By Wren Bellavance-Grace

In the Catholic tradition of my childhood, we are in the weeks marked as Ordinary Time. And although in that tradition, “Ordinary Time” refers to the denotation of weeks by ordinal numbers, to my childhood ears hearing the priest announce each week, “this is the seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time,” felt like acknowledging these were ho-hum-nothing-special weeks.

I write these words in the middle of January 2026, and these, my friends, are not ho-hum ordinary times.

This is obvious to all of us. It is not normal that we live in a country where masked, minimally trained agents are given extraordinary authority to terrorize our neighbors. It is not normal that our government is threatening to invade sovereign nations as though we were planning to set up a tent in our neighbor’s backyard and just refuse to leave. It’s not normal that elected officials in New England are taking life-saving healthcare away from trans kids and wistfully dreaming of the days of racially segregated schools.

None of this is normal. To say these are extraordinary times is not even strong enough a way to describe what we are living through. We have done the work in our congregations to create truly welcoming spiritual homes for our neighbors and families of every race and background; for our trans children to become known as their true selves; for immigrants to find asylum within our walls; and for community members with unmet needs to find a hand up through our many ministerial discretionary funds. You, who are doing this work already, know that these are not ordinary days.

Still, we affirm — we insist — on keeping our congregations places of welcome and love and safety. And we worry that this insistence may put some of our congregations in harm’s way.

None of this is normal.

What is normal, is not being okay in times like this. It’s okay to not be okay. We can be not-okay together in every Sunday Sanctuary, and remember that we are a people who center in Love — in all ways. It is so important that we have these spaces — whether we attend in person or log in to watch Sunday worship from home — to grieve together. To offer each other shoulders to lean on. To say, “I’m just so tired…” and hear our neighbor say, “Me too.” To be in communities of care and watch our chalice flame flickering, remembering that generations of Unitarians and Universalists before us also lived in times that felt untenable. I promise you, those ancestors also did not feel okay.

On a winter day in 1965, Rev James Reeb watched freedom fighters beaten on the Edmund Pettis Bridge, and he said to his wife, this is not okay.

And at that same time in Detroit, UU congregant Viola Liuzzo also looked around and said to her family, this is not okay. And like generations of our ancestors, they found comfort and courage in their communities of faith. And they made decisions about what was in their power to do. We honor their blessed memory.

Today we also honor the work of so many of our clergy and laity, offering hope and support in myriad ways. Our UUA’s vice-president for programs and ministries, Rev Ashley Horan has been highly visible lately, spending uncounted hours in the snow and ice of her beloved Minneapolis, supporting protesters, pastoring to the weary and the worried, and linking arms with other people of faith to insist on our resistance to the normalization of state violence.

This is one of the profound practices of Spiritual Leadership available to us all: navigating between our power and our powerlessness. It is not for all of us to put our bodies on front lines, in harm’s way. But if we tell ourselves it is either the front lines or nothing, we lay waste our power, and open ourselves to hopelessness.

Spiritual Leadership asks each of us to recognize the limitations of our power — if we live in New England, we cannot show up on the streets of Minneapolis. That does not mean we are powerless. We have the power to call our elected representatives to braver service. We have the power to hold signs on highway overpasses reminding commuters that none of this is normal. We have the power to create networks of mutual aid and care in our congregations, and in our neighborhoods. We have the power to connect with the helpers in our communities and ask them what they need. We have the power to amplify crowdfunding for families directly harmed by the loss of insurance, of medication, of stable sources of food.

I write these words in the middle of January 2026.

Next Sunday will be the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, and the responsive reading for that week will ask parishioners to respond: Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

Beloveds, in these cold and blustery and still-dark days, when we affirm that it is okay to not be okay in all that unfolds around and beyond us, may this be a call we can return to:

Here we are, Love; we come to make your promises real.

We were waiting for relief, and instead witnessed greater violence and the expansion of fear;

Love appeared in the faces of people providing protection to neighbors, pouring water over tear-gassed eyes.

Here we are, Love; we come to make your promises real.

Love does not ask for our sacrificial obedience, but for our collaboration in the work of the liberation of all.

Love weeps at the violence and fear, and we say,

Here we are, Love; we come to make your promises real.

We raise our words, our hands, our hope, and affirm that our faith calls us to greater love, to justice and equity, to generosity, community, and transformation.

