The Long Range Task Force has been hard at work preparing a draft three year plan for review by the congregation and board. I am amazed at how this is all coming together. The process has certainly been an example of how a community can operate at its best – with everyone listening to each other with open minds and respect, with the celebration of new ideas, and with caring and kindness leading the way.

The first draft plan will be presented to the congregation on Sunday, April 28 after the service. The task force will review the congregation’s feedback and prepare a second draft to present to the congregation for additional discussion in May. The final draft will be presented to the board for approval at the board meeting May 22 and to the congregation for a vote at the annual Congregational Meeting on June 9.

During February and March of 2024, the task force held conversations around the four key areas of the mission with interested members and friends and stakeholders/leaders. The results of those conversations played a key role in the formulation of the long-range plan. The task force has focused on developing goals that are specific, actionable, achievable, and measurable for each of the four key areas as defined in our Mission Statement. Although the plan will not include every idea suggested in the congregational conversations (or the plan would be 100 pages long!), the plan will include most of the ideas and intentions that were discussed and it will include avenues for additional specific suggestions to be instituted. Although the first draft is still being developed, I want to give you an idea of how it is coming together. Below are some of the goals for each of the four areas of our Mission Statement.

I. Together, we cultivate a safe and welcoming place for all.

In order to cultivate a place that is safer and more welcoming, including and especially those who have been historically marginalized in our congregation, in Unitarian Universalism, and in society at-large, the UU Congregation of Charlottesville sets the following goals:

• Make our Building and Grounds more accessible, inclusive, cohesive, and inviting. To that end, we will:
  • Develop a Comprehensive Building and Grounds Plan(s)
  • Create a board-appointed task force that will recommend and prioritize improvements to the accessibility of our building and grounds
  • Replace the “Marriage Rights” banner on the outside of the sanctuary and consider erecting a second banner and/or other signage that makes clear and transparent our safe and welcoming message
  • Intentionally engage with the history of the land we reside on in order to move us beyond weekly land acknowledgements to concrete actions that help repair relationships with historically marginalized communities

• Grow our Ministry of Welcoming and Membership
  • Enhance our Sunday morning Greeter program, both in person and online.
  • In an effort to help new members get connected and feel at home, we will:
    • Create more opportunities to build relationships through such things as New Member potlucks, follow up calls and classes, etc.
    • Explore creating a new member mentoring program that would match a
      new member with an existing member.
• Cultivate and Sustain A Vibrant Young Adult Ministry
  • Grow the number of young adult members and friends by engaging in targeted outreach to UVA graduate students and other communities.
  • Provide young adults with staff/lay leadership and support,
  • Encourage young adults to connect with the wider UU denomination.
• Create a board- appointed Safe and Welcoming Team charged with assessing and developing a plan to make our congregation safer and more welcoming for historically marginalized communities, including those who are BIPOC (black, indigenous, and other people of color), LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and more), gender-expansive, differently-abled, etc.
  • Undertake and Complete a wide-ranging Inclusivity Audit of all UUCville ministries and programs.
  • Based on the findings of the Inclusivity audit and in consultation with staff, relevant church committees, and historically marginalized communities within and beyond UUCville, develop a Safe and Welcoming Plan.
    
• Develope a UUCville Marketing Plan whose objective is to share our mission and message with the wider Charlottesville/Albemarle County community.
  • To that end, the Board of Trustees will appoint a 2-3 person marketing team that will work closely with the Communications Committee to develop and implement a marketing plan that will raise our profile in the local community.
  • The Marketing Plan should be especially focused on how to raise awareness of UUCville with communities that have been historically marginalized in our congregation, including young adults, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, seniors, and those who are differently-abled.

II. Together we nurture mind, heart, body and spirit.

• Deepen and Expand our Caring Ministry by strengthening existing communities. Three types of care that are woven through the Caring Ministry are direct services (like meals and rides), companioning (meaning spending time with those who are lonely or isolated), and pastoral care (being a listening presence for those who are struggling).
  • Expand CareNet to support additional caring needs
    • Strengthen and expand support and service opportunities (e.g., rides,
      chores/handyperson, run errands)
    • Strengthen support for organizational leadership (e.g., transportation
      coordinator position, technology support, etc)
    • Conduct landscape analysis of other UU churches and local churches and
      organizations to identify ways we could expand and sustain a broader
      CareNet.
    • Develop guidance to define the appropriate scope of services we can
      provide and a directory of external resources for additional support.
  • Expand Pastoral Care Programs & Support Groups
    • Provide workshops or programs for all ages on important life issues including
      aging, death and dying, caregiving, and holding difficult conversations
    • Create Support Groups to provide companioning for needs and concerns that are present in our congregation and not easily accessed in the local community, such as the connection between UU spirituality and emotional well being

