Timeline: Cottage meetings were held after services on two consecutive Sundays, 10/18/20 and 10/25/20.  The meetings broke attendees out into 3 small groups, who each examined one question. 

 

Q:  “How would you describe this congregation
to prospective ministers?”  
 

• View CUUB as an “oasis in the desert of conservatism” that is Livingston County.  Therefore we cherish finding a like-minded community and can be super excited when we first join, but it can also be a challenge to enlarge our community as well.

• Warm, welcoming, energetic Collegiality, deeply caring and determined, Fun and willing to go the extra mile, Supportive and striving, courageous and loving.

• Strong sense of community, focused on helping each other and social justice in the wider community

• Legacy of doubting leadership -need to get beyond and avoid triangulation

• In transition like a late adolescent congregation.  Having a hard time breaking from family-oriented to pastoral.

• CUUBies talk over each other and enjoy matching wits, which can be intimidating

•  Many CUUBies value the social aspect of gatherings, formal or informal (social connection is super important).  Introverts may find us exhausting.  We can be rambunctious. 

• We work very hard on social justice issues we reach out to those in need throughout southeast Michigan.

• We need to weigh humanist vs. spiritual vs. religious.

• From the founding of CUUB a commitment to our youth has been a core value, which made reducing the SE position this year all the more painful, and caused some families to leave the church in hurt.

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Q:  “In your opinion, what is the main role that a prospective minster

plays in our community's culture?”

​

• Spiritual leader for our faith community and the voice/leader in the larger community

• Management, recognizing gaps and filling them rather than setting policy; manage expectations

  • Listen for where teams and congregants want to go; ability to recognize gaps and help include everyone, help draw people out; respect feelings and foster a sense of participation community wide.

  • Active participant in all functions

• Unifier helping us set common goals, reinforcing connections within CUUB and the larger community

  • Initially a healer, conflict management processes

• Someone who is process oriented, with a strong foundation. We need to understand our processes better. 

• A minister who can have a broad inclusive tent, many opinionated people. It’s important for us to be recognized and be heard. Minister needs to know we need help and we need to find out how to be in conflict with each other. Someone who has had to negotiate conflict and help us be better (agreement from others).

• Recognize our appreciation for diversity of spiritual paths, help include everyone, foster the curiosity of the congregation - we are eager to learn. Celebrate and balance the differences in spiritual paths in the congregation.