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 Issue 42: April, 2008This issue of the PSD Newsletter, and previous issues, can be read online. Highlights and Photos of Conference on Web A weekend full of events greeted participants in the 2008 Annual Conference. Some highlights and photos are now posted. Plan now to attend next year’s conference in Duluth, Minnesota, April 3–5, 2009. Presented at Annual ConferenceAt the Annual Conference the following awards were presented. Information about each recipient is on the awards page of our web site and photos are with conference highlights. Social Justice Award for an Adult Social Justice Award for a Youth Unsung UU Award Keeping the Faith Award (Small Congregation) Keeping the Faith Award (Large Congregation) Betty Gorshe Heritage Award Betty Gorshe Heritage Award Ellie Morton Award President’s Award for Outstanding District Service Midwest Leadership School Congregation leaders from around the Midwest are planning to register for MidWest Leadership School 2008. If you are planning to attend, please get your registration in soon! Dates are Sunday, July 20 – Saturday, July 26, and the location is the campus of Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. Complete information is on the Midwest Leadership School page on our web site. Note: The 2008 brochure says that MWLS runs from Saturday to Saturday; that is incorrect. It will start on Sunday and end on Saturday. This year’s lecturer in Leadership and Organizational Development is Dr. Angela Merkert, former Director of Congregational Services in Central Midwest District. An consultant in UU churches since 1993, Angela brings a great deal of experience and wisdom to the position. Read more about what she’s thinking here: http://www.uumwls.org and click on the purple Interview link. Here’s a testimonial from a previous year’s participant: “Fall returns and we gather again as a community of faith, asking one another and ourselves, ”Faith in what?“ and examining our answers in light of our principles and our individual consciences. To my lasting benefit, you sponsored my attendance at Midwest Leadership School this summer. It was a humbling, moving, and joyous immersion into UU history and the principles of leadership. I returned full of ideas and energized for the challenge of the new church year. There is no limit to what we can accomplish when we set our intention.” Sign up now to be in the class of 2008. Online WorkshopsThere will be a series of monthly online workshops starting in August. The series is titled “10 Good Ideas About ...” Topics will include
These workshops will utilize a live phone conversation with an Internet presentation. Watch the Workshop page of our Web site for more information. Leadership ConferencesLeadership Conferences provide in person networking and training for congregational leaders in the District. Whether or not you are a formally appointed leader in your congregation, you are welcome to participate in these conferences. This year the conferences will be: Separate Tracks provide specialized training sessions designed especially for: New this year: Voluntarism & Spirituality – based on a curriculum created by Fia Scheyer (UUA) to help congregations assess the spiritual wants and needs of a member so that the volunteer activities suggested would help fulfill that spiritual need. This curriculum may help with recruiting and retaining volunteers. Presidents/Vice-Presidents – learn about the resources available from PSD and UUA to assist them and their congregations. Participants also present some of the issues they are facing. Solutions and other activities are discussed, giving everyone ideas to take back. Treasurers – learn about basic duties of this position, simple record keeping and reporting, compensation and payroll issues, internal controls, resources. Membership – function is critical to the success of our congregations. Participants learn about welcoming, orienting, and assimilating new members. Leadership Skills – workshop helps participants define the qualities and behaviors of successful leaders and how to use these for the benefit of the congregation. Save the date and plan with other members of your congregation to travel and lodge together. Registration materials and more information as it becomes available will be on our web site. OWL TrainingAugust 15–17, 2008 Des Moines, Iowa Adults who want to teach the Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality curriculum in their congregations can attned this training for the Middle School / High School (Grades 7-9 and 10-12) Curriculum. Participants will gather Friday evening at 5:30 and be done at 4:00 on Sunday. Registration is now open. Pastoral Care for Religious EducatorsOctober 2–4, 2008 Minneapolis, Minnesota Paid religious educators will receive an introduction to the basics of pastoral care during this 15 hour training from thursday evening through Sunday. More information and registration material is on our web site. News of PSD People and Congregations is online. In MemoriamRev. Roy PhillipsWe’ve learned of the death on April 24, 2008 of Reverend Roy D. Phillips, former minister of Unity Church – Unitarian in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Rev. Phillips served at Unity from 1971–1998 and had been retired since 2004. He was the author of two books: Letting Go: Transforming Congregations for Ministry and Transforming Liberal Congregations for the New Millennium. Updated Edition of The Real Rules Now AvailableIn order to provide congregations with the best guidance possible, the UUA has released an updated edition of The Real Rules: Congregations and IRS Guidelines on Advocacy, Lobbying, and Elections. The new version provides clear, up-to-date information on what congregations can and cannot do, drawing heavily on a binding decision issued by the IRS in June 2007. Most of the text comes straight from IRS publications, with sources clearly footnoted. Please discard previous editions and use the new one! The version date on page 2 should be 2008-03-28. You can access The Real Rules and other key social justice resources on the Social Justice pages of the UUA web site. Add your voice The UUA Board invites all congregational leaders, including Board members, officers, ministers, COOs, DREs and other similar leaders to attend a GA workshop: Unitarian Universalism: We’re hoping 300–500 people participate in this conversation to provide input the UUA Board can use to develop “ends” statements that identify who we’re striving to be in the future. Based on the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) model, and focused on inspiration and deep connection, this session starts with partners interviewing each other about a time when they saw Unitarian Universalism make a difference that mattered. This could be a difference Unitarian Universalism made personally to you or your family, locally to your community, or globally to your state, your nation or the world. Then, two pairs join together to find the values connecting these experiences and to explore the inspiring possibilities that their experiences and wishes open up for our future together. It’s these possibilities, along with other input such as the Open Space conversations from the 2007 GA, which the UUA Board will take and refine further into “ends” statements to guide our future direction. Won’t you join other UU leaders and add your voice to this process? No need to RSVP. Just come and encourage other leaders to add their voice as well. If you have questions, please contact: Laura Park Gini Courter, Moderator of the UUA, says, “We look forward to seeing you there!” |