We reject the divisions thrust towards as and insist on centering the power of Love. We who are not okay, even now, we say with courage,

Here we are, Love; we come to make your promises real.

And if all we can do right now is just say these words, or even just read them silently, it’s okay.

We are not alone, beloveds.

Courage.

Love abides.

By Evin Carvill Ziemer

Last June Rev. Emily Bruce and Rev. Susan Chorley reached out to us on NER staff to ask what kind of gathering we could help them have with their neighboring congregations to work on building relationships, collaborating, and supporting each other. They and their ministers’ cluster were hoping something was possible.

The timing was incredible! Because we had just started sketching what became this year’s “joint leadership” gatherings. We heard feedback last year that participants wanted more interaction and learning from each other and we were building just that kind of a day.

A few weeks ago on a warm fall day, 42 people from eight congregations (not all of them served by a minister) gathered at our host congregation in Norwell, MA. They brought with them snacks and seltzers to share and the room buzzed with good energy. The kind that comes from meeting new people and realizing they’re facing similar challenges to you, and that they have similar commitments. Where you feel less alone.

The program moved from the big questions of what we are called to do in this moment and what these congregational leaders felt their congregations could do to “meet the moment” into more detailed sharing of challenges and ideas in key areas of congregational life. We ended with small groups that went deeper into specific areas wherein leaders felt they had something to share and learn together. A few collaborative ideas have emerged. And even if none of these ideas happen, these leaders now know they have neighbors they can call on.

This moment is a hard one. For all of us and all our congregations. It’s also a moment where our values and commitments are needed. We hear stories every day of how all of you are doing amazing and inspiring ministry. And stories of what’s hard. It’s both real.

The power of the Joint Leadership Retreat in Norwell was in gathering neighbors together. It matters to meet other UU leaders. It always does. We hear that from those who gather in our quarterly leadership on-line gatherings and from the leaders of small congregations who attended the online Joint Leadership Retreat for small congregations. And. Gathering with neighbors is extra special. These are the folks down the road or up the river. Who understand what living in a specific place feels like right now. Who can share programming from joint Our Whole Lives programs, to shared vigils, to family friendly retreats.

The gathering in Norwell happened because these congregations reached out to each other to find a good day, to recruit leaders to attend, to organize the details. We as your regional staff can’t guess what the right date is for your congregation and your neighbors. We have upcoming Joint Leadership Retreats in Winchendon, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine. We’re working on dates with other groups around New England for winter and spring of 2026. If this sounds like something that would be good for your congregation, ask your leaders if they’re already part of a group planning to get together. If they’re not, reach out! Reach out to us and reach out to your neighbors to see if they’re interested too.

By Jennica Davis

Over the summer, I sent out a brief two-question survey to get a snapshot of youth safety policies and youth participation on congregational boards across the region. I know that in many congregations, the person best suited to respond was on vacation or otherwise unavailable—but I still received about 20 responses and wanted to share what I learned. If you don’t see your congregation represented in these themes, please reach out! I’d love to expand this perspective together.

Safety

In reviewing responses, one thing became clear: policy and practice can create the conditions for youth inclusion, even in congregations with few or no youth currently attending.

Many congregations (regardless of current youth participation) have safety policies in place or in development. This underscores a shared value that safety is foundational to welcoming and including young people. One standout example: a congregation whose youth group actively reviews the parts of the safety policy they’re responsible for—a simple, powerful way of including those most impacted by the policies made on their behalf.

Some congregations shared that they’re looking to update pre-2020 policies to meet the current moment including the youth mental health crisis, lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for community resilience in the face of increasing threats to bodily autonomy, especially for trans, immigrant, and otherwise marginalized people. One congregation without current youth attendance has still built an intergenerational support team and is actively partnering with local agencies to address community needs through offerings like a toddler group and a teen center.

We recognize that updating and implementing safety policies, especially in small congregations with limited staff or volunteers, can feel overwhelming. Some of you shared that this work is falling to one person, or that you feel isolated trying to “get up to speed.” You are not alone! The New England Region and the Lifespan Faith Engagement Office are here to support you. Reach out to your Primary Contact or email youth@uua.org (that’s me) for a conversation.

