (see below). This committee will seek appropriate award nominations.

Several years ago a conversation began between the UUA and the CUC. Working with data gathered from congregations, the CUC asked for more control of two areas of service delivery: Growth programs and Lifespan Religious Education. Those conversations have led us to this point of transition. So how will those two key areas be treated in the new CUC?

Growth of Unitarianism in Canada faces some interesting challenges and opportunities:

1. The Canadian Unitarian Council claims 50 congregations including 6 emerging groups. Roughly half of our 5200 members are part of the seven largest congregations. The other half are spread among 43 congregations that range up to 200 members. 26 of those congregations have part-time or full-time ministry. Since different sized congregations grow in different ways, we are faced with interesting problems when we look at the extension mandate.

2. We have more ordained Canadian ministers (32) and more ministers in training than ever before. Those students will be seeking employment in the near future. Many are already seeking out creative ways to do ministry in Canadian churches.

3. We have been on a modest growth curve since 1992, about the time the CUC became more proactive in adopting Long Range Plans and directing our meager resources at growth initiatives.

Putting those congregations wanting to grow in contact with those new and existing Canadian ministers is one way to foster growth of Unitarianism in Canada. We have had some success with UUA funded extension projects in the past. While the UUA is leaving that model behind, it is one the CUC wishes to continue. With a budget line item of $25,000 per year, we hope to fund a new ministry every other year at least.

In addition we would like to continue the efforts of the Growing Vital Religious Communities in Canada program incorporating the skills and energy of the Helping Unitarian Universalists Grow (HUUG) team, Building Our Identity and Successful Stewardship initiatives.

We anticipate that both Director of Regional Services positions will be filled by people with training and expertise in growth issues.

Religious educators in this country are used to being part of a co-operative continental network where the expertise of long-time professionals is freely shared with newer paid and volunteer LRE Directors.

Educators have made it clear that in this new service delivery model a similar national network is required.

To this end the ITF is recommending the creation of a national Director of Lifespan Learning (DLL) position.

The Director of Lifespan Learning will:

1. Provide Unitarian and Universalist leadership throughout Canada.

2. Facilitate the development of a lifespan RE network throughout Canada.

3. Work to revise American or create new Canadian LRE curricula.

4. Work to ensure Youth and Young Adult needs are addressed in Canada.

The Director of Lifespan Learning will work with a team of volunteer regional Service Consultants (LRE) and other volunteers. They will:

1. Provide Unitarian and Universalist LRE leadership in one region

2. Facilitate the development of a LRE network in one region.

Youth and young adult issues remain a continental responsibility under the new CUC-UUA agreement. Still, the shifting from a cross border District model to an all Canadian Regional model offers new opportunities for linking Canadian youth. Until now the CUC has largely left youth organizational issues to the UUA and especially its Districts. Now we can build on the past and ongoing work of the UUA by creating two all Canadian Youth Adult Committees (YACs) One will be in the east, one in the west. We encourage them to continue cross border networking with their American counterparts. Money to fund these YAC’s will be included in the Lifespan Learning program budget.

Regional youth communities will depend on the YACs, which will plan conferences, recommend rules, and facilitate communication between the Regional Network Group and the youth community. In 2001 the CUC Board approved rules of conduct for CUC youth events which will aid the new YACs in their work. The CUC Board has also approved the addition of a democratically elected youth observer to Board meetings in order to give our youth a clear voice in national issues.

Feedback from youth and adult advisors in eastern Ontario, suggests a YAC should include both the Central and Eastern regions so as to preserve the relationships among youth previously in the St. Lawrence District. We want these two new Canadian YAC’s to allow some permeability that is respectful of existing relationships as well as being open to new relationships.

The creation of the role of Director of Lifelong Learning should help the development of youth programming. This person is expected to play a supporting role in the formation and continuity of the YACs.

