November 2010 From the President ... Volume 44, Issue 1 Dear Colleagues, In October your UUMA Exec met in Boston to celebrate the work of the last year and to reaffirm our vision for promoting excellence in ministry through collegiality and continuing education. For the second year we devoted a day of our meeting working with a consultant focusing on Adaptive Leadership. Rev. John Gibb Millspaugh helped us identify the transitions we are undergoing as we move to a more professional organi- zation. A year ago we entered an agreement with the Rev. Don Southworth to serve as our Acting Executive Director, as we began this transition. Don is serving us well, and wonderful new resources are available and in the making. You’ll read about them else- where in this newsletter. One realization is the UUMA Exec has been largely a program delivery system, and as that is more clearly seen as the responsibility of staff we are beginning to re-imagine the role of the Exec. We deserve an Exec structure that is consistent with and will promote our mission. We believe the Exec can function more effectively with a smaller number of members. Because our bylaws now specify “the Executive Committee shall consist of the four officers…and six Members–at-Large,” we will recommend to you a change that will add “ up to six Members- at-Large. To this end, we have asked the Nominating Committee not to find a candidate to fill the ex- piring term of our Arrangements Portfolio. Considering the importance of our discussion at the Annual Meeting last June, I am appoint- ing a Presidential Task Force on Sexual Ethics . Rev. Helen Carroll will convene this task force. She will be joined by three other UUMA members. They will bring a report to our March Exec meeting. We conducted a one-year review of the position of Acting Executive Director, and Don Southworth’s performance in it. Chapter Presidents, UUA Staff, and Exec members gave positive responses and on that basis we voted, at the end of the current two-year contract, to create the position of Executive Director, and to offer the position to Don. Don has agreed to let the Exec know if he will accept the permanent position by mid January. This is an historic time for the UUMA, and it is an honor to serve you as your President. Blessings, Bill Inside this issue: [email protected] From the UUMA Treasurer 2 Contact Us From the Acting Executive Director 2 Don Southworth, Acting Executive Director From the VicePresident 3 617-848-0416 617-848-8122 (fax) From Communications & Chapter Connections 4 UNITARIANUNIVERSALIST MINISTERS ASSOCIATION [email protected] Remarks from the 2010 50 year Speaker 5-7 Janette Lallier, Administrator UURMaPA & UUMN Conference Reports 7-8 617-848-0498 617-848-0973 (fax) [email protected] CENTER 9 UUMA News Mailing Address: And We Remember . 10-20 25 Beacon Street Remarks from the 2010 25 year Speaker 21-23 Boston, MA 02108 Announcements 23 From the Acting Executive Director ... I walked into my first class at Starr King, “Minister, Ministry and Identity” feeling a bit overwhelmed at this new life I had been called to. I hoped the class would help me begin to figure out where I was headed and what type of minister I might become. The teacher asked us to close our eyes, meditate and imagine the shape and picture of our future minis- tries. At first nothing came to me but soon a clear picture came, a picture and a minister that I did not like. The picture I had of myself as a minister was that of the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, the 35-foot tall monster that terrorized New York City in the movie Ghostbusters . As I sat horrified, attempting to change the image in my mind, the more pronounced each marshmallow muscle became. With all my psychic will and en- ergy, the Stay Puff Man slowly transformed into the image of a 35-foot marshmallow Buddha. When everyone shared the vision of ministry they had experienced, I wondered if I should just get up and leave. But I chose, instead, to tell the truth about my vision and let the chips, or marshmallows, fall where they would. I explained that a marshmallow Buddha was actually a great image for me since one of the biggest questions I brought to seminary was whether or not I could bring my whole self, especially my sense of humor, to ministry. I think of that day often. My favorite stole has the image of a marshmallow Buddha on it . As I celebrate the tenth anniver- sary of my ordination this month, I am happy to report that my sense of humor is mainly intact (although some may say it’s gotten a little more bizarre). I never would have imagined on that day in 1996 that I would grow up to be the Acting Execu- tive Director of the UUMA. How about you? Has the form and shape of your ministry, of