In the spirit of shared learning, we’ll be hosting an online gathering on Tuesday, November 18 from 1:00 to 2:15pm ET for anyone wanting to share experiences or deepen understanding of UU philosophy and practical implementation of youth safety policies. All professional and lay Religious Educators (as listed on my.uua.org) will receive an invite; if you, too, are interested but not on that list please email the Region at newengland@uua.org.

For congregations ready to write or revise your policy, we recommend starting with the Fourteen Recommended Practices for Safety in Youth Ministry from the Safer Congregations team.

Also, through our collective UUA membership, you have free access to YIPA (Youth Intervention Programs Association). Their bite-sized online trainings are especially useful for those working with youth in volunteer or staff roles. I highly recommend their Updated Considerations for Mandated Reporting course. To access YIPA trainings, just create an account using this login.

And check out the Safety and Security in Troubled Times section of the UUA’s Community Resilience Hub to learn how to prioritize preparation work, what areas to pay attention to, and some basic knowledge on how to respond to everything from fire to a disruptive person to active shooter to protests.

Leadership

While one congregation noted that they have a couple young adults in their 20s co-chairing committees and serving on the board, unsurprisingly, no congregation reported having a youth on their board of trustees currently, though some did have a seat reserved written into their by-laws. And that’s all good! Having a youth on the board isn’t the top indicator of youth inclusion. Without the leadership development and support structures to help a young person thrive in that role, it’s more faithful to focus on building those foundations first. True inclusion is less about filling a seat and more about creating meaningful pathways for engagement.

Formal leadership roles aren’t the only—or even the primary—way to center youth perspectives. Many of you shared that youth are finding belonging by serving on tech teams, contributing as worship leaders, or participating in service-learning projects. These roles can feel more flexible, relational, and responsive to the gifts youth bring—especially in a time when energy for traditional leadership pathways is low.

There’s no one-size-fits-all model. What matters is that we create real opportunities for discernment, purpose, and contribution. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out this resource on Centering in Gifts in Spiritual Leadership—it’s a great starting point for supporting youth (and others) in finding meaningful ways to serve.

Creating structures that make room for youth is about not waiting for them to show up, but making sure they have a place to land when they do. Safety policies and leadership pathways are foundational strategies for inclusion, and they are also acts of faith in a future where youth are valued, trusted, and deeply needed.

Thank you to everyone who shared your realities, challenges, and hopes. This work is ongoing, and we’re in it together.

Ten years ago, New England Regional staff gathered leaders for the first peer facilitator training. These were local leaders, recommended by their ministers, who became available to congregations to facilitate board retreats, mission/vision conversations, and other facilitation needs. Sometimes someone from outside the congregation as facilitator really is best. And more, having someone who is a leader in another congregation, who is more of a “peer” is sometimes exactly right. These peer facilitators receive a modest stipend for each program they lead.

These folks not only served our congregations well, they also grew their own skills. NER staff provided training and support for each program run. Recently we gathered them together to reflect on their time. We heard many stories of how personally impactful being a peer facilitator was and how helpful it was to their local congregation when they had experienced other congregations this way.

Recognizing the value of this experience, we are have opened a new cohort of peer facilitators. We hope that this opens the opportunity for more people to have this experience and that we have new energy available to our congregations for such facilitation. We also hope these new peer facilitators will help facilitate gatherings between congregations, not just within single congregations. We’re also bringing in past peer facilitators as mentors for the training and ongoing support.

If you have questions please direct them to our Developmental Regional Lead Rev. Evin Carvill Ziemer (Wufoo form).

Work with a Peer Facilitator

Interested in working with a peer facilitator? Please submit to our peer facilitator request form (Google).

In the Fall of 2024 Jennica Davis-Hockett sent a survey to New England Region congregations as a means for starting a conversation about the ways youth and emerging adults are engaging in our congregations. Please read the summary of results and her analysis as Youth and Emerging Adult Ministry NER Liaison in Lifespan Faith Engagement.

There were 53 respondents (23% of NERs 235 congregations). The majority of respondents have paid staff who filled out the survey.

Staff and Volunteers in Congregation

Current and Potential Engagement of Young People

60% of respondents know there are more young people associated with their church community than are currently engaged in the church. This was more true for emerging adults than youth.