Restructuring youth and young adult services for Canada is both a challenge and an opportunity. If met with creativity and goodwill we can build a network that blends the best of existing youth models with innovative approaches that speak to the Canadian context

There are some factors we see as essential to making youth services work:

• support from local congregations in creating or strengthening youth groups and giving them adequate ministerial attention.
• funding from the CUC to pay for:

-eastern and western YACs to begin to meet

-leadership and spirituality conferences and advisor trainings in the regions

• adult advisors need support from their congregations and the CUC to support them in the long haul. We need this desperately!
• a DLL (Director of Lifespan Learning) who understands youth empowerment and recognizes when support is necessary.
• volunteers in all areas to know about and utilize the UUA Youth Office and the wealth of knowledge contained therein.
• congregational recognition that supporting youth today means investing in the shared future of Canadian Unitarianism. Congregations with active youth groups are most likely to experience growth.
• patience for and from youth, parents, ministers, church volunteers, the CUC, districts, and anybody who cares enough to get impatient. There are big changes ahead. Let's meet this challenge with courage and hopefulness.

We affirm the centrality of ministry to any vision of growth and prosperity for our religion in Canada. A study of congregational growth patterns by Canadian Growth Consultant Linda Hicks has shown a high correlation between professional ministry and congregational growth and prosperity. While many of our congregations are and have been at different times in their history, lay-led, we believe that the unique synergy between a congregation and those called, trained and dedicated to its service is an essential component of building a stronger movement.

At the same time, we also affirm a vision of shared ministry that recognizes and encourages the ministry of every member of our communities We recognize those lay and ordained, those trained and committed, called and dedicated in all areas of congregational life; in leadership and learning, in music ministry and worship, in stewardship and justice ministry, in caring and community building. Consequently, we see no fundamental difference between services to ministry, minister and congregation. All are services that will ultimately benefit our congregations and our movement. We see this transition as an opportunity for each member of our congregations to reflect on how they may become more vitally involved in their congregation’s ministry.

It is important to note that of the many tasks and responsibilities related to ministry, some will remain under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and others will become the responsibility of the Canadian Unitarian Council.

Under terms settled by CUC delegate vote in May 2001, and further ratified in the CUC/UUA agreement signed in June 2001, training, credentialing and settlement support for ministry will remain continental in scope under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association of congregations and the Ministerial Fellowship Committee. The CUC Board and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada (UUMOC) reaffirm the authority of the MFC in credentialing ministers, and Canadian students will continue to seek fellowship from this body, through the Canadian Regional Sub-Committee on Candidacy (RSCC.) Congregations will continue to work with the UUA Department of Ministry’s Settlement Office in the process of calling and settling permanent and interim ministers working half-time or more. Please see the Ministry Position Paper (Appendix 3) for a more thorough discussion of these issues.

As previously mentioned, we see services to congregations and services to ministers as intertwined in services to Ministry. Ministers have needs for professional development, for collegial support, for skills enhancement and expertise in growing healthy churches. Congregations, too have these same needs, although they are less often identified as such. So while some of the responsibilities listed below are discussed elsewhere in this document, it is important to include them here as services to ministry and congregations.

Services to congregations that most significantly impact upon ministerial and congregational health, growth and development, include:

. Support for Ministerial Search

. Ministerial Start-up, Transition and Exit Interviews for Minister and Congregation

. Congregational Retreats and Goal Setting

. Leadership Development and Training

. Congregational Networking and Mutual Resource-Sharing

. Support for Growth-Related Activities

. Stewardship, Financial and Canvass advice

. Compensation and Staffing advice

. Governance and Church Structure advice

. New Building and Capital Campaign advice

. Conflict Management and Resolution

. Support for the Work of the Ministerial Settlement Representatives

. Support for the Work of the Congregational Compensation Consultants

. Support for the creation of circles of support for ministry and laity

We anticipate that these responsibilities will be handled by the staff and volunteers of each Regional Network Group (RNG) with support from the existing structures still in place to support ministerial services.

