Our Vision for MDUUCCongregational Meeting Jan. 29, 2017

Covenant of Right Relationship

We, the members of the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, covenant with one another to act in the following ways in our interactions and in all forms of communication:

• We speak and write directly, openly, and respectfully with each other.

I will take individual responsibility to:

• Act, write, and speak with tact, clarity and compassion,

• Go directly to a person with whom I disagree and respectfully share differences,

• Follow the established Guidelines for Resolving Issues or Concerns in a timely manner,

• Remember that after disagreement or conflict, we deepen our bonds when we repair, forgive, and sustain our relationships.

MDUUC Mission

Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church is a welcoming religious community. We bring to life our Unitarian Universalist values as we:

• seek truth and work for justice;

• nurture compassion and courage;

• reach out to each other and to our larger community of faith;

• bridge the divisions that wound the human family;

• transform ourselves and our world.

Background

•Mission-Centric Church: Focused on Worship, Learning, Working for Justice

•2016 Marked 65 Years: Resilience, Caring Community

•Pastoral Tradition

•At Outer Bounds of ‘Program church’ Size when we welcomed our New Ministry Team in 2008

UUA Church Size Categories

Resource – 350+ attending weekly

Background

•FAST Growth 2010-2015 to and thru ‘Program-Sized’ Model

•Resource-Sized Congregation, 350+ attending weekly

•Without corresponding change to Structure, Staffing support

•Or expansion or adjustment to approach to Stewardship

UUA Church Size CategoriesMDUUC – RESOURCE-sized 5+ years!

Resource – 350+ attending weekly

• Strategic Board Actions in 2015-2016, 2016-2017

• Better Support Operations, Programs

• Develop Leadership

• Expand Ministerial Team

• To Strengthen our Roots & Position for Continued Growth• Leadership Work Group, Council Structure• Assistant Minister, DLRE Searches• Long-Range Planning Work Group … Make it So: 2020!

Make it So: 2020! Visioning Process

•Launch in Bortin Hall•Engage in Make it So•150+ People

Jan – Mar 2016

Make it So: 2020! Visioning Process

• Launch in Bortin Hall• Engage in Make it So•150+ People

Jan – Mar 2016

•Deeper Conversations: 4x4 Gatherings•350+ Members engaged•750+ Comments

April – June 2016

Make it So: 2020! Visioning Process

• Launch in Bortin Hall

• Engage in Make it So

•150+ People

Jan – Mar 2016

• Deeper Conversations: 4x4 Gatherings

• 350+ Members engaged

• 750+ Comments

April – June 2016

•Blue Sky Discovery Research – Best Practices•Fresh new ideas in focus areas•Stewardship, Families, Multicultural, Communications•Cross Work Group Sharing

July – Sept 2016

Make it So: 2020! Visioning Process

• Launch in Bortin Hall

• Engage in Make it So

•150+ People

Jan – Mar 2016

• Deeper Conversations: 4x4 Gatherings

• 350+ Members engaged

• 750+ Comments

April – June 2016

• Blue Sky Discovery Research – Best Practices

• Fresh new ideas in focus areas

• Stewardship, Families, Multicultural, Communications

• Cross Work Group Sharing

July – Sept 2016

View to Vision Leadership Summit

Make it So, Council Leadership refine Vision Statements, Goals

Sept – Dec 2016

Make it So: 2020! Visioning Process

•View to Vision Leadership Summit•Make it So, Council Leadership refine Vision Statements, Goals

Sept – Dec 2016•Councils, Board, (Make it So), Committees define milestones, accountabilities, success metrics•Execute, refine over time

Jan – June 2017

Make it So: 2020! Visioning Process

• Launch in Bortin Hall

• Engage in Make it So

•150+ People

Jan – Mar 2016

• Deeper Conversations: 4x4 Gatherings

• 350+ Members engaged

• 750+ Comments

April – June 2016

• Blue Sky Discovery Research – Best Practices

• Fresh new ideas in focus areas

• Stewardship, Families, Multicultural, Communications

• Cross Work Group Sharing

July – Sept 2016

• View to Vision Leadership Summit

• Make it So, Council Leadership refine Vision Statements, Goals

Sept – Dec 2016 • Councils, Board,

(Make it So), Committees define milestones, accountabilities, success metrics, execute, refine over time

