DA: Leadership in Times of Profound Change

I invite you to join me and hundreds of Unitarian Universalists to the 2009 Central Midwest District Assembly! We will gather in Waukesha WI, for three days of worship, fellowship, and fun. The dates of the Assembly are: April 24-26, 2009, Friday through Sunday.

We welcome Sharon Daloz Parks, author and independent scholar, as our keynote speaker to speak on our theme this year "Leadership in Times of Profound Change," followed later in the afternoon by the reverends Peter Morales and Laurel Hallman. We are one of the few districts to get them both in person at our annual meeting. These two candidates for the Presidency of the UUA will speak to us and will answer some prepared questions. Our UUA trustee, Justine Urbikas will moderate.

Our district executives and staff solicit ideas about the kind of programming that will be most valuable to the leadership of congregations. This year, we have recruited people to present workshops on such topics as ecology and sustainability, retaining visitors as involved members, and healthy congregations and covenants.

Our exciting Opening Celebration comes with music, inspiration and a banner parade. There will be a delicious banquet along with fabulous entertainment. We will gather Sunday morning for special worship. We will be together with UU friends, old and new, from across our Central Midwest District!

The registration fee for the District Assembly itself is $155. All events will be held at the Marriott Milwaukee West in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and overnight rooms are reserved until April 15, 2009 at the rate of $105 per night. You can reserve rooms online.

Consider a weekend of inspiration and celebration. I do have some funds available to defray registration costs for Eliot folk who want to go as our congregational delegate.

New Faces, New Friends

New Faces, New Friends

We have hired a new Membership Coordinator– Jennifer Kirkton-Foss. You can read more about her in her newsletter column.

One of the challenges for a congregation the size of Eliot Unitarian Chapel is how to make friends. Perhaps the most straightforward way is to join a Covenant Group or committee. But even that can be confusing sometimes.

Our membership coordinator has 3 primary areas of work: newcomers (people who have visited us 2 or more times and are interested in the next step); members through their first year of membership; and old timers (everyone else). Jennifer will also be working with our membership database, Membership Committee, and me to work on membership satisfaction information gathering.

You will probably see Jennifer on Sunday mornings greeting at one of the entrances, or soon, introducing herself from the pulpit.

On a broader scale, you can meet UUs from all over the Central Midwest District. The District is comprised of some 11,000 UUs from eastern Missouri, all of Illinois, south east Wisconsin, and slivers of Indiana and Michigan.

This year's District Assembly will be held in St Louis at the Hilton Hotel in Frontenac from Friday night, April 25 through Sunday, April 27, 2008. The St Louis area ministers and musicians will be taking part in the fabulous Friday night kick off, introduced by yours truly.

Friday night has a banner parade, and a big celebration with a half dozen ministers, scores of singers, and it will be a "family friendly event," meaning the content will be pitched such that 11 year olds should be able to be engaged (for most of it).

Saturday will see a keynote speech about the UU church in the 21^st century, along with a workshop on innovative worship ideas, plus a lot more.

There are opportunities to– among other things– be greeters at the hotel, staff the bookstore, or provide home hospitality, One thing is for sure, there will be lots of UUs in St Louis that weekend. You can find out more here.

If you haven't done so already, check out our Information Guide in Visitor's Corner, and in our newsletter for a listing of all the programs, events, and classes coming up.

Daniel