A Charge to our Church

Typically, the incoming Board President in May provides a “charge” to the Board that defines a set of priorities for the year of work ahead.   This year’s Board charge can be generalized well as a charge to our whole church.  Therefore, we challenge the members of this congregation to intentionally engage themselves in the following values in their work:  commitment, collaboration, communication, community-building, cohesiveness, creativity, and courage.  These seven C’s are focal aspirations that are excellent guides for our congregational endeavors.  Here is our charge, and the ways we can focus ourselves toward betterment and actualization:

• Commitment—let us fully commit ourselves to the Mission, Values, and Ends of our church.  This commitment and intentional energy toward positive growth extends to our personal selves, to our families, to the church, and to the wider community and world in which we live.
• Collaboration— we can increase our collaborative efforts with others within and outside of our church.  The more we collaborate and connect, the better we will be able to enact our mission and goals.
• Communication—let us endeavor to have appropriately assertive communication and authentic expressions with others in our work, and focus on how we can communicate better within our congregation and to those important groups outside of us.  We should clearly define what we do, how we transform lives, and find ways to clearly articulate and proclaim our work to the wider world.
• Community-building—we need to focus on how we build a sense of true community identity inside our congregation.  There are smaller communities within our full church community, surrounded by a local community, inside a UU community, and within a world community.  Focusing on how to grow our sense of community and binding us more fully to the larger communities will be empowering on many levels.
• Cohesiveness—every small and large group in our church is part of a connected whole.  While each has their unique identity and purpose, we must not lose sight of how they are all connected to the church’s mission, and to all elements of our congregation.  Let us be mindful about how each of us and our groups are connected to the larger whole.
• Creativity—we can try new things, experiment, and use our playful imagination to get through our seemingly intractable difficulties!  The status quo is not likely to bring us the change we seek; thinking outside the box will help us be more of the unique leader in UU congregations we strive to be.
• Courage—let us be truly courageous in our actions, to show our strength, and to be bold in our plans and ideas.  We can be courageous in the smallest of acts, and in big ones, and doing so will increase our esteem, but also signal to others that we are a people who are not afraid to act to improve the world around us.

Faithfully yours,

Ostin Warren, Board President