Lay Chaplaincy has always been program exclusive to the CUC and Canadian congregations. We see the role of Lay Chaplains as unchanged by this plan, since their work is overseen by the Lay Chaplaincy Committee. Lay Chaplains would be welcome to schedule training sessions in conjunction with Fall RNG gatherings as they presently are with CUC Annual Meetings. We anticipate no structural change to the Lay Chaplaincy model resulting from implementation of this plan.

Continental groups such as the professional associations, the UU-United Nations Office, Interweave, the UU Women’s Network, the Covenant of UU Pagans etc. all presently have continent wide membership. The agreement urges all such bodies to maintain their continental character if they deem it appropriate. The UUA has sent out letters encouraging those organizations to review their by-laws and make appropriate changes as necessary.

Leadership Schools: Most existing UU Leadership Schools are located in the US. Although many have benefited from Canadian support and leadership. These schools offer intensive training programs in leadership and organizational development, UU history and personal spirituality. We encourage Canadian Unitarians and Universalists to continue to actively recruit students for these schools and to financially support these students. We also encourage those who aspire to create a Canadian based leadership school in the future.

The date of transfer of service responsibility from the UUA to the CUC is July 1, 2002.

Ministry services as well as services to youth, young adults and campus ministry will remain continental according to the agreement. (see http://www.cuc.ca/business/council/cuc-uua_resolution.htm )

As of July 1, 2002 the Executive Director hopes to have the two new Directors of Regional Services selected with the new Director of Lifespan Learning selected by August 1. However, bringing the RNGS to fully operational status will take some time.

At first, the Directors of Regional Services and Director of Lifespan Learning may provide service delivery directly, supported by national staff and the CUC Board. In early Fall of 2002, the new staff will work with the advisory bodies to identify potential candidates for the Service Consultant positions. In some cases training sessions will be required before those positions become fully operational.

The proposed model will need to be refined through the first years of the implementation process. We recommend that the Board adopt an annual outcome based evaluation model and put it into place. An outcome evaluation measures the success of the organization in meeting its medium and long-term goals and seeks to measure the changes which have been brought about by a project. An outcome evaluation can relate the impact the program or service has had on the participants, and the organizations, in this case our churches and fellowships. Outcome evaluation can be instituted in the early phases of the implementation of a project and can increase the likelihood that the implementation activities are linked to the outcomes to be achieved. Outcome evaluation can help staff and stakeholders stay focused on the changes that are being attempted. At later stage of a project, an effective outcome evaluation can help answer the questions about what works, for whom, in what circumstances and how to improve program delivery and services.

Through an evaluation we will want to know how effective the recipients of the services perceive them to be and what impact the services have had on the activities and strategies of the congregations and fellowships. This approach differs from output evaluation which would simply measure the number of volunteers recruited or the number of workshops offered or the number of congregational contacts made.

The overall goal of the Ontario Screening Initiative is to work with volunteer sector constituencies in order that they adopt appropriate volunteer screening and practices. The project is oriented on change in organizational behaviours and is a process of long-term change and commitment to make effective Screening and risk management a standard operating practice. The CUC is one of a four part faith consortium, Screening in Faith; including the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Unitarian and United Churches. The Volunteer Canada "Safe Steps" program through Screening in Faith is designed

to provide our faith communities with the tools to create and maintain a safe and supportive environment for each of us as we go about working, worshipping and learning together. Basically, Screening In Faith shows us that we have a legal and a moral imperative to look at our screening procedures, through "Duty of Care" Really, these are common, good human resources management practices.

London DRE Sylvia Bass-West has been involved in the project as the CUC representative, attending consortium meetings and sharing information through the CUC Annual Meetings and mailings when possible throughout the years as new information is available. Each congregation in Ontario was invited by Volunteer Canada in the fall of 1998 to send a representative to a OSI information / training session in Mississauga and each also received a workbook called "Screening in Faith" two years ago, and information / educational brochures. Six Ontario UU congregations did send representatives to the 1998 training, and these individuals were encouraged to act as "champions" of this project within their congregations.

