Prairie Star District

We always appreciate your comments and suggestions for the newsletter. Click on the “email the editor” link in the menu on the left to send us a message.

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

Leadership Conference

In a change from past years, the Fall Leadership Conference will be held online this year. There will be three workshop sessions on Saturday, September 26, 2009, at 9 AM, 11 AM and 1 PM. Two workshops will be offered during each session.

Workshop topics will include:

• Information for Presidents
• Engaging New Members in the Life of the Church
• Information for New DREs
• Information for Treasurers
• Volunteer Management and Recruitment
• Running Effective Meetings

Participants will need a high speed Internet connection and a phone line. Individuals can participate from their home or office. Small groups could gather at their church with a large screen and speaker phone.

There will be a fee of $10 per workshop for each computer connection. More information and registration will be available later this summer on our Future Workshops page.

Monthly Online Workshops

The series of monthly online workshops begun last fall will continue. These workshops will each be offered twice on weekdays at 7:00 PM.

Topics:

• Getting Your Church Ready for Fall, August 11 & 20
• Planning for Churches, September 9 & 15
• Small Congregations, October 15 & 20
• Adult RE, November 10 & 19

Participants will need a high speed Internet connection and a phone line. Registration is necessary, but the workshops are free. More information and registration will be available later this summer on our Future Workshops page.

Our goal this year will be to record and archive all these programs, providing you with a growing online library of audio programs.

Tutorial on Online Workshops

If you’d like to learn more about how to participate in an online workshop, there is a slide show tutorial at How to Take an Online Workshop.

It takes only four minutes to watch.

UU Summer Camp for All Ages

You can still register for a week of fun and fellowship with Unitarian Universalists of all ages at Camp StarTrail, our new UU camp set for August 2–7, 2009.

If you’d like to attend for a day or two instead of the whole week, partial week registration is also available. Registration will close July 6.

Camp StarTrail will be located at a Lutheran facility we’re renting in Nebraska’s Platte River Valley between Omaha and Lincoln. The Camp offers Morning Celebration, workshops, swimming, campfires, Vespers, intellectual stimulation, and relaxation.

To learn about Camp StarTrail and other UU camps in our region, visit our Camps page.

At the Annual Business Meeting in April, two new members of the PSD Board of Directors were elected and one member was re-elected.

Bill Elwood	Tom Capo	Kathy Burek

The newly elected Treasurer is Bill Elwood, who has been a member of First Universalist Church, Minneapolis, for twenty-six years.

Reverend Tom Capo was elected as a Director. He has served one year as minister to Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Kathy Burek, a member of Michael Servetus Unitarian Society in Fridley, MN was re-elected as Vice-President.

Additional information about their backgrounds and qualifications is available on the Board Bios page.

Over the past forty-plus years, generous Fair Share contributions from our congregations have funded the services of Prairie Star District. In addition, we’ve received interest income from reserves that built up over time, due to prudent management of District money. In the last few years, gifts from individuals to our Friends of Prairie Star District campaigns have added needed money to support our expanding programs and services to congregations.

In 2008–2009, we’ve seen the value of our reserves decline. Fair Share contributions to the District from congregations have dropped off somewhat, as their income from member pledges has declined. Even the number of Friends of PSD gifts is down, although many of our Friends are giving as generously, or more generously, as before. Read on to see how PSD Services will be affected.

About two years from now a newly elected PSD representative on the UUA Board of Trustees will take office. Do you know someone who would be an excellent UUA Trustee? “The UUA board needs folks who can think strategically, who are committed to a growing and vital Unitarian Universalism, and who understand that the trustee’s primary role in the next few years is that of 'change leader' because the rate of change is not going to slow down,” says Gini Courter, UUA Moderator.

The election process will begin in October 2010 when a letter describing the process will be sent to all congregations. In the meantime, PSD congregation members and leaders should be considering who among us would be a good Trustee. Potential candidates can obtain more information about the position from the District Office, info@psduua.org, or by contacting the current Trustee from PSD, John Blevins, jblevins@uua.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.