Youth

Emerging Adults

Trends of Engagement

Youth and emerging adults engage in congregational life in a wide variety of ways! The most common engagement trends for youth were: consistent (weekly or bi monthly) youth group that includes social activities (games, karaoke, role playing games, and field trips) or curriculum (OWL, COA); serving as paid volunteers (for younger RE classes, nursery, AV, etc.); service projects; participating in worship creation (choir, intergenerational worship). The most common engagement trends for emerging adults were: worship participation, especially around the holidays (attendance, choir, readings); serving as paid volunteers (for RE classes, AV, nursery, etc.); leadership opportunities, though better support is needed.

Insights into Youth Engagement

1. Overwhelmed and Over-scheduled Lives 

Youth are highly engaged in school activities, sports, theater, and jobs, making it difficult for them to prioritize church. Many congregations report that youth are “very busy” and struggle to find time to meet consistently. Scheduling flexibility is key, with non-Sunday gatherings often proving more successful.

2. Desire for Connection and Fun

Social activities are consistently highlighted as a primary driver of youth engagement, with games, karaoke, Dungeons and Dragons and community-building being popular. Youth are also motivated by service projects and opportunities to earn volunteer hours, although these require consistent adult leadership to succeed.

3. Critical Mass is Essential

The importance of achieving a “critical mass” in youth groups is noted repeatedly. Smaller numbers make it difficult to sustain momentum, as youth are less likely to engage without a thriving, active group.

4. Mental Health

Many youth continue to experience mental health struggles exacerbated by the pandemic, including stress, anxiety, and trauma.

Key Insights into Emerging Adult Engagement

1. Post-High School Drop-Off

The narrative persists that people do not return to church after high school graduation or during/after college. Congregations don’t often have programming tailored to this age group, citing both a shortage of volunteers and a lack of interest from emerging adults themselves.

2. Lingering Connection

Some emerging adults find comfort in their home congregations when returning to town, but this is often limited to holiday visits and special events. Sustained engagement often requires tailored efforts, like leadership opportunities or relevant programming, which many congregations lack resources to offer.

3. Desire for Leadership but Structural Challenges

Emerging adults express interest in leadership roles but often feel disempowered or unsupported by older leaders in the congregation. Some congregations have asked for training for intergenerational collaboration that could address this disconnect.

4. Struggles to Build Community

College students and young adults often express interest in church but rarely “stick around” Congregations struggle to connect with newcomers in this age group due to transient lifestyles, lack of clear outreach strategies, or insufficient programs.

Analysis

The trend of young people having busy schedules points to two needs:

1. Professionals and lay leaders invested in faith formation and meaning-making must create offerings that are so responsive, relevant, and nourishing to young people’s lives that they are worth their most precious resources: time, attention, and energy.
2. Congregations must find adaptive ways to engage young people that don’t always require them to be in the same place at the same time, whether that be in person or virtually. This looks like meeting young people where they already are spending their time whether that be at a soccer match, robotics competition, their job or school and with their families and friends.

The strong desire for connection and fun reveals a need to support the foundations of community building. On theCommunity Building Map to Deeper Joy that means visiting the Bonding Harbor, Opening Up Beach, and Forest of Affirmations and getting out of the Tepid Bay. With those foundations established it becomes more likely that the shyness to venture deeper into community life might be replaced with the willingness to visit the Stretching River, Canyons of Deeper Sharing, and Healing Springs, and preempt the Cliffs of Exclusivity).

Critical mass beyond an individual congregation can be achieved in creative ways that don’t require intensive or immersive experiences. I’m available as a dream and scheme partner to come up with low lift gatherings that bring young folks together across congregations. Feel free tofind a time to chat with me.

As the mental health epidemic rages on, it’s important that congregations be informed about their important role in supporting young people’s mental wellbeing and helping them expand their “circle of support” i.e. the number and variety of people and organizations that they can turn to for care. There are many ways toskill up to support youth mental health.

Some respondents noted that emerging adults in their area were no longer engaged in their congregation because they were assumed to be getting their spiritual needs met elsewhere. This leaves me curious about whether that assumption is accurate or if this is a way to deflect responsibility for this age group by outsourcing belonging to other organisations. I encourage congregations to pay attention to what is uniquely theirs to offer emerging adults and strategize on how to offer it.