We are now half way through year three of the Ontario Screening Initiative. Three Ontario UU congregations, Toronto First as a large congregation, London as a mid-sized congregation and the Ottawa UU Fellowship as a small congregation, were invited to act as "case study" churches to begin development of appropriate risk management and volunteer screening policies in year two of the project.

Two of these churches, Toronto and London, each established a Screening In Faith "task force" and met with a local Volunteer Centre consultant trained specifically in this area, to develop guidelines and policies to suit the volunteer screening needs of their particular congregations. Both congregations developed and approved a risk management policy to include in their operations manuals, as well as other guidelines and revisions of current practices. This information will be shared with all CUC congregations this next spring at the AGM.

As this is a pilot project and we are all learning as we go along, several glitches have occurred. Communication and clear understanding of needs and responsibilities between Volunteer Canada, the consortium partners and the volunteer centre consultants has been one challenge. Another challenge that has stalled the process somewhat this fall were several staffing changes within the project at Volunteer Canada. We are moving ahead, however with a strong commitment from all involved.

Screening is based on risk, - the position, not the person. Volunteer screening is about minimizing risk, therefore the level of screening is based on the degree of risk inherent in the position or responsibilities

undertaken. There are many types of risk - legal, moral, ethical, fiduciary, to person, of property, to reputation, financial, etc.

Not all of these steps need be used for every position. Low risk positions require fewer steps.

Preliminary issues

• Determine the risk of various volunteer/staff positions Write and provide a clear volunteer ministry "job" description.
• Establish an intentional recruitment process
• Actual screening process regarding specific volunteer/staff positions
• Use some type of application form for data collection
• Conduct interviews
• Follow up on references
• When appropriate, request police records check (high risk positions)

• Conduct orientation and training sessions
• Supervise and evaluate volunteers/staff
• Follow up with program participants

Respectfully submitted, Sylvia Bass West,

CUC representative on Faith Coalition, Volunteer Canada/Ontario Screening Initiative

Appendix 2: Ministry

The following paper is in draft form. Authored by Rev. Allison Barrett in consultation with several southern Ontario colleagues, this position paper has not yet been discussed by the full gathering of ministers serving in Canada. Still, it is a valuable document outlining the opinions of many of our ministers.

As ministers serving our faith in Canada, the country of our birth or choice, we have a profound passion for our religion and for its health and vitality in the land in which we serve.

We have come to this service from many different places. We have been born or lived in different countries; our heritage comes from different continents. Yet we are one in our belief that ministry must come alive in its present and particular context if it is to be relevant in our lives and in the world. We have come from Unitarian, Universalist and Unitarian Universalist churches, and we presently serve congregations from all three traditions. Yet we are one in our commitment to this free and loving faith, universal in its promise for a divided world. We affirm the diversity that is Canada’s strength and our religion’s strength, while recognizing the richness of a unique land and culture in which we have been called to live our religious lives.

We affirm the centrality of ministry to any vision of growth and prosperity for our religion in Canada. A study of congregational growth patterns by Canadian Growth Consultant Linda Hicks has shown a high correlation between professional ministry and congregational growth and prosperity. While many of our congregations are and have been at different times in their history, lay-led, we believe that the unique synergy between a congregation and those called, trained and dedicated to its service is an essential component of building a stronger movement. At the same time, we affirm a vision of shared ministry that recognizes and encourages ministry in every member of our communities and in all our ministries. We recognize those lay and ordained, those trained and committed, called and dedicated in all areas of congregational life; in leadership and learning, in music ministry and worship, in stewardship and justice ministry, in caring and community building. Consequently, we see no fundamental difference between services to ministry, minister and congregation. All are services that will ultimately benefit our congregations and our movement.

