Report on GA Workshop "A Call to Lay Leadership"

These are my notes on some of the comments made at Thursday morning's GA workshop, "A Call to Lay Leadership,"presented by the UUA Board of Trustees. The thoughtful answers participants gave to the faciliator's questions showed a deep understnding of lay ministry.

What does it mean to be "called" to lay leadership? The UUA Trustees believe that team ministry will be effective when lay leaders feel called to ministry, too - not just the professional/ ordained leaders.

• It's telling in how we respond to a crisis. Feeling a call to leadership means we'll stay engaged and committed to the whole community, even if it's uncomfortable for us
• Awareness of and owning our legacy - realizing that everything we do has a consequence, whether we intend it or not
• A call arises from our passions and fulfills the context of need around us - so it's deeply personal as well as communal and service-oriented
• "Called" leaders engage with commitments even after their defined role ends - so when you've completed your term as congregational president, for example, you find a new way to serve meaningfully

What are the challenges of being called to lay leadership? How does a sense of "call" as a lay leader change our relationship to our professional religious leaders?

• Hearing and using wisdom of others, not just doing what you know is the right thing. Being called also means calling others to speak and share their perspectives, and encouraging others to hear & answer their call to leadership
• The loneliness of living your call - you sacrifice some of yourself so that the greater good may be served
• Keeping your church experience from devolving into just the "business" of the church. Holding to boundaries is difficult but crucial. Setting limits to what you choose to do -- you can't do everything; you must do your part and trust others to do theirs
• The true challenge of a lay worship leader is to create sacred space -- it's much easier to just focus on a check list. You must be able to share the power that flows through you in worship
• Minister might be trying to micromanage everything in the church - lay leaders need to be free to follow their own call, too. It feels sacred to meet the weaknesses of the Minsiter with the strengths you can bring (and vice-versa), in order to make a whole
• It can be awkward to provide coaching from lay leader to professional minister. Also, you have to manage your feelings after you've had a lot of attention from the minister (as board president, for example), and then it has to go away when you leave the position
• It's not always easy to trust your own instincts - we're not used to this
  Being in the hot seat - and using that position transformationally (for example, to stop the proceedings and call for prayer and reflection when emotions are over-heated or there is trauma in the room)
• You must be aware of how you're being received, and gently educate and lead so people don't run away when they see you coming! (Knowing that you are likely to ask them to step up to something they'd just as soon avoid)
• Helpful to set a firm limit about how much time you wlll give -- say, 10-20 hours per week -- and stop when you reach that limit so your life will stay in balance
• You might die some day - so come to terms with that, and make it a priority to prepare others to take over from you, instead of approaching your calling as if you're the only one who can do the work
• Sometimes you have to bring the prophetic voice and call people to do things they aren't excited about doing -- challenging to social justice work, for example

What could Unitarian Universalism be, if we did this work passionately and deeply? What are the opportunities for our faith that come from lay people answering the call to lay leadership?

• Small congregations like mine can reach out with vigor to our communities
• We must practice what we preach - but we must not preach to loudly, because we all have more to learn
• Ours is a chosen faith, which is both our strength and our curse. May we find ways to discover and share the gospel of UU with our congregations
• Lay leadership can nourish the individual and enrich the congregation. It will help our denomination to grow and flourish
• We can be leaders in the larger community that demonstrate the courage to step out of what's comfortable and do new things or the same things in new ways, while keeping our values intact
• Opportunity above all for deep connection to others with all their strengths and vulnerabilities - including discovering about yourself, what you must change, and how you connect with others
• Individuals and groups that have felt unaccepted and unacceptable can feel cared for and welcomed.
• We'll realize that there's lots of elbow room for this work, which can be transformational for self, congregation, community, nation and planet
• This is not just for Unitarian Universalism - it's for the whole world. It's the right thing.
• Active member of a larger family, with mutual love and support