Initiative

Current Status

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Go On!

Core Services

Continue our commitment to established programs, services, and initiatives regarding Congregational and Lifespan Services managed by our Directors of Regional Services and Lifespan Learning.

The Acting Executive Director has developed an interim Core Services Plan (details to follow) to support congregations until a permanent Executive Director is fully engaged, at which point service offerings will be reviewed and prioritized in consultation with our membership.

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Linda Thomson
(linda@cuc.ca)

Social Responsibility

Continue our commitment to established programs, services, and initiatives regarding Social responsibility activities including a commitment to examine expanded relationships with other social responsibility organizations such as KAIROS and CUSJ.

The Chairs of the SR Monitoring Groups are working with Jan Greenwood, the Board’s SR Liaison, to explore ways to rejuvenate and sustain social responsibility activities at the national level.

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Linda Thomson
(linda@cuc.ca)

Jan Greenwood
(jan@cuc.ca)

Gathering & Connections

Convene a one-year task force to review and then propose changes or additions to our policies for our three annual events: Annual Conference & Meetings; Regional Fall Gatherings; and CU*UL School.

Except for the strong support for CU*UL school (which members have suggested we treat separately), initial efforts to form a task force to review the ACM and regional gatherings have received little response.  This review, as originally conceived, is no longer being given a high priority.  We are aware, however, of a groundswell of interest in discussing the ACM and regional gatherings in terms of their environmental impact. If you might be interested in participating in a group with such a focus, let us know.

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Jean Armstrong
(jeana@cuc.ca)

Sharing Our Gifts

Expand the mandate of our existing Technology Task Force to include the feasibility and planning stages for a national database of resources and the use of Internet-based tools to share our “gifts” and to communicate more cost-effectively with each other.

The CUC has proposed an “e-Toolkit” to foster on-line communication and collaboration, allowing the Board, Task Forces and other groups to meet on-line regularly, while minimizing costs.Many valuable suggestions for sharing congregational resources (policies, lifespan learning, worship materials, etc.) have been coming forth from the membership.  Volunteer and financial resources are required to take this forward, so if you have a passion for this project – let John Michell (mich@cuc.ca) or Kalvin Drake (kalvin@cuc.ca) know!

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John ("Mich") Michell
(mich@cuc.ca)

Active Democracy/Resolutions Process

Recognize our responsibility to enhance our democratic and governance processes and propose a new process for resolutions to the Annual Meeting, with the goals of simplifying the process, increasing transparency, and engaging congregations in the process more thoroughly.

A working group is revisiting the Social Responsibility resolutions process and how best the annual meeting can support an increasingly active democracy within the CUC.  Share your thoughts with Jan Greenwood (jan@cuc.ca).

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Jan Greenwood
(jan@cuc.ca)

Policy Review

Recognize our responsibility to enhance our democratic and governance processes and upgrade our board policies to more clearly state “what we do, for whom, at what cost”.

The Board has worked hard over the last year to revise our board policies.  We are now ready to work with our permanent ED to develop monitoring processes that will track whether goals are being met.  This is key to increasing transparency and accountability and to allowing staff to be more responsive to members’ requests.

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Jean Pfleiderer
(jeanp@cuc.ca)

Go Deep!

Professional Ministry (UUMOC Relationship)

Engage with the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada (UUMOC) to reflect the importance of professional ministry in supporting Unitarians and Universalists and their congregations.

The CUC Board and UUMOC have covenanted mutual cooperation in “growing vital religious communities in Canada.”  We spent time in February discussing with our UUMOC Observer to the Board issues that have sometimes divided us, and we have dedicated time during and immediately after the upcoming ACM to explore how best to support and consult with our UU ministers.

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Jean Pfleiderer
(jeanp@cuc.ca)

Intentional Spiritual Deepening

Support a culture of intentional spiritual deepening, and look to UUMOC for spiritual leadership and practical guidance on how best to foster such a culture.

Our ministers have been leading us in further exploration of, and education about, the Sources identified within our Statement of Principles.  (This initiative was recommended by the Statement of Principles Task Force.)

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Rev. Carole Martignacco

(carole@cuc.ca)

Go Out!

Our National Identity

Form a task force on our “National Identity”, to help us articulate, and examine the utility and feasibility of promoting, a national UU identity.

The National Identity Task Force presented the results of this year's congregational workshops at the 2009 CUC ACM in Thunder Bay in May.  A concurrent workshop, intergenerational session and World Café discussion were held at the ACM to engage with the material presented.

In September, the CUC Board asked the Task Force to proceed with developing a plan to articulate possible representations of our national identity.  This plan will be discussed by the Board at its December teleconference.

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Vyda Ng

(vyda@cuc.ca)

Go Big!

Youth & Young Adults

Support an integrative, multi-generational approach to engagement of youth, young adults, and campus ministry.

(Our negotiations with the UUA concerning the continental approach to youth and young adult ministry, as well as changes occurring internally within the UUA, offer an opportunity to develop a uniquely Canadian approach.)

Thanks to Youth Observer Sean Barron (sean@cuc.ca) and Acting Executive Director Linda Thomson (linda@cuc.ca), a National Youth Conference is being planned for May in Toronto to explore the aspirations and goals of Youth ministry in Canada.  Although a good start was made in September  -  when the Board suggested forming a covenant with the youth community  -  progress has been slow, in part a reflection of our current staffing situation.  We anticipate being able to turn more attention to this work in coming months.

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Peter Scales

Sean Barron

Jean Pfleiderer

(jeanp@cuc.ca)