The new calendar year brings many joys and accomplishments, as well as challenges yet addressed, from a Strategic Planning point of view. In our 2022 Strategic Plan, we had developed a long list of our needs and desires to improve our beloved community here at Morristown UU, and we have accomplished a great deal in the three years since that Plan was approved. Many of our SP goals have been woven into our current Vision of Ministry and are in the works, some have been completed, and others will be developed as we have time and talent available.
Our notable planned accomplishments since the implementation of the 2022 SP include:
- Completion of the new MUUF Gateways Center and approval for a Solar array on its roof!
- A highly successful Ribbon Cutting celebration of the Center and several other events already held in the space.
- Improved facilities in the mansion itself, including updating our AudioVisual system, restrooms, meeting rooms, and classrooms, and addressing issues such as the parking lot, issues with leaks and drainage, and the long-needed replacement of the roof.
- Improved Welcoming activities and work to involve new visitors and mentor them into membership, including regular greetings on arrival on Sunday mornings, follow up of contact info and invitations to attend, monthly newcomer welcome gatherings, newcomer classes, prospective member lunches, and invitations to discussion groups and other activities.
- A new look to our Website and e-Newsletter, increased integration of our website and newsletter platforms, expanded access to post events and activities on the website and publicize them in the newsletter, more regularly updated events and activities, more engagement on social media (including invitations to join us), the development of a new logo and promotional materials, and improved archiving of documents and weekly e-newsletters.
- More social events and discussion groups to engage members, friends, and visitors.
- Involvement of Green Earth Ministry and other environmental allies in educating our children and adults in environmental issues and actions.
- Religious Education has been increasing offerings and engaging children and adults in various programs with the implementation of our lifespan SoulMatters faith formation curriculum. There is improving communication with the congregation regarding children’s RE and program availability.
- Generosity of our membership in accomplishing many of our fundraising goals.
Major accomplishments beyond what we had planned in 2022 include the search for and hiring of our new Minister, Rev. Sasha Ostrom, and new staff supporting RE, A/V, and the Music program.
The Board and Staff are working diligently on the implementation of Policy Governance, (you may have attended education sessions on this topic). New policies on various aspects of our governance have been and are being developed; we are currently asking for feedback on policy drafts regarding care of material resources.
As part of the Hotchkiss model of Policy Governance, the Board and Committee on Ministries are beginning the use of Open Questions as a guide in listening to the congregation as the Board prepares to develop the goals and vision of ministry that will guide us in the next program year.
SP Items we are working on this year:
- Reinvigoration of our Social Justice work and activities – including SJ leadership (under the Minister’s purview), volunteerism, identification of SJ activities, and work toward MUUF involvement and leadership in local and regional activist groups. This is a goal in our current Vision of Ministry and is being actively worked on, led by Rev. Sasha.
- Engagement of members and friends in volunteerism – many of our activities (e.g. tabling at local fairs, etc) are desperate for people to volunteer and help with outreach activities outside our walls (as well as within). Our recent Volunteer Fair was well attended and drew many new prospective volunteers for our many Fellowship activities. A volunteer resource/connections team, reporting to the Minister, is being developed to work on engagement, training, and support of new volunteers.
- The IT team is continuing to work on website development, links, and accessibility, as well as better ways to track web traffic statistics. A new website design is underway and, once complete, a mockup will be released to the congregation for feedback. We anticipate this will be available for public comment in the next few weeks.
Items for future work as time, leadership, and volunteers permit:
- Leadership training and development of Pathways to Leadership; including Improvement of leader succession – identifying new leaders, supporting leadership transitions, and training in group dynamics, motivation, and covenant development.
- Youth retention and involvement – developing programs and places for youth to socialize and do good works. Currently few youth are at MUUF; we need to find ways to be inviting and motivating for youth and young adults.
- Training and practice in respectful, compassionate listening, communications, and allyship. There have been a number of instances where this training would be useful and guiding, resulting in better communication and community engagement.
- Improvement of group document storage and retention, including accessibility for committees and teams to their historical information, and work and cataloging of best practices and lessons learned. We’ve had volunteers working on some types of documents and we are developing Policies to help with storage and retention.
- Work on feedback systems – monitoring membership dynamics, why people come and why they go, collection of concerns and suggestions, follow-up. We hope our Open Questions discussion sessions will help us hear feedback from the congregation as well. We also hope to begin offering periodic ministry thinktanks with different groups within the congregation soon, beginning with our upcoming “RE & Worship Thinktank” with RE parents as we look ahead to Fall 2025 programming.
- Increasing engagement with the community outside our walls – online communities, local UU groups and other faith communities in our region, as well as collaboration with social justice groups locally and regionally, and work with the UUA.
As you can see, we have accomplished a lot in three years! We have more work to do – and a fabulous community to do it with. Our Beloved Community is growing and changing – and we are glad you are a part of it!
We have a spreadsheet with more details and timelines available. If any of these topics appeal to you and you’d be interested in volunteering to help or getting more information, please contact Nan Perigo.