As I look up and out to our immediate horizon, I begin to imagine what possibilities lie before us in Unitarian Universalist faith formation. Let’s assume that we are mapping out a course together. If we were conducting a MapQuest search, our driving directions would start with the address of where we are today. Our location in the present is that we have a thousand plus congregations who endeavor to provide lifelong religious education, largely in Sunday morning, age graded, classrooms. There are wondrous examples of the successes of many of those Sunday morning experiences….preschoolers engaged in Spirit Play (a Montessori model); children, youth, and adults immersed in workshop studios to experience a central value, such as the “Golden rule,” in drama, poetry, music, etc…., (the Rotation Model). This is important, I am not saying that there aren’t wonderful experiences of Sunday morning religious education taking place, and that should continue taking place, but here is the part when we get back to our driving directions. If our end location is the beloved community we say that we are aiming for, and if our end sight is achieved, in part, by growing our faith and raising lifelong Unitarian Universalists, THEN we must think beyond bricks and mortar experiences.

A couple of years ago, the UUA reviewed employment policies and decided that some changes were needed. Up to that point district staff were simultaneously employed by both the UUA and a district. This co-employment caused some legal sticking points, so under the advice of employment attorneys the UUA became the full employer of the staff. The staff are still assigned to their respective districts but are now clustered into regions—for example, the Central Midwest, Heartland, and Prairie Star District employees are clustered into the MidAmerica Region. They continue to serve as the main staff contacts in their original districts, but can also serve across the region, allowing each to play to their strengths. For example, one UUA field staffperson might specialize in conflict resolution and another could be strong in the area of growth and both are available to all the congregations in the region. The staff are already living in and embracing this new reality.