Jan – June 2017

Make it So: 2020! Process Achieved Both Goals

350+ Members & Friends Connected and Engaged in the Conversation

➢ Affirmed MDUUC Mission

➢ Defined SIX Key Focus Areas

Make it So: 2020! MDUUC will Prioritize 6 Focus AreasWe will be:

• Exuberantly Multicultural

• Supportive of Families, Multigenerational

We will Provide:

• Inspirational Worship, Restorative Spiritual Practices

• Values in Action (Work for Justice)

And Power Our Work with:

• Communications for Connection

• Expanded and Sustained Stewardship

Learnings: Interwoven Themes Make it So: 2020! 4x4 Conversations, Work Group Discussions, Blue Sky Research

• ‘Being radically inclusive can’t be a campaign’. It must be an authentic reflection of our celebration of diversity, genuinely welcoming culture

• Where families are thriving in church community, they’re integral to worship and social life, not separate.

• Communications are an important part of a church ministry not separate; most effective when planned as integrated message across channel.

• Stewardship works best where it’s an integrated aspect of membership and year-long church life, not separate.

Interwoven threads of what living into our mission will mean!

Our Mission is Our Purpose. All of it. All of us!

MDUUC is a welcoming religious community. We bring to life our Unitarian Universalist values as we:

• seek truth and work for justice;

• nurture compassion and courage;

• reach out to each other and to our larger community of faith;

• bridge the divisions that wound the human family;

• transform ourselves and our world.

Common Purpose, Different Lens

Each Leader, Group, Council, Committee contributes to church mission and priorities!

Board of Trustees

Councils / Committees Social Justice LEAP Worship Membership Place, Personnel Communications Finance / Stewardship

Task Force/ Work Groups Leadership Work Group Search (Asst MIn; DLRE)

MInisters & Staff

LENS

PRIORITIES1. Families2. Exuberantly

Multicultural3. Social Justice4. Worship/Practice5. Communications6. Stewardship

MDUUC Lay Leadership – Thank you!

Focus Area Council Convener

Board Liaison

Exuberantly Multicultural

Jeff Galanti Sharon Solstice

Families Nancy Falk Leslie Baxter **

Worship Bob McNally Bill Yarborough

Living Our Values (Social Justice)

Mary Fenelon Kate Newkirk **

Communications Kristen Taylor ** Michele Carroll **

Stewardship Bill Clark Steve Hirsch **

** Make it So Work Group

2020 Vision:Exuberantly Multicultural

MDUUC is regionally known as trusted partner working in accountable relationship with those marginalized in our society through community-based organizations such as the Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO/PICO East Bay), the Contra Costa Coalition for Racial Justice and the Rainbow Community Center. Through these interfaith and cross cultural connections, MDUUC is accountable to those most affected.

▶ Members have become personally educated and empowered to promote racial and economic justice as well as to work across religious lines.

▶ Our ministries reflect an awareness of and respect for a variety of cultures. Training in cultural competency is an on-going part of our congregational life.

2020 Vision: Supportive of Families

MDUUC is known as a liberal religious home for families with school-age children looking for a place to provide grounding in lasting values, quality religious education, family-friendly worship, and sustaining connection in a challenging era for families.

▶ Our programs and offerings reflect the needs of families with school-age children and reflect the time, financial and societal pressures that today’s families face.

2020 Vision: Inspirational Worship and Restorative Spiritual PracticesMDUUC provides rich and nourishing worship that addresses the many challenges of our lives and our society. Sunday services are augmented by restorative practices that allow us to engage this fast-changing world from a resilient, spiritual grounding.

▶ A strong spectrum of worship leaders reflecting a diversity of experiences and cultures creates and conducts worship that feeds mind, body, and spirit.

▶ Restorative practices help people be present and centered in the midst of change and challenge.

▶ Multigenerational worship and opportunities for young adults to gather to nurture their spirits are supported and established.

2020 Vision: Living Our Values (Social Justice)

MDUUC allows us to bring our values into our lives and into the world. Within our congregation, we practice healthy engagement and the principles of right relationship.

▶ We are known as a congregation committed to justice-making and focus not so much on our beliefs as our actions, and engage with community partners representing those most affected by the inequities in our world.  

▶ We work for respectful treatment of all people, of our environment and to promote participatory decision making to support these values.