your calling changed since you first imagined yourself as a minister? How is it better than you imagined? How is it not what you hoped and dreamed of? In the last thirteen months I have had the chance to do a ministry that has never quite been done before. Serving and leading my colleagues, my brother and sister “Buddhas” I have been inspired and frustrated, challenged and confused, embraced and doubted, cheered and chided. Just like you and whatever form of ministry you are doing today. I am grateful to have the chance to work with so many committed and dedicated people. And I wonder. I wonder what form and shape my minis- try, my life, will take in the next ten years. I wonder the same thing about the shape and form of the UUMA and of the lives and ministries of our almost 1700 members. In this busy, crazy, heart-breaking, wonderful time of the year may your life and ministry have all the wisdom and peace of a Buddha and all the goo and whimsy that 35 feet of marshmallow can bring. Blessings, We are in a year of study for the Standards of Professional Practice . To give feedback check with your Don Southworth, Acting Executive Director chapter leaders and/or go to [email protected] www.uuma.org/guidelines_study to review the study documents and complete the online survey. From the UUMA Treasurer . We have now closed the books on our first year with the new dues structure in place. I am delighted to let you know that we actually collected $6,000 more than we had projected for budgeting purposes. Thanks go to all of our members for your generosity and for your commitment to our new and expanded vision for the UUMA. Please keep it up as we move into the second year of the dues changes. We were additionally able to close out FY10 with a $1471 surplus! Our current non-restricted reserve funds stand at $82,437—not yet at the recommended level of three months of operating expenses, but getting closer! We arranged for a basic financial review and have implemented nearly all of the more than a dozen recommendations. Given that it has been years since the UUMA has had a formal audit, we are hoping to expend funds for a comprehensive financial review in the next budget year. Keep those dues coming. Please remember that dues are in arrears as of Nov.15. Yours in our faith, Marni Harmony ( [email protected] ) Page 2 UUMA NEWS From the Vice President Greetings from your new Vice President! After a week of meetings in Boston with your other Exec members, I remain honored and humbled to be serving the UUMA at this level. This year's Exec is deeply engaged in structuring ourselves so as to be more agile and better able to deliver the continuing education programs and desires for improved collegiality that you have asked of your professional organization. We engage in this work organizationally, historically, and perhaps most importantly, theologically . .asking ourselves, as we have asked you "Whose are we?" What is ours to do? How do we remain faithful to our mission of "nurturing excellence in ministry through continuing education and collegiality". The "Whose Are We" program, dreamed at the Summit on Excellence in Ministry in 2008, planned by the UUMA Exec in conjunc- tion with CENTER, developed by our colleagues the Revs. Laurel Hallman and Burton Carley, and shared by trained colleagues in each district, is one shining example of what the revitalized UUMA is able to do. Through this program, and through our work, we are asking ourselves and you questions of purpose . questions we hope will live with you for some time, as they are living with me since engaging with "Whose Are We?" at my own chapter retreat last month. The bigger dream is that these questions also live with us , informing how we are with one another as colleagues, challenging us to not only nurture and support one another, but hold each other accountable to our highest potential, so that the ministry might be strengthened. It is my hope and dream that each of us will find in the UUMA a place for learning, growing and connecting more deeply with our callings and our faith. Centered in this dream, I offer myself to the work of the Exec. 2010-11 UUMA Executive Committee May you be well, Lydia Ferrante-Roseberry, Vice-President Bill Hamilton-Holway , President [email protected] [email protected] Phone: 510-525-0302 Lydia Ferrante-Roseberry , VP [email protected] UUMA Leadership Phone: 303-655-4282 Marni Harmony , Treasurer 2010-11 CENTER Committee Members [email protected] Phone: 407-426-2024 Greg Ward , Co-Chair Alan Taylor , Secretary Communications [email protected] [email protected] Phone: 708-848-6225 x101 Roger Bertschausen , Co-Chair James Kubal-Komoto , Communications Institute [email protected] [email protected] Phone: 253-839-5200 Cheryl M.