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Ministry Teams

What is a Ministry Team?

A Ministry Team is a collection of church volunteers who work and play together in groups to heal our planet, create positive, progressive change, and live out our liberal religious values in meaningful community with one another. A Ministry Team is like a smaller “tribe” within a larger church village. All activity that goes on in the life of First Church, happens through the hearts, hands, and minds of the Ministry Teams.

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Our Goal

Our goal is to create whole human beings who help heal the world. We do this through the various activities of our seven Ministry Teams. A Ministry Team is like a smaller neighborhood within the larger church community. The members and friends of this church work, play, laugh, create, help, heal, love and transform together through the work of our Ministry Teams.

Ministry Teams are a reorganization of the many committees at First Church, into related areas of church governance. Each Ministry Team has a staff member responsible to it, and lay leadership, in order to help facilitate projects and coordinate volunteer efforts. The Ministry Teams are able to make independent decisions,as long as they adhere to Board policy.

The Ministry Team model was adopted in order to empower people. Broad policies are agreed upon, key people are accountable for seeing that these policies are implemented, a task is defined or emerges from some corner of the church, a funding source is identified, a budget is established and the community says to the lay volunteer, "Go forth and get it done." Micromanagement by lay leaders is not only discouraged, it is antithetical to the system.Each Ministry Team has a mission and has several groups within it.

Engaged in the work of the church

First UU Church is organized into “Ministry Teams,” or, clusters of groups engaged in the work of the church. Today we have eight such teams; Caring, Generosity, Larger UU Connections, Lifespan Religious Growth & Leading, Membership, Social Justice, South Bay and Worship & Program. Each ministry team made up of the individual groups of the church, such as the Practical Care Network, Friends of de Benneville Pines, Men’s Fellowship, Earth Centered Spirituality Circle, and Young Adults 25-35. There are about 65 of these groups that create programs and activities in support of our mission and Unitarian Universalist values. Anyone can get involved in these groups.

Each ministry team is “led” by at least one lay leader working with at least one staff person. In the past, the Ministry Team Council was made up of the lay leaders and staff who were designated “leader” of each minis-try team. This Council regularly gathered to share information of what various groups were doing.

While this structure of each ministry team being “led” by lay leader and staff person will remain for account-ability, planning and facilitating the new meetings, the purpose, mission and gatherings of the Ministry Team Council has been completely redefined. The new mission of the Ministry Team Council is to create a community of spiritually grounded leaders who inspire acting on our values to help heal the world.

Ministry Team Council meetings are held on a quarterly basis and are open to all lay leaders and interested church members. That means, ANYONE who is engaged in the many groups of the church is eligible, and welcome, to attend. The quarterly Ministry Team Council meetings will focus on interesting, important and supportive in-service trainings. Through these gatherings, we will better be able to identify potential leaders while encouraging and developing current lay leaders.

The Ministry Team Council shall accomplish its mission through:

  1. Conducting relevant meetings as needed; budget, calendar, communications, strategic plans & training
  2. Identifying, encouraging and developing lay leaders
  3. Providing lay leaders and church groups with opportunities for on-going dialogues regarding spiritual development, reflection and awareness, taking time to periodically define these words.
  4. Assuring that each ministry team is aligned to the church mission and outcomes
  5. Practicing a culture of appreciation

Ministry Team Council meetings shall:

  1. Be convened on a quarterly basis, open to all church groups and lay leaders and facilitated by Ministry Team Leadership (the lay leader and staff team accountable to each Ministry Team.)
  2. Have regular, concise and appropriate agendas
  3. Produce minutes in a timely manner and sent out to all lay leaders
  4. Regularly recognize and appreciate volunteers
  5. Produce action items to carry forth our work into the world, and to hold us accountable
  6. Present ongoing leadership training
  7. Support ongoing spiritual development, reflection and awareness
  8. Facilitate regular checking in on goals from the strategic plan

The schedule of 2013 Ministry Team Council meetings will be:

  • Thursday, February 21, from 6 to 9 pm
  • Thursday, May 16, from 6 to 9 pm