What are some of the features of the future religious landscape?

The previous 15 or 20 years of prosperity (pre 2007) is giving way to a “new normal” of more austerity. Some congregations are exceptions to this story. Some whole parts of the country seem to be writing a different story (e.g., the Southeast). However, as a nation we are thinking through what it would mean for our children not to be able to afford to own the houses in which they grew up—literally and metaphorically. The latest census shows us moving into a world where a diversity of diversities—cultural and racial—is fast becoming the norm. And we now have growing up amidst us the first generation who are natives in a digital world.

Within the larger context of changes occurring in the Unitarian Universalist Association, a shift towards regionalism rather than individual district services, has provided us with an exciting opportunity to revision how the staff of the Prairie Star, Central Midwest and Heartland Districts can work together to better serve the congregations in this region and the mission of our association.

During the next two years, the six of us will develop in partnership with the leaders of our districts a team approach to ensure that our congregations can expect broader and deeper levels of support for all aspects of congregational life.Key features of the team approach we propose include:

• Future focused
• Flexible and adaptable models for service and support
• Core competencies plus individual specialties and areas of expertise
• Team wisdom and ongoing collaboration within the regional staff group — A strong team working with strong teams in congregation.
• Multiple points of entry and access to regional services
• Unified, sustainable, excellent administrative structure
• Social justice and multicultural resources/leaders/virtual clearinghouse of resources for social justice work
• Central and unified electronic presence where all resources are easy to access for anyone who is looking for help or information

We want the next two years to be a time in which we work with all the stakeholders in our region to develop “district services 2.0.”