Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF)

To Members&Friends: Dave Johnson’s term as Skills/Interests Database Coordinator is coming to an end March 31 of this year, and he would be forever grateful if you would fill out the latest survey form so that we will have more information in the database. Eighty have responded to date (thank you!), but we’d like 120 or more.

Please consider filling out a form: print your own form here or obtain a paper copy from a table at the back of the Great Hall; then return it to the Office.

Your timely response will be very helpful as we plan to make phone calls to those we don't hear from.
Many thanks, and please remember -- Many hands, light work.

Dave Johnson, Skills/Interests Database Coordinator
Dianne Erickson, Board of Directors, V.P. for Programs

The Monthly Bulletin for Congregations is a collection of announcements and updates from the staff groups and committees of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) of Congregations, and from the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF).

Latest UUA Congregational Bulletin

There will be an open discussion of the RVUUF new Leadership Journey (Harvest the Power: Developing Lay Leadership), which will be a series of workshops for Lay Leaders and other interested volunteers, sponsored by the Strategic Plan Initiative II - Development. Sunny Anderson, Jayne Donnelly and Beth Coye will be presenting the details of three workshops to be conducted in the coming months.

A one-hour introduction to the UU Workshops to be given during the 2009-2010 Program year. Facilitators will be Sunny Anderson and Beth Coye.

The first of six workshops on Lay Leadership -- taken from the Harvest the Power: Developing Lay Leadership Workshop set developed by the UUA.

Want to be more comfortable and satisfied in committee work either as a leader or a participant? Sign up to learn new skills to be more effective in meetings that will:

• Follow a well-focused agenda
• Encourage broad participation
• Deal productively with conflicting approaches
• Provide actionable results

Want to know a bit more about process observation? By definition, process observation is exactly what happens during the process of a group meeting. A process observer focuses on the group process itself, not on the content of what is said. The things to note during the observation are: Who talks when; Who interrupts and Who yields the floor, Who speaks and Who doesn’t, and How decisions get made. Nonverbal communications are also noted in an objective manner. Process observation is about “stating, not rating” behaviors. The observations are used as a springboard for discussion regarding how to maximize a group’s working relationship and effective functioning.

Workshop Leaders: Beth Coye and Erika Bekermeier.
Sign-ups: see Table in the Sanctuary under the balcony; or contact Beth or Erika.
Any questions: please contact Beth or Erika.

This comment from Reba Adams, a member of the RVUUF Board: “Having a process observer at our Board meetings has been very helpful to me. It has made me aware of how a meeting can be conducted to be more effective. The feedback at the end of our meetings is very useful. It has made me examine my role as a part of a group in order to do my job better.”

To Members&Friends: to help match some of your many talents with the needs of ongoing&future RVUUF projects, please download&print a Skills/Interests Survey form [version: 19-Mar-2009]; return completed form to RVUUF Office.

The information will be added to a database [online form (draft screenshot)], which can be searched by congregational leaders (with login access) [search form (draft screenshot)].

(Underlying technology: Drupal CMS)

Members: Harriet Berman, Peggy Cossolias, Dianne Erickson(chair), Maria Geigel, Ron Waitt

The Fellowship's Program Council coordinates committees, and interest & social groups -- these are listed in the menu on the left and under Programs & Activities.

Committee Charters

Annual Program Reports provide more detail (PDF): 2009-2010;
  2008-2009; 2007-2008; 2006-2007; 2005-2006; 2004-2005.

Program Council's responsibilities:

1. review, support and coordinate committee goals
2. assess ongoing program needs of the RVUUF community and facilitate the design of additional activities to meet these needs
3. provide communication, continuity and support for the organization and membership of all RVUUF committees and interest groups
4. facilitate two all-committee meetings each year

To Members&Friends: to help match some of your many talents with the needs of ongoing&future RVUUF projects, please download&print a Skills/Interests Survey form; return completed form to church Office.

Recent Nitty Gritty Committee meeting:

• meeting attendees (right)
• Agenda
• Strategic Plan
• Web Site: How to Update Committee Pages
• Help Wanted: Volunteer Opportunities

Forms:

• Skills/Interests Survey [19-Mar-2009]
• Program Council Action Request [8-Sep-1999]
• Room Reservation Request [2007]

Resources:

• Leaders (UUA)
• PNWD Webinars
• InterConnections newsletter for lay leaders
• Congregational Life (UUA)

Newsletter columns (PDF):
Oct 2009: Volunteer Opportunities
Sep 2009: Skills Survey; Nitty Gritty
May 2009: Skills Survey
Mar 2009: Help Wanted
Jan 2009: Nitty Gritty Committees
May 2008: Nitty Gritty Committees
Mar 2008: Marc Adams to Speak
Sep 2006: Opportunity Fair

RVUUF Bylaws: Article 11: Program Council; Article 14: Committees

Sun, May 16, noon. Committee Chairs and Members: come prepared to first talk about your successes and challenges from this program year, and second about your plans to support the Strategic Plan. We will talk about developing Congregational committee awareness and ways to recruit members.

Agenda

Please RSVP to Dianne Erickson so that we can plan for sandwiches and child care (if you need it).

Aside from a few group submissions, most of the current content you'll find on the Program pages has been carefully cloned from our earlier web site, painstakingly pasted from an old Program Handbook, and generally guessed by your web admin. In other words, much of the info is incomplete, out of date and maybe inaccurate.

Is it time for an extreme makeover, or at least some modest improvements? What information do you think Visitors would like to see? As a Member/Friend, what would you like to know? As group leader, what do you want to communicate to these audiences?

For starters, here are some suggested items that could appear on each group's page(s), along with examples from a few groups:

• Main contact(s), chair or leader; due to privacy concerns, phones, addresses (physical and email) are generally not included on public pages; however, would you like your group to be listed indirectly in the Contact Us form?
• Group members & roles (optional), e.g., Endowment, Board
• Logo or photo, e.g., Humanism; Music; this can also be used to enliven calendar events
• Slideshows, e.g., [embedded] RE: Children&Youth; [linked] Building,Aesthetics,Grounds; Fun Raising; include also on main Slideshows page?
• Description of vision / objectives / purpose, e.g., Comm. Fellowship Ministry; Health Ministry
• List of projects, topics, typical group discussion themes or past readings, e.g., RE: Children&Youth; Web Site
• Volunteer opportunities; also listed on general Help Wanted page; Contact: Web Admin when no longer needed/ timely
• Related resources, such as UUA links; forms; brochures; documents, e.g., Endowment Trust; Humanism
• References to newsletter articles, e.g., Board; Health Ministry; usually added automatically each month; any missing articles/titles?

In summary, here is a "Template" (fields & format will certainly evolve with feedback & creativity from each group):
Main Contact(s):
Group Members & Roles:
Logo/Photo:
Slideshows:
Description (vision / objectives / purpose):
List of projects, topics, etc.:
Volunteer Opportunities:
Related Resources:
Newsletter References:

How can you update this information? The simplest way is to copy&paste the template lines above into an email along with text, clipart and photos; periodically, send updates as the info changes. In the future, you could become an author of your own pages and modify them directly from a web browser -- optional; no rocket science or advanced web skills required; we can provide instructions and training later about publication policy and authoring steps if there's interest. Contact: Web Admin to get started or if you have questions.

With your ongoing support, our web site can become a more accurate reflection of our vibrant community, more useful to Members and attractive to visitors. So, start reviewing your sections and sending your updates!