SmorgasBoard: How Did That Happen?

Like many UUs, you may have had a more leisurely approach to church over the summer, joining the single 10:00 service when you can. But now fall is approaching – you’ve gathered some water for the Water Communion service, and you’re gearing up to come to your usual worship slot at 9 or 11. But what’s this? It’s late September and there’s still a single service at 10? How did that happen?

As I’ve discussed in a prior column, the staff and the Board are trying to be more disciplined and transparent about how major decisions are made. The transformation of our Sunday mornings, with a single worship service, a single section of Religious Education (RE), and the addition of more adult programming, is a great example of a major
decision. Rev. Jen has talked about the why of this change – including trends in attendance and changes in how and when members and families participate in church – from the pulpit and in the Liberal. Here I thought we’d share some insights into how the decision was reached.

I previously described our model, which uses the acronym DRIVE. The first thing is to define who is making the Decision (D). In this case, the construct of Sunday morning is about worship and programming, which is firmly within the purview of the Senior Minister; it is her decision to make, which was affirmed by the Board. The R is for
Recommendation. There are obviously a lot of considerations here, and having someone help sort through them and come up with some options to consider would be beneficial. Since Jen is the leader responsible for worship, and Allison is the leader responsible for RE, the two of them worked to come up with the set of options. I is for Input, a critically important aspect of any important decision. We are a large and diverse congregation, whose members bring a rich variety of perspectives on the worship experience and our faith formation programming. Whose input will be sought, and how? Allison and Jen met and consulted with the other staff, the Children, Youth and Families Ministry Advisory Team, the Board, and worship associates. They also sent out a congregational survey, to which over 140 responses were received. That’s a lot of input! One thing I’ve learned in my 32 years as a UU, in three different churches, is that unanimity is as likely to occur as transubstantiation. Those seeking to come up with an optimal recommendation, and the one making the decision, need to carefully consider all the inputs. What do people like, what do they dislike, what has them excited, what has them concerned? Knowing that as a congregation, we tend to approach differences in perspective with an orientation of Minimization, we need to
be particularly mindful that minority opinions are not glossed over. And we also know that whatever is decided isn’t going to be exactly what everyone wanted.

Once a preliminary decision is reached, it’s good to Vet it with someone – that’s the V in DRIVE. Any of us who have tried to decide on something important knows that the closer we get, the more convinced we are we are right. Best to check your assumptions with someone who’s not quite as close to it. In this case I, as Board President, serve that role. Not to take over the decision, or to potentially veto it, but to pressure-test Jen’s thinking about what she heard in all that input.

Finally, once Jen made the final decision, now it needs to happen. The E is for Execution, which includes communicating about the change as well as the actual work to make it happen. That’s all of us, working together, building our beloved community together, including at 10:00 on Sunday mornings.

Marc Gorelick
Board President