Many UU churches are becoming more spiritual these days. Worship forms are changing, meditation classes and retreats are multiplying. But what about the time we spend doing the work of the congregation in Board meetings, committees, etc. They each have extensive service records as UU congregational lay leaders, and more recently as consultants in planning, leadership development, and conflict management to New England churches. Clergy Leadership for Institutional Change.
Ministers entering a congregation often have a conscious or unconscious plan to change things.
Be it a new building or shift in theology, attempts at change always inspire resistance. Depending upon the minister s attitude toward conflict, the result may be a split in the congregation, defeat and depression for the minister, or anything in between. Knowing how to lay the groundwork, cast the necessary roles, and introduce change over a period of time can make all the difference. All of us know the discomfort we feel when those in our congregations face a long illness, a job loss, or the death of a close friend or relative. Our desires to help are often thwarted by feelings of powerlessness.