Open Questions: An Opportunity for Collaboration
In our topsy-turvy world caused by the pandemic, economic stresses, racial strife, and ecological disasters, all of us are seeking safe havens of connection and meaning. We need each other more than ever. How is the UUCV Board striving to meet these needs?
At a recent retreat, the church board created a vision of ministry: “The UUCV Board of Trustees will guide the congregation through the current COVID-19 situation to come out on the other side healthy, engaged, and vital. We will be flexible and open to what a healthy, engaged, and vital church will look like in a new post-coronavirus reality.”
In addition to this vision of ministry, the Board created a set of “open questions” at the retreat. Open questions are meant to foster serious thinking about the mission of the church as the Board creates agendas and goals for the year.
Here are the Board’s “open questions” for this 2020-2021 church year:
- “How do we continue to create and then sustain a community that is more racially and culturally inclusive?”
- “How do we develop financial and spiritual resources to support our vision, especially in the time of COVID-19?”
- “How do we support our professional and volunteer staff, especially in the time of COVID-19?”
These questions cannot be answered by simple “yes” or “no” responses. Rather, they require contemplation and they may generate a range of answers. It is important to note the Board does not have any pre-determined answers.
The idea of open questions comes from Dan Hotchkiss’s book Governance and Ministry. He sees these questions as calling for a “wider, longer conversation than a quick goal-setting process can accommodate.” Importantly, Hotchkiss believes open questions provide an opportunity for boards to collaborate with the congregation to think together about the future.
Good communication between the Board and the congregation can be challenging. Posting of minutes, newsletter articles, and announcements about policy send information in one direction. Rather than the Board choosing the direction of the church and making decisions in secrecy, discussion of the open questions is a way for the broader church community to express its ideas and opinions about how the church is doing and what goals should be pursued. It is an opportunity to influence the board as well as a way for the board to share its thinking.
In the spirit of collaboration, then, the UUCV Board wishes to invite the congregation to participate in discussions about the open questions. We want to hear your thoughts and ideas, not only as they relate to the questions, but to any other concerns you may have.
Beginning Thursday, September 3rd, a monthly Zoom Board “Happy Hour” will be held at 5:00pm—Zoom ID is 707-277-4205. As President of your Board of Trustees, I will commit to hosting these sessions each first Thursday of the month, unless a better day and time is identified. Everyone is invited to be part of this meeting. There is no agenda other than to discuss the open questions and any other concerns you wish to bring up.
Additional Zoom meetings may be hosted by other Board members as the church year proceeds.
Be well,
Yukio Okano
President, UUCV Board of Trustees