annette marquis holston valley uu church february 26-27, 2010
TRANSCRIPT
Annette MarquisHolston Valley UU ChurchFebruary 26-27, 2010
By Dan Hotchkiss
Governance and MinistryRethinking Board Leadership
Governance as Leadership:Reframing the Work of Nonprofit BoardsRichard P. Chait, William P. Ryan , Barbara E. Taylor
Dan Hotchkiss, Governance and Ministry
A unified structure for making governance decisions: ▪ Articulating mission and vision▪ Evaluating programs▪ Ensuring responsible stewardship of resources
A unified structure of making operational decisions▪ Program leaders (paid and unpaid) work harmoniously to
create effective programs with the support of a structure that delegates authority and requires accountability.
A creative, open atmosphere for ministry▪ Members take advantage of the many opportunities to
share their talents and interests in an atmosphere of trust and creativity in which structure, goals, and purposes are clear.
Dan Hotchkiss, Governance and Ministry
TJD Annual Meeting – April 30 – May 2, 2010 Standing on the Side of Love▪ Penn Center, St. Helena’s Island, SC
Weekly webinars Right relationships and conflict – Dr. Helen Bishop Governance and leadership – Annette Marquis Faith development – the Rev. Sue Sinnamon What Works? – the Rev. Jake Morrill
Southland UU Leadership Experience August 8-13, 2010 - The Mountain
Anti-Racism Conference – October 8-10, 2010
A congregation easily becomes an end in its own mind – recruiting people to an empty discipleship of committee service, finance, and building maintenance. Institutional management is a necessary but ultimately secondary function of a congregation. If souls are not transformed and the world is not healed, the congregation fails no matter what the treasurer reports.
Dan Hotchkiss, Governance and Ministry
The end
Dan Hotchkiss, Alban Institute
This is a functional system up to about 150 at worship.
The Board is comprised of Officers and at-large members Chairs or representatives of
committees
Clergy
Clergy Board
Committees handle operations of the congregation in their area of specialty/interest Finance Facilities RE Membership
Staff report to committees, at least functionally
Clergy
Finance
Building
Board
Clergy
Finance
Building
Board
Staff
Add a staff member
Clergy
Finance
Building
Board
Staff
Add more staff
Personnel
Staff
Staff
Strong ministry-led congregations Ministers "cast the vision" Congregation does not have meetings of
any significanceThe pastor can say yes or noTeams are picked who are in favor of
the task
NOTE: Uncommon in UU Congregations
Board
Staff
Clergy
Staff
Staff
Dan Hotchkiss, Governance and Ministry
Minister and Board share the vision Committees are used only in its original sense -
to help a body to do its job - helps the board to do the boards work Program teams, ministry teams rather than committees
Minister and board have unique responsibilities and joint responsibilities Staff Team (as Ministers)▪ Practical work
Board (as governors)▪ Fiduciary Work
Shared Functions (As discerners)▪ Planning work▪ Generative work
Board StaffStaff
Committees
Committees TeamsTeams
Governance MinistryAccountability
Policies
Board StaffStaff
Governance Ministry
Oversight Management
Discernment
Strategy
As governors
As discerners
As ministers
Roles of Board and Staff
Lay Leader
Ministry
Leader
Ministry
Leader
Dan Hotchkiss, Alban Institute
Basis for the governance system is policies
Board has limited role. Their purpose is to answer three questions: Whom do we serve? For what reason? At what cost?
Board handles their own governance Sets executive limitations - a fence
around the paid staff. Staff is free to act as long as they operate within those limits
Board speaks with one voice
A congregation and its lay leaders grant authority to staff in order for it to morally hold staff accountable for its actions.
Ends An end statement is a big mixing bowl - an outcome to
be achieved, for whom, and for what cost? A congregation might have 7 or so end statements.
Executive limitations sit in smaller bowls inside the end statement in order to
restrict actions in completing the end statement. For example, can't misspend money to achieve the end.
If it's not spelled out as a limitation, anything can be done once.
Based on past history, board might create a limitation based on failure.
Our members and friends will enjoy a deeply, meaningful, transforming liberal religious experience through inspirational worship, education and individual spiritual practice.
Outcome: "will enjoy a deeply, meaningful, transforming liberal religious experience"
For Whom: "Our members and friends"
At what cost: "inspirational worship, education and individual spiritual practice"
Richard Chait and his colleagues argue that we should shift emphasize modes over models in seeking to govern well.
Richard Chait, William Ryan and Barbara Taylor, Governance As Leadership: Reframing the Work of Nonprofit Boards (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2005)
Type
1: Fi
duci
ary
Type 2: Strategic
Type 3: Generative
1. Your facility is crowded on Sunday mornings and there is parking and limited space for religious education.
2. A Board member was arrested for public exposure in a children-focused restaurant.
3. Your canvass campaign was 10% over projections.4. Two African American men were arrested in your community for
protecting an African American woman from being beaten by a white man
5. You were left an undesignated bequest of $20,000.6. It was just discovered that your treasurer has not made any
deposits from the Sunday collection in 6 months.7. Three youth were caught drinking in the building.8. Your minister announced his/her resignation. 9. A member sent out an email to selective members of the
congregation - the email used derogatory language to blast the president and the board.
Special thanks to Dan Hotchkiss and Richard Chait for their valuable work in
the area of governance
and
to the participants of the Art of Governance workshop for their commitment to improving the quality of
governance in their congregations in order fulfill our grand Unitarian Universalist vision of world
community with peace, liberty and justice for all.