If we are to grow a more vital movement in Canada, each one of us, lay or ordained, will need to make a greater commitment to upholding our congregation’s ministry. We recognize that this support and commitment will take many forms. It may range from offering support to mid-sized or large congregations to help them obtain the specialized assistance that they need to prosper - to encouraging smaller congregations into part-time ministry by offering them student ministries or flexible arrangements for part time search and settlement. It may take the form of congregational leaders meeting to share resources and information with other congregations who are facing challenges that they have already overcome. It may take the form of ministers supporting their colleagues’ churches with

workshops or leadership training in their areas of particular skill or expertise. It may take the form of lay leaders learning the skills of ministry and sharing them with congregations that are moving toward professional leadership. It most certainly will take the form of ongoing country-wide education about the way that ministerial and congregational leadership strength combine to build effective, nurturing communities that can share our faith with more people in more places. Our goal is not to simply replace the excellent services formerly offered to ministers and congregations by District Field Staff with services offered by CUC Directors of Regional Services, but to grow in our whole denomination an awareness of and commitment to the shared professional ministry that makes congregations and therefore our whole movement, thrive.

The history of service to religious community and the call and ordination to ministry predate the formation of any denominational body. And yet the shared history of our denomination in North America has always recognized two things; discernment, call and ordination by congregation as well as the need for recognizable professional standards for excellence in ministry. It is our intention to uphold these two traditions as we move forward into envisioning a new way of serving our religion in Canada.

As religious professionals, we consider ourselves a vital part of a continental network of colleagues who have skills and support available for our mutual benefit. Our continental professional organizations - The Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA), Liberal Religious Educators Association (LREDA) and Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network (UUMN) are an important locus of both identity and professional standards for us in our training and development, and in our own and in our congregations’ standards for ministry excellence. We recognize these standards (while evolving) as historically tried and true ways of discerning readiness and continuing worthiness in ministry. We also value the smaller circles of collegiality and support that exist locally (both within and across national borders) and support the creation of more of these collegial circles to serve what can be an isolating profession in a sometimes very isolating geography.

Speaking as ministers, we affirm the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association as our fellowshipping and credentialing body, and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association as our professional association. Together their professional standards, by-laws and codes of conduct for self, colleagues and community include us. We are called and accountable to our larger ministry, even as we seek to discern how that ministry may best be lived in the particular place in which we serve

At the same time, within the larger collegiality to which we are committed, there is value in our coming together to consider the particular challenges of our ministry in Canada. To this end we seek a return to the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada being a chapter of the UUMA, so that we may focus our undiluted energies when needed toward building a stronger UU ministry in Canada. We also support an expansion of the role of UUMOC to further support collegial networking, resource sharing, mentoring and skill development – on a national and a local level.

While necessarily outside the scope of the Implementation Team’s immediate mandate, we see future

development of ministerial candidates in Canada as essential to the success of our movement. With no Canadian Unitarian Universalist theological school, potential candidates must choose between their denomination and their country when making decisions about their education and life over a 4-5 year period. We believe our movement has been made the poorer by this Hobson’s choice. Once stateside, we have lost fine ministers, both because we lacked the churches to sustain them, and because of the natural pull of new surroundings, friendships and living opportunities (of course, we have "imported" some fine ministers as well!) And while we have been admirably served by many ministers from countries other than Canada, for many of these, the time comes when they want naturally to return "home." We believe that the future of our ministry in Canada must include stable long-term ministries that are more likely when the minister already feels at "home," and is not inclined to cut short his or her time of service to a congregation for geographical reasons. And we affirm the value of ministers who can preach about, from and within the cultural context in which we live – different in both subtle and substantial ways from every other cultural context in which religion must be discerned.

We would like to see ministerial educational and training requirements expanded or altered to make courses such as Canadian Contextual theology, Canadian Literature, History or Culture (at the undergraduate or graduate level) a suggested part of training for ministry in Canada. These changes might take the form of conversations with theological schools and the MFC about revised curriculum and reading list requirements, the creation of Summer Institutes or a visiting UU scholar program, or even endowed chairs in Liberal Religious Studies, supported by a UU philanthropist. We need to create a climate that makes it both possible and appealing for Canadian UUs to either stay in Canada or stay closely connected to a system of development and formation for ministry that prepares them to serve in Canadian churches.

