I began the second year of Developmental Ministry committed to continue another year of service and I was clear about the focus.

First, to continue to offer classes for leaders who longed for training in the areas of conflict resilience and compassionate (covenant-based) communication led by monthly meetings with Rev. Cat Cox over a period of 10 months.

Second, to help facilitate the Soul Matters program offered to the congregation to promote deepening relationships among membership and supporting self reflection and sharing. An additional consequence of those two programs supported the need for leadership development.

Third, to assist the Board in creating a task force to re-write a six-year old mission statement giving guidance and direction for the years ahead.

Fourth, to give support to the Board in understanding their role, authority and responsibility to RVUUF as a Board who leads.

Fifth, to support the efforts of creating a culture of generosity through sermons and blog articles, home visits and conversations with members.

Each of these areas dovetail with the five goals agreed upon by the congregation in the spring of 2014. Lastly, I have carried out the duties charged as Minister in the areas of worship, pastoral care, shared leadership, administration, social justice issues and interfaith relationships with the best of my ability.

I began the summer months with study leave in July attending a compassionate meditation event led by Rabbi Joshua of Temple Emek Shalom. I incorporated audio classes by Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chodron for six weeks focused on self-empathy and compassion.

Most of July was spent preparing for the upcoming fall schedule demands of worship and new program initiatives. I continued my monthly meetings with my mentor, Rev. Cat Cox and signed onto a once a month for 10 months coaching programing through the UU Ministers Association to support my ministry here at RVUUF.

Once a month I am part of a phone call with other Developmental Ministers in the Pacific Region to offer support and guidance to colleagues as we all maneuver Developmental ministry in ways that are effective and with ministerial integrity.

I attended both clergy Professional Days in Seattle that includes presentations by UU ministers with experience in specific areas of ministers. This year the topics were congregational systems and writing as a spiritual practice. Next fall Rev. Cat will be our guest speaker.

The ministry of RVUUF began with the Board tasking a Process Team to begin to explore and plan for a process that would include a congregation wide participation in re-writing a six-year-old mission statement that reflects the vision of RVUUF found in the order of service every Sunday. I helped facilitate the UUA resource of Janine Larsen to discern the best process for such a task gleaning from Robert Latham’s book Moving on From Church Folly Lane.

The Board enlisted key people who had leadership experience and who represented RVUUF as longterm and newer members. I met with this team for monthly meetings over a period of 10 months and I’m committed to continuing to meet with them to help facilitate how best to help the mission statement become a part of the DNA of RVUUF once it’s passed by the congregation. The direction the mission statement can give the Board and leadership will be instrumental as we move forward into this new fiscal year.

September 2015 I invited the Moderator of the UUA to lead the Board in a retreat that focused on the three modes of governance non-profit Boards are responsible for in their work: fiduciary, strategic, and generative drawing from the book Governance as Leadership by Richard Chait. An invitation was extended to the neighboring UU congregations and three were represented for the day-long retreat. At the monthly Board meetings I continued to suggest to include time for Board training in an effort to help Board members feel more confident about their role and responsibilities.

The turnover of the Board membership since 2014 due to members illness or moving away, and the addition of members who are new to Board leadership has affected their work, where building trust, getting to know each other and a continued need for training is challenged each month as they respond to the needs of the congregation. And yet, they rallied together to address issues in the best way they knew how and with impressive support for each other and intentions for the good on behalf of RVUUF.

The fall months included Rev. Cat Cox presenting a two-hour seminar on conflict resilience with 45 people in attendance and where the question about the pews was used as a model experience of how to use the skills she teaches so that everyone had the capacity to speak and feel heard. It also provided an environment where a more informed decision could be made by the Board. Rev. Cat continued sharing her skill and wisdom on Sunday morning followed by offering a 10 month series of classes through Zoom video conferencing where 18 people participated. Plans for another 10-month series beginning in October are underway.

