Large Church Conference--Governance Part 2

Today I am attending all four sessions about Policy Governance that are being led by members of Unity-Unitarian Church in St. Paul, MN.  I've been to two of the session so far and here's what I learned:

The point of Policy Governance is to align decision-making with the core intentions of religious life.

Best practices used by congregations that are enjoying success in Policy Governance:

• Get help
• Aim for "good enough" and plan how to get better
• Create a transition plan
• Work to develop trust and patience
• Patience, patience, patience

There are four phases when changing to Policy Governance:

1. Casting the Vision (12-18 months)
2. Building the System (1-2 years)
3. Engaging the System (2-4 years)
4. Living Your Vision (on and on)

UUCA is in Phase 2, having based the initial work on the recently completed Strategic Plan and development of the Mission Statement.

One thing for sure I'm learning is that we are doing pretty darn well!  Our work with our Ends Statements is appropriate, our "trial period" is a great idea, our plan to make bylaw changes at the end of the trial period was widely admired (meaning that we "act" like we're using Policy Governance but whenever there's a conflict, we meet the requirements of the relevant bylaw), we are working harder with more clarity than most other congregations in this phase.  I don't exactly want to brag, but....well, yes I do.  Hurray for us!!!