We see a role for ministers, informed laity and directors of congregational services in identifying and proactively recruiting for our ministry from among the many dynamic and experienced laypeople who enrich our congregations. We would like to see at least ten congregations (some in each geographical area) become permanently viable Teaching Congregations, financially able to become ongoing Internship Sites that can attract superb ministerial students from all over the continent, thereby increasing the pool of potential ministers who see themselves serving their future ministry in Canada. We would like even more to see excellent Canadian students fill these positions! The relationship of congregations who are large enough and stable enough to support ministry, and the supply of superb Canadian or Canadian-sensitive ministers is a reciprocal one. We can only build our denomination with a plan to increase both.

In response to a need for an earlier discernment process and formation for ministry, and recognizing the unique cultural context of those called to minister in Canada, the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the UUA created a Regional Sub-Committee of the MFC for Canada. These sub-committees provide guidance, discernment, assessment and feedback at an earlier stage of preparation for the UU ministry. A separate committee was created for all of Canada, while the US committees are divided into regions. The creation of this sub-committee means that some parts of the recruitment and discernment process for ministerial education have already been re-situated in a Canadian context. We affirm that the RSCC for Canada is a step in the right direction – one that we would like to see expanded in the future. We hope and envision a time when our ministerial candidates will be plentiful enough to require several regional RSCCs!

As previously mentioned, we see services to congregations and services to ministers as intertwined in services to Ministry. Ministers have needs for professional development, for collegial support, for skills enhancement and expertise in growing healthy churches. Congregations, too have these same needs, although they are less often identified as such. It is essential to our vision for the future of our movement in Canada that the Directors of Regional Services, whether laity or ministers, understand the profound interrelation between the services that they offer to congregations and to ministers. They are inseparable in our minds.

Therefore, although the direct services to congregations proposed by the Implementation Team are listed elsewhere, we want to include in our recommendations, the areas of congregational services that most significantly impact upon ministerial and congregational health, growth and development, including:

• Support for Ministerial Search
• Ministerial Start-up, Transition and Exit Interviews for Minister and Congregation
• Congregational Retreats and Goal Setting
• Leadership Development and Training
• Congregational Networking and Mutual Resource-Sharing
• Support for Growth-Related Activities
• Stewardship, Financial and Canvass advice
• Compensation and Staffing advice
• Governance and Church Structure advice
• New Building and Capital Campaign advice
• Conflict Management and Resolution
• Support for the Work of the Ministerial Settlement Representatives
• Support for the Work of the Congregational Compensation Consultants
• Support for the creation of circles of support for ministry and laity

• Affirm the essential role of ministry in our growth
• See services to congregations, ministers and ministry as fundamentally the same
• Affirm the value of long-term, stable ministry to our congregations
• Seek to affirm and grow a greater valuing of ministry in our congregations
• Seek to affirm and grow a greater sense of shared ministry among our laity
• Affirm our accountability to the MFC
• Affirm our professional body is the UUMA
• Suggest a return to UUMOC as a UUMA Chapter
• Suggest an expansion of the role of UUMOC to include intentional networking and mentoring
• Suggest a national strategy for local collegial support circles that will nurture ministry at all stages of development
• Suggest an intentional, proactive recruitment strategy for recruitment of superb ministerial candidates from our experienced laity
• Affirm the RSCC as a valuable existing tool that should expand as we grow
• Ask that Ministerial Settlement Representatives in Canada handle part-time and specialized ministry requirements as well as their normal priority of full-time settlements
• Affirm that all of the above-mentioned services to congregations are services to
• Ministry, that require emphasis and expertise on the part of CUC staff, ministry and laity