Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF) Ashland, OR

Sun, Jun 26, noon. The Council of Ministries (COM) will be celebrating the end of its first church year with presentations by the six Ministry Teams. The Teams will be sharing with the congregation highlights of this past year, including events and goals and what they are anticipating in the coming year. Do come after the service on the 26th and hear our stories.

Sun, May 15, 12pm. There will be a Forum after the Sunday Service to discuss the proposed Five-Year Plan:

• Proposed 5-Year Plan: Summary and Goals [6pp]
• Proposed 5-Year Plan: Full [31pp]

You will be asked to vote upon the 5-Year Plan at the annual Congregational Meeting on May 22.
Come prepared to ask questions and discuss at the Forum on May 15.

Sun, Jan 23, noon. Do you have ideas of what RVUUF might become? What we should be doing differently. The 5-year goals committee is very interested in hearing from you. The workshop will be structured to elicit the broadest selection of ideas, to help participants hone those ideas, and to create a rough consensus-based prioritizing of the ideas considered. Please come and participate. We really want to hear from you. The workshop will follow the service, and will include a light lunch. Please sign up at the back of the sanctuary, or phone or email Janet at the RVUUF office.

-Roger Howe, Chair, 5-Year Plan Committee

Sun, Nov 21, noon. What will be discussed in this forum?

• What is the Council of Ministries (COM)? And how does it work?
• What is the new Organizational Chart?
• What is the COM’s mission?
• Who are the COM leads and what are their responsibilities? How were they selected?
• How will it affect me personally or my committee(s) or my group?
• What will happen to RVUUF’s five-year goals and the Strategic Plan?

Who should attend this forum?

• Committee/group chairs
• Any member/friend interested in our leadership process and goals

Nov 2010 newsletter article

After the service, there will be a presentation to all interested members and friends which will answer questions regarding the new RVUUF organizational structure and its ramifications. Presenters will be the Board President, the Minister and the Chair and Vice Chair of the nascent Council of Ministries. As discussed on p. 11 of the September Newsletter, the Strategic Plan Team in August proposed to the Board more efficient and effective ways to implement the Strategic Plan. This proposal included not only a new structure but also a new Long Range Planning process.

The Board at its 2010 Retreat endorsed the work of the Strategic Plan Team and its likely successor, a Council of Ministries, with six Ministry Teams. The Board also endorsed eight Long Range Goals and empowered the Council to move forward with development and implementation of new One-Year goals (2010-2011) that support the Long Range Goals.

We encourage all members to come to this Forum and learn more details as to (1) the purposes of the new Council of Ministers and (2) the goals, both Long Range and One-Year, that the congregation will be developing and implementing in the coming months and (3) those members who will be working within the new Council to help make ourselves not only a joyful beloved community but a more effective organization.

Sunday’s Forum will be a time and place where each member or friend can become better informed as to how to fit into some of our exciting plans for the church year. We hope to see you there.

Slideshow

Chair: Roger Howe
Minister: Rev. Becknell Marx; Board President: Deborah Rothschild
6 Ministry Leads (see org chart)

The new Council of Ministries (COM) was created to:

• facilitate communication among groups (committees, etc.)
• support the work of the groups
• coordinate human resources
• assure that RVUUF has no scheduling conflicts
• facilitate achievement of congregational goals
• facilitate cross-group activities

Mission Statement & Charge [20-Oct-2010]
Five-year Goals [20-Nov-2010]
Job Descriptions: Chair, Vice-Chair, Lead [21-Oct-2010]
RVUUF-COM (Collaboration & Coordination) Organization Chart [21-Mar-2011]
Calendaring Process [19-Nov-2010]
Congregational Forum [21-Nov-2010]: Intro: A New Way of Leading and Managing; Presentation Slides

Why call it a Council of Ministries? If we think of RVUUF as an organization with a common vision, then a ministry can be considered as a means of fulfilling that vision. Our committees and other groups are ministries in this sense. One of COM’s tasks this fall has been working with the Finance Committee on budget matters. Since the COM represents all of RVUUF’s ministries, it has been in touch with the ones who need funding to understand their needs and dreams for the next fiscal year. The COM has also been active in developing a group interested in an expanded adult education program. It has developed an efficient calendaring process that coordinates use of time and human resources. It is working with the Nominating Committee to explore an expanded role for them and to perhaps build a leadership development program into the process. And on it goes.

All UU churches and fellowships are self-governing. RVUUF and other UU churches/fellowships belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) of Congregations but are not governed by UUA. Each church/fellowship calls its minister, makes its policies, and is responsible for its financial affairs.

• Board of Directors: vision, strategy, policy, governance
• Council of Ministries (COM): coordination, collaboration, operations

All Governance documents are PDF format.
(Some documents may eventually require member-only login access).