The importance of these classes will continue to affect the culture of RVUUF positively in that when a number of members have taken her classes and practiced the skills throughout the year the capacity for conflict resilience will grow and become stronger to nurture the membership in ways that build community to better enable living out the mission of RVUUF. This next year I will be offering face-to-face practice sessions for those who have taken one of Rev. Cat’s classes for the purpose of practicing the skills they’ve learned.

The Soul Matters program began in October with around 100 people signing up for either a circle or as part of an affinity group or to receive the materials to read. The result of these circles has impacted the relationships among members of RVUUF in ways that have deepened how we promote and affirm our UU principles of respect and meaning in community. Soul Matters is one of the ways understanding the move from an “I” church to a “we” church is supported. The facilitators reported that the majority of members want this program to continue next year and plans are in the making. I worked closely with Mary Rexford who, with the help of many, made possible the success of this program.

I re-established a Pastoral Care Team that resembles nothing like the stellar team RVUUF has had in the past. The purpose of this Pastoral Care team is to communicate what members are in need and how best to respond. There are 10 people on the team that includes about one person in every neighborhood team. You can email me (minister@rvuuf.org) or caring.team@rvuuf.org if you feel someone is in need of Pastoral Care. By the end of this fiscal year I will have led four Celebration of Life services, three weddings, and made hospital and home visits to members, family members and friends of RVUUF.

Two new policies were initiated by my leadership in collaboration with the Personnel Committee with a Finance Committee liaison. One is a policy regarding compensation for our musicians when they are asked by members and/or non members to perform for Celebration of Life and Wedding services ensuring they are paid for their services that are above and beyond their duties at RVUUF.

The other is the Ministerial Discretionary Fund (MDF) stating that the offering collected on the fifth Sundays and Christmas Eve service will go to the MDF for the purpose of helping members and people from the public who need financial assistance in dire circumstances.

Through the year the Board has held quarterly All Committee night meetings for the purpose of information sharing and leadership training. One included my teaching the importance of best practices during meetings that can enhance the effectiveness of a meeting and can promote better meaning-making for a volunteers time. These practices are another opportunity for leadership development to grow stronger and for meetings to be relevant and productive.

For the past two years I have been meeting with your President, Delores Nims, every week since I arrived in 2014. Our meetings consisted of a variety of day-to-day issues to be addressed as we both transitioned into the new roles of President and Developmental Minister. Now ending our second year I will miss our weekly meetings but will look forward to her continuing on the Board for another year. As she steps down as President I express my deep gratitude for her life and how her commitment to RVUUF is an inspiration to me. I will always treasure our working together during this important time of the life of RVUUF.

Throughout my years as a UU minister I have given out-going Presidents a chalice pin to represent all the hard work and time consuming energy a President offers to a congregation, much of which is done without praise or thanksgiving. May Delores wear the chalice pin with pride and honor as she continues her faithful service one more year on this Board.

Going forward: I believe what will determine RVUUF’s steps forward will include the impact of the sessions with Rev. Cat and my alternate offerings for more leadership training in covenant based communication and conflict resilience, alongside the Soul Matters Program, the passage of a mission statement, the installation of the new Board and continued commitment to fiscal integrity.

My professional experience serving congregations tells me the focus for the next two years should include strategic and financial planning if RVUUF wants to move out of Developmental ministry.

The Committee on Fellowship Ministry is creating a survey to be completed by members soon to assess the ways in which RVUUF has grown and learned from conflict in recent years past and to discover the areas that need more growth and learning in the near future satisfying our addressing the five Developmental Ministry goals adopted in 2014. Additionally Keith Kron, the Transitions Director will be here in October to meet with the Board to reflect and discern how to lead you toward the future regarding ministerial leadership. I, too, am discerning where my ministry will take me. I know many of you want to know whether or not I’ll stay. I can only tell you when I get clarity. I do know that I’ll continue to serve you with the best of my abilities and this coming year we have much work to do together.

Rev. Nan L. White
RVUUF Developmental Minister