What if you could tap into—even grow—the passion and energy that your congregation has shown at its best? What if you could channel this energy and share it with other congregations in the area to achieve significant goals?
It can happen. Gathered Here is a UUA-wide initiative co-sponsored by the UUA administration, the UUA board, and other UU organizations. It uses an Appreciative Inquiry approach to engage congregants in interviews and "community conversations." Congregants reflect on their most positive experiences as a UU, along with their hopes and dreams for their congregations and the movement. These conversations can and will be powerful catalysts for change.
"After the interview process I heard several people say, 'I'm so glad we did that. It made me remember why I got involved,'" said Becky Hoort, a member of the First UU Congregation of Ann Arbor that used a similar Appreciative Inquiry process in the past. "The discussion was framed in a positive way, talking about what was good rather than what we needed to fix. It gave the congregation new energy."
Gathered Here does not stop at the congregational level. Each participating congregation joins with two other area congregations or communities in a "cluster meeting" to share what they've learned, discover patterns, and contemplate local possibilities for collaboration. These "clusters" then meet at the regional level to continue the process. Finally, in October of next year, the regional results will be collected and distilled into goals and directions for the movement as a whole.
Gathered Here interviews have already begun. Community conversations within congregations and UU communities begin in October and conclude in 2012, no later than mid summer. Now is the time to sign up to take part in this historic initiative. All of the materials are free and will be available for downloading from the UUA website. For additional information, visit the Gathered Here page on the UUA's website, uua.org.
If you would like to trained as a faciliator for the Gathered Here program, please contact Joan Van Becelaere, District Executive at jvanbecelaere at ohiomeadville.org.
