Next Steps Weekend, August 25-27, 2017 – Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charlottesville

Posted on July 28, 2017 Posted By: Achsah Carrier Categories: Announcements, News & Views

We are excited to welcome Mark Ewert, UU Stewardship consultant, to TJMCUU August 25-27, 2017 for a Next Steps Weekend (NSW). The NSW will provide a review of our financial situation and stewardship potential and give us feedback and guidance on where we can go forward as a congregation.

The NSW is the first step in effectively utilizing a consultant to support our goals and aspirations as a congregation. It provides a foundation for future collaboration and provides insight into the options before us as a congregation. A congregation is a community, a network of systems. The NSW provides the opportunity to examine and gauge that community and those systems across a wide spectrum, not just stewardship, to ascertain the overall health and capacities of the congregation

Mark will meet with your Board of Trustees and senior staff on Friday evening. He will spend all day Saturday meeting with lay leaders and key committee representatives. He will attend Worship on Sunday morning and be available to meet you in the Social Hall during coffee hour after Worship. Mark then will brief the Board and senior staff on his preliminary findings, which the Board in turn will communicate to the congregation.

On Saturday, Mark will meet with people from the following committees/groups: Building and Grounds, Racial Justice, Social Justice, Finance, Annual Budget Drive, Membership, Committee on Ministry, Worship Weavers, Small Group Ministries, Religious Education and the Director of Faith Development, CareNet, Pastoral Associates and the Assistant Minister, Youth, New(er) Members, and Elders.

We expect the NSW to provide an examination of the congregation’s strengths, challenges, risks and opportunities. Congregations report that NSWs result in immediate impact as well as long-lasting value in terms of strengthened stewardship and generosity. The following benefits are typical:

Shares lessons learned and best practices from other congregations.

Measures value and compatibility of a consultant before a larger program relationship.

Clarifies how, where, and when a stewardship consultant can be helpful.

Determines if we are ready for a major step, such as a substantial new initiative or capital campaign.

Lays the foundation for follow-on work for successful programs, such as budget drives, strategic planning, endowments, and other areas determined during the NSW..

Please participate in the Next Steps Weekend. NSW is an important step in reviewing our stewardship and moving our congregation forward to where we want to be.

-Jeanine Braithwaite, Treasurer