• Grow our Lifespan Faith Development Ministry by building on our strengths.
  • Increase the breadth and depth of its faith development ministry for all ages, including classes, workshops, retreats, trainings, and affinity groups relevant to important demographics within our congregation, including young adults, elders, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC, and that dovetail with key ministries and programs, including social and environmental action, and anti-racism and LGBTQ+ outreach.
  • This work will prioritize our need to raise the next generation of UUs by centering the children in the congregation, supporting parents, and providing more connections across generations.
  • Strengthen our Labyrinth Ministry. We have 4 labyrinths that can be used as part of a spiritual practice and as a community resource.
  • Expand Opportunities for Embodied Spiritual/Physical Healing such as Tai Chi, Afro-Flow Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga
  • Sunday Morning Worship & Music. Make our music and worship life reflective of diverse spiritual paths and sources and inclusive of those seeking non-traditional worship and music experiences. These changes should include greater embodiment in worship, more guest speakers and musicians, and increased multigenerational involvement in Sunday services.
  • Engagement Beyond the Service through periodic conversations about the
    service/sermon theme

• Develop a Multigenerational Family Ministry
  • Recognizing the yearning for community and connection that brings so many to our congregation, we will build a multigenerational, Family Ministry that brings people of all ages (both within and beyond our congregation) together for friendship, fun, learning, and service. A Family Ministry “Council” (FMC) will include but not be confined to representatives from faith development, hospitality, worship, and social action.
  • Expand support for parents and families. Create opportunities for family get-togethers and potlucks at the church at times convenient to families with all ages of children, and include childcare.
  • Connecting parents and children with congregational elders in building a true multigenerational community through regular social events

• Establish a Multigenerational Fun and Friendship Ministry that builds on popular church events and programs, like the Douthat Retreat and Game Nights
  • Create a Fun and Friendship Committee charged with planning, organizing, and publicizing regularly scheduled social events, including things like dances, game nights, open mic nights, movie nights, and all-church picnics.
• Establish Intentionally Elder Ministry and Programs that will build friendships, provide connection and companioning, center the needs of congregational elders into the broader life of UUCville and throughout all of our ministries
  • Building on the highly successful Elders Brunch, create more special events that celebrate the commitment and wisdom of elders.
  • Honoring milestones (birthdays, years of membership) of elders during Sunday morning worship and Social Hour
  • Explore creating an Elder’s Odyssey program in which congregational elders would be invited to share their life stories on video

• Educate the congregation
  • Establish a series of opportunities for members of the congregation to learn about the following topics
    • Existence of inequities – with examples locally, nationally, globally
    • Sources of inequities
    • Magnitude of inequities and impact
    • Work that has been done to achieve equity, justice and peace – Bryan Stevenson et al
    • Potential antiracist and LGBTQ+-supporting interventions
  • Use multiple venues for education
• Proximity – Increase degree to which UUCville members are proximate with people whom we want to be in relationship with, mostly in marginalized communities.
  • Define proximity for our congregation, which includes metrics
  • Assess where we are and then agree on a target
  • Educate our congregation on proximity, its many benefits to all parties, and its inherent necessity if we’re to work for equity, justice, and peace for all people.
    Advocacy for people vs causes. Emphasis on mutual benefit – educational, transformational, bias reduction, credibility
  • Learn through Bryan Stevenson’s four pillars: get proximate, change the narrative, stay hopeful, learn to be uncomfortable
  • Invite and inspire through stories close to home and afar illustrating the joy and richness of proximity
  • Create opportunities that best fit subgroups (youth, elderly, LGBTQ+, etc)
• Partnerships – Leverage partnerships for almost all of our community engagement to achieve a “whole is greater than the sum of the parts” impact and to learn from those who are already proximate or complimentary in other ways.
  • Commit to a short list of primary partners, which aligns with our agreed-upon list of “equity, justice, and peace” priorities listed at top.

IV. Together we work for equity, justice, and peace for all people and the planet.

In order to help create equity, justice and peace for all people and the planet, UU Charlottesville will commit to:

• Engagement of our Congregation and our Community by:
  • Leveraging relationships we currently have ie: IMPACT for mass transportation
  • Renewing our commitment to UUA Green Sanctuary Program
  • Development of a strong ongoing partnership with at least one local
    environmental group to strengthen the bond congregants have to the local community (ie: Rivanna Conservation Alliance)
  • Participate in at least one community/congregational environmental project per quarter
• Continued education of our congregation by:
  • Holding sustainable eating potlucks quarterly
  • Developing Adult Faith Development and Young Adult/YRUU classes on how to help congregants create a more environmentally friendly living space/lifestyle – offered twice yearly
  • Participating in our annual Earth Day Service (held in April)

• Making our building and grounds more environmentally friendly by:
  • Evaluating our building and grounds in order to be more efficient by:
    • Having an energy audit completed (scheduled for June 2024)
    • Evaluate recommendations made by the energy audit
    • Prioritize steps we can take in the short term that will be most impactful
  • Reaching out to local conservation groups (ie Thomas Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District) to see how our grounds can utilize more native plants more sustainable and environmentally friendly
  • Research grants that may be available through the Inflation Reduction Act to utilize funds that may help UUCVille achieve their goals
    
• Providing ways for our congregation to be environmental advocates by:
  • Joining the VA Interfaith Power and Light organization
  • Offering opportunities to sign petitions and write to legislators at least twice a year