Dear Pacific Western Congregational Leaders,

This is my last newsletter article as the Pacific Western Regional Lead.

At the end of this month, I will end my three-year tenure on UUA staff and leave the Pacific Northwest, where I have made my home for 20 years, and return to congregational ministry. I will begin serving as the lead minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh, NC. I have enjoyed this job and want to thank all of you with whom I have had the pleasure to work, especially the talented, hardworking, and committed members of the PWR staff.

During the past three years, I have done my best to help the more than 180 congregations in the PWR become the most vital congregations they each can be.

What have I learned about vital congregations in the past three years?

I know that vital congregations do a good job with the basic tasks of ministry: (1) reaching out to, making room for, and welcoming newcomers, (2) providing inspiring worship services that touch both the head and the heart, (3) providing opportunities for people to learn and grow, (4) caring for one another, and (5) serving the wider community.

I also know vital congregations do a good job with several organizational tasks: They (1) are mission centered, (2) have clear decision making and operational structures, (3) intentionally recruit and develop leaders, (4) have artful communication and conflict management practices, (5) are skillful at adapting and leading change, (6) and are connected to other Unitarian Universalist congregations as well as other congregations and organizations in their local communities.

However, I believe what is most important about vital congregations is their culture. I have visited many congregations during the past three years, and the most vital congregations have a nearly ineffable quality that nevertheless can be felt almost as soon as one walks through the congregation’s doors.

What words could be used to describe what is felt in these congregations? People in them are compassionate and kind (without having loosey-goosey boundaries or entertaining an “anything goes” attitude). They practice gratitude and generosity and are joyous. They don’t get stuck on past hurts but embrace the move from hurt to healing. They are hopeful about themselves and their future.

What might you do if your congregation’s culture falls short in any of these areas? I believe anyone who participates in a congregation, from a child or youth to a newcomer to a long-time member to a board president to a staff member to a minister, has the power to positively influence a congregation’s culture. How? Not necessarily by criticizing the current culture, but by embodying the cultural change one wants to see—in the paradigms one uses, in the way one frames questions, in the way one talks about problems and challenges, in one’s own actions, and most of all, in the way one interacts with others. Change like this is caught more than it is taught.

Cultural change won’t happen right away, and there is no guarantee it will happen at all, but it might, and it might lead to many other changes as well.

The world desperately needs vital Unitarian Universalist congregations, so I wish each of you the best in helping your congregation become the most vital congregation it can be.