Prairie Star District

This issue of the PSD Newsletter, and previous issues, can be read online.

Early Registration Deadline is March 21

A weekend full of events and workshops on the theme “Rebuilding a Faithful Democracy” is planned for the PSD Annual Conference which will be April 11–13, in Omaha, Nebraska.

It is our best opportunity to meet with members of our fellow congregations, attend useful workshops, and forge new networks of support. The conference offers both large general sessions featuring noted national speakers and a wide selection of more specialized workshops.

Charlie Clements, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) will be the keynote speaker. The Judy Lecture will be provided by Rev. Meg Riley, Director of Advocacy and Witness at the UUA.

Registration at a discounted rate is available until March 21. Reduced rate hotel rooms are also availabe until March 21. More information and registration material can be found at Annual Conference on our PSD website.

… at the Continental Level?

Much information and many rumors are circulating the Internet about decisions being made by the YRUU Steering Committee and UUA. A few places where you can get the information that you might be seeking:

Frequently asked questions about what is happening:
http://www.uua.org/leaders/announcements/100691.shtml

Blog where you can share your thoughts about the possible dissolution and replacement of YRUU as a structure:
http://www.uulogy.blogspot.com/

The PSD YAC is meeting March 21–22 to discuss the YRUU questions and address how this might affect PSD youth and their allies. Contact Sherry Warren, PSD Youth and Young Adult Specialist, at swarren@psduua.org to share your thoughts about the possible changes to youth programming.

MWLS

Midwest Leadership School is the premier leadership training opportunity for UUs in this region. Participants come back energized, with new enthusiasm and new ideas, as well as a greater understanding of how congregations work effectively. It takes place this year July 20 to 26, in Beloit, Wisconsin. Brochures have been mailed to each congregation. The school is a day shorter this year, and the cost has been reduced for congregations sending two or more participants.

Angela Merkert, former District Executive in Central Midwest District and UU church consultant, will be leading the Organization Development sections this year, so this would be a great year to go!

Registration deadline: May 15. All who register need to send along a recommendation from their Minister, Board Chair, or President. Information is available at MWLS on our Web site.

And UU University

At General Assembly in 2004, congregation presidents from across the country named Leadership Development as their number one need. In response, the UUA created a wonderful program called UU University, which debuted in 2006.

UU University is a one-day program just prior to General Assembly. This year, the Rev. Dr. Nick Carter, President of Andover Newton Theological School, will give the keynote address: Ministry in the Borderlands. Dr. Carter will talk about how to lead through the borderlands of difference that naturally occur in a context of diversity: diversity of thought, diversity of opinions, diversity of theologies, diversity of any kind. The program will include a number of interesting and helpful workshops, as well.

Congregational leaders of all kinds are invited to participate in UU University, which begins at noon at Tuesday, June 24, and concludes at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 25, just in time for General Assembly. Cost: $125. Registration for housing and for General Assembly are separate.

For more information, go to UU University on the UUA Web site. There you will find YouTube links to testimonials by previous participants, as well as details on how to register.

News of PSD People and Congregations is online.

In January the Board filled two vacancies created by resignations by Board members. Kathy Burek was appointed PSD Vice President and Rev. Mary Samuels was appointed as a Director.

Kathy Burek, PSD Vice President
Kathy, a member of Michael Servetus Unitarian Society in Fridley, MN for the last 28 years, has served the congregation as President, member of the Board of Directors, Strategic Planning Committee Chair, Finance Committee Chair, lay officiant, RE teacher, and member of other committees. She has served the District as a congregational consultant, member of the Stonetree Advisory Committee and as facilitator for workshops and Board and Program Council retreats and planning sessions. She is currently chair of the UUA Health Plan Board of Trustees. Professionally she is an independent consultant in strategic planning and organizational design.

Mary Samuels, PSD Director
Mary was the minister at MN Valley UU Fellowship in Bloomington, MN for seven years until her retirement in August 2007. Before that she was a chaplain at Hennepin County Medical Center for two years. Mary is currently the Good Offices Person for the PSD UU Minister’s Association and serves on the Alumnal Board of United Theological Seminary. Before ministry, Mary was a nurse for 29 years.

Look for the gold and green stars on people’s name tags at this year’s Annual Conference! For the first time, we’re recognizing congregations who are growing in numbers of adult members.

The Gold Star congregations are being honored for continuous growth in each of the last three years and are either in the top five congregations in percentage of growth or in the top five in numbers of new members in PSD. These congregations have grown anywhere from 34% to 61%, or from 42 new members to 145 new members, in the past three years.

The Green Star congregations are being honored for their growth in the last year, from 2007 to 2008. They’re among the top ten congregations in percentage of new members of the top ten in numbers of new members in PSD. They have grown from between 9% to 29%, or from 10 new members to 51 new members, in just one year. There are some “ties” in each of the groups.

The congregations will be listed on flyers in the conference participants' packets and on our Web site: see Gold Star and Green Star Congregations. Attendees from the Gold and Green Star congregations are asked to stop by the District’s display table on Friday evening or early on Saturday to pick up stars for their name tags, so others at the conference can ask them about their growth strategies.

Fair Compensation Survey

PSD has a growing number of Fair Compensation Congregations. As of last spring, we have two Practicing Fair Compensation Congregations and seven congregations who are committed to following Fair Compensation guidelines in the next three to five years. Compensation Consultant Louise Livesay says, “This is awesome and I want to acknowledge the work that is being done in the congregations to achieve this goal.”

The UUA Committee on Ministerial and Church Staff Compensation is gathering data to determine the Salary Recommendations for 2009. Part of the process will be a survey of salaries and benefits currently offered by UU congregations. We receive regular requests for salary information within the UUA and need good data to give you accurate information.

The survey will be conducted electronically using the “Survey Monkey” program. In mid March, an email message with a link to the survey will be sent to each congregation at the email address for each congregation on file at the UUA. It is important that we get the survey to the right person to fill it out. You can help by making sure that the person who has the necessary information for your congregation is aware of this process and receives the survey message either by requesting it directly at jstewart@uua.org or by having it forwarded to him/her when the church receives the message.

If you want to know whether your congregation is a Fair Compensation Congregation according to the UUA Guidelines, please contact Louise Livesay and she can send you a self-assessment worksheet that you can return to receive your designation as “Practicing” or “Committed”. This is separate from the “Survey Monkey.”

Questions or concerns about the survey or Compensation in general can always be sent to your Compensation Consultants who are Louise Livesay at louiselivesay@yahoo.com and Walter Pearson at walter.pearson@simpson.edu .

Universalist Convocation

Universalist Convocation May 2–4, Barton Center, Oxford, Mass.
Complete information is available at http://www.nmuc.org/Convo .

The Mountain

The Mountain, a UU conference center, is excited to announce three outstanding programs this summer. Religious Educators week is July 6–11, the Mountain School for Congregational Leadership is taking place July 20 – July 26, and Peace and Privilege: Linking Values and Action will take place August 1–6. For more information see http://www.mountaincenters.org/ .

 
Prairie Star District is one of nineteen districts of the Unitarian Universalist Association. We serve almost 70 congregations in the Upper Midwest. We have three full time staff people and three part time program and support staff members who work with many volunteers to assist congregations. To learn more about us, see our Web site.