Smorgasboard: A message from the Board of Trustees

A huge thank you to the nearly 90 of you who participated in our Board congregational health survey last month! (And for those who didn’t, fear not – there will be plenty of additional opportunities to offer your input in the coming months, as described below.) As noted in the survey itself, we wanted to get a sense of how the First Universalist community feels about certain aspects of how we are in beloved community together. The purpose was to aid the Board in setting priorities and establishing goals for ourselves for the coming year.

We reviewed the survey results at our August retreat, with help from Rev. David Pyle of the Mid-America District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The responses were rich and varied, though the diversity of the congregation may not have been fully reflected. For example, the majority of respondents were from older age groups (almost 60% were over 65 years old). In addition, 43% have been involved with First Universalist for at least 20 years, though more than a quarter have been involved for 5 years or less. As we undertake additional learning over the course of the year, we will try to ensure inclusion of a broad range of perspectives.

We asked how people perceived five different aspects of congregational health: governance (decision-making), trust, managing conflict, welcoming and belonging, and covenant. All were scored at least a 3 on a scale of 1 (low) to 5, ranging from 3.1 (managing conflict) to 3.8 (welcoming and belonging). Many opportunities for improvement were reflected in the comments. However, more than half were positive, as opposed to the typical 70-75% negative comments Rev. Pyle noted for surveys like this one. We also asked people to offer their thoughts on which of these the Board should prioritize in the coming year, and the top 3 were welcoming/belonging, governance, and trust.

In addition to the survey findings, we also considered the congregation’s Visionary Goals and the ministerial worship themes for the coming year. (Rev. Jen described these in a recent sermon: Experiences of Beloved Community, Developing Resilience for the Long-Term, and Humility/Truly Knowing Ourselves.) All of this allowed us to have deep and robust conversations at the retreat and at our September meeting, leading to this set of Board goals for the 2025-26 church year:

1. Strengthen Board governance practices to enhance trust
   1. Develop and practice a Board covenant
   2. Review and update Governing Policy Handbook
   3. Expand communications with the congregation through a regular Board column in the Liberal
   4. Implement and model a decision-making framework for key Board decisions
2. Deepen the sense and practice of belonging among members of First Universalist
   1. Follow up on survey results through focused individual follow-up to respondents
   2. Learn more about the state of belonging in the congregation through individual conversations and focus groups, ensuring broad representation
   3. Collaborate with staff to develop tactics to increase participation in shared ministry

In coming columns, we will talk about some of these in more detail. We look forward to working together with the staff and with all of you as we further build and strengthen this beloved First Universalist community.

Marc Gorelick, Board President