2020 Vision: Communications

MDUUC is no longer the ‘best kept secret in town.’ We are recognized as a caring community, that values diversity and works for justice.

Communications are an integrated component of MDUUC ministry within our membership and out to the community.

▶ Members have the information they need to fully participate. ▶ MDUUC is recognized in the wider regional community.

2020 Vision:Expanded & Sustained Stewardship

MDUUC is a vibrant congregation with ample resources to support its operations, programs and efforts aligned to its mission. Our campus, bustling with purposeful connection, has the generosity of spirit to be a revered regional center for sacred ceremonies, a resource and sanctuary for justice-makers throughout our area and a place for education and spiritual practice. It is a hub for virtual connections which extend out.

▶ Members and friends have many ways to give of their time and talents. Resources within the community are used with care and deliberation in keeping with our larger values.

▶ Giving and generosity are viewed as moral imperatives and caring stewardship of our facilities, programs and people a core tenet in our culture.

Q&A - Discussion

LIVING OUR VALUES

For Discussion & Vote:

Why Now?

Immigration is an issue that MDUUC has been involved in since 2009 in preparation for the Justice General Assembly in Phoenix, AZ

Movement last fall from our Justice Council members with Movement for Human Integrity

Answering Call from PICO/CCISCO to Be Among 1000 churches nationwide creating wall of resistance to Administration intentions and policies

The President’s executive orders of this past week have made this critical.

For Discussion & Vote:

MORE FACTS:

➔ More than 40 UU Congregations have already joined the new sanctuary movement.

➔ No religious organization has been prosecuted for offering sanctuary which is an accepted religious role.

➔ Physical sanctuary would require separate extended discussion and decision. Need to consider issues such as impact on members of our community who hold green cards, availability of shower etc.

The need for resistance and courage is clear.

LAST WEEK: Executive Orders

Day 1: Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending RepealDay 4: Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Profile Infrastructure ProjectsDay 6: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements

• 1900 Mile long wall between US and Mexico• 5000 extra border control agents

Day 6: Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States• Tripling resources for deportation and enforcement• Banning "sanctuary cities

Definition of Sanctuary

MORE FACTS:

➔ More than 40 UU Congregations have already joined the new sanctuary movement.

➔ No religious organization has been prosecuted for offering sanctuary which is an accepted religious role.

➔ Physical sanctuary would require separate extended discussion and decision. Need to consider issues such as impact on members of our community who hold green cards, availability of shower etc.

The need for resistance and courage is clear.

Forms of Sanctuary:

Here are 4 ways Congregations are demonstrating their commitment to

Sanctuary. Joining the Sanctuary Movement and a local sanctuary network

means collectively the network engages in the following activities:

• Physical Sanctuary for someone facing Final Deportation

• Accompaniment of Immigrant Families or Youth

• Advocacy

• Networks of Protection & Rapid Response

Public Witness: Values In Action▶ “We are known as a

congregation committed to justice-making and focus not so much on our beliefs as our actions, and engage with community partners representing those most affected by the inequities in our world.”

Vote: Designate MDUUC a Sanctuary!

As people of faith and conscience, we pledge to resist policy proposals to target and deport millions of undocumented immigrants and discriminate against marginalized communities. We will open up our congregation as a sanctuary for those targeted by hate and work alongside our friends, families, and neighbors to ensure the dignity and human rights of all people.

Vote: UUA/UUSC Declaration of ConscienceAt this extraordinary time in our nation’s history, we are called to affirm our profound commitment to the fundamental principles of justice, equity and compassion, to truth and core values of American society.

In the face of looming threats to immigrants, Muslims, people of color, and the LGBTQ community and the rise of hate speech, harassment and hate crimes, we affirm our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

In opposition to any steps to undermine the right of every citizen to vote or to turn back advances in access to health care and reproductive rights, we affirm our commitment to justice and compassion in human relations.

And against actions to weaken or eliminate initiatives to address the threat of climate change – actions that would threaten not only our country but the entire planet – we affirm our unyielding commitment to protect the interdependent web of all existence.

We will oppose any and all unjust government actions to deport, register, discriminate, or despoil.

As people of conscience, we declare our commitment to translate our values into action as we stand on the side of love with the most vulnerable among us.We welcome and invite all to join in this commitment for justice. The time is now.

‘The time is now.’

RESISTING DISCRIMINATION