Support for youth and emerging adult ministry (14-24ish years of age) from the UUA is evolving! The office of Lifespan Faith Engagement now has five youth and emerging adult (YEA) ministry staffers and an events coordinator who are charged with providing equitably accessible support for YEA ministry across the country. As such, Jennica Davis-Hockett will be serving New England Region congregations directly! This direct connection looks like:

1. Attending LREDA cluster meetings to get to know your ministries.
2. Being available for consultations on safety and organizing for your congregational ministry and events.
3. Helping you connect with one another as we rebuild youth and emerging adult ministries together.
4. Providing registration templates or helping to run registration for your inter-congregational events (fka “Cons”).
5. Connecting you with seed money for growing your community ministries.

May Gathering

For our last session, we listened to Something Large and Wild from the podcast This is Love. We discussed the many ways in which we bring forth tenderness, groundedness, and vulnerability into our daily lives, much like swimmer Lynne embodies when she meets baby whale Grayson. Though our main focus was on our shared value of Love, we noted how both interdependence and the interconnected web of existence featured heavily in this story and reminds us of all we can learn from other animals.

Our “extra credit” episodes this month were:

• Power Pivot with Leela Sinha, “love who, now?”
  • Part II “love the ones you know”
• JUUst Breathe with Joy Berry and Eric Bliss “Mental Health and First Aid”

We have enjoyed gathering with you all year! Here is the covenant we created together.

April Gathering

Our April discussion was inspired by an episode of Struggle Care: Making the Outdoors Inclusive with Parker Bushman.

We discussed how pluralism takes shape within our congregations. Using Parker Bushman’s spectrum of collaboration/engagement (informing, consulting, involving, collaborating, empowering), we reflected on the different ways we build community within and beyond our congregational walls. Ideas included discernment about how the congregational budget is a moral document that reflects commitment to the local community; experimenting with new kinds of worship music results in more diverse and robust choir membership; etc. We also discussed the ways in which access to the outdoors has been gatekept for people with certain identities only (i.e. thin, white folks) and unearthed the racist roots of the conservation movement. Heather also shared with us about the often untold history of Walden Pond being a haven for Black folks to live freely before Henry David Thoreau ever set foot there. We also recognized that there is more to learn and explore in regards to people with physical disabilities accessing the outdoors in an inclusive and meaningful way. The outdoors is for everyone; how do we make this more of a reality in our parks and preserves?

Our closing words resonated with many. They are by Anand Giridharadas: “When they try to consume you night and day, you reserve time for your garden or cooking or the feeling of your kid’s breath on your cheek as you cuddle. They want all of all of us, and they want to saturate our beings only for them and their purposes — as fodder for their machines. They want politics to eat your dreams.

And so living well, and living in community, and living with others, and taking care of your people, and even not your people, is not just self-care in order to keep fighting. That was the 2016 idea. It is actually inseparable from resisting their big project.

Because having, and nurturing, in your life a sphere for joy and connection and community and love and food and music and human difference and living and letting live is everything they are not and is everything they are trying to take away.

Be what scares them. Live lives in colors their eyes can’t even see. Cook food they want to deport. Test the fire code with your parties. Form a scene that meets every Wednesday. Call someone you haven’t in a while. Fight with a smile. Fail and come back. Be weird. Be welcoming. Kiss converts. Refuse despair. Be disobedient. Laugh loudly. Hide someone. Call out. Root down.

They are waging a war on living. The more fully you live, the harder their job will be.”

March Gathering

In March, we explored our shared value of Equity using the episode,“Glorifying Obesity” and Other Myths About Fat People from theMaintenance Phase podcast. Together, we discussed biases we have held and strategized how to counter them using relationship and love as tools. We shared about ways in which we could foster more belonging of fat folks in our congregations through different seating options and modeling new ways of doing things so others feel empowered to ask for what they need. Rev. Dr. Anastasia Kidd and Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum were lifted up as religious professional fat activists who call us to imagine the ways fat liberation forwards the cause of other forms of liberation as well.

For a more in-depth (though still slightly problematic) debunking of fatphobia, check out this piece byMaintenance Phase co-host Michael Hobbes.

Please consider attending the virtual feedback session on Fat Liberation as one of this year’s three proposed Congregational Study/Action Issues (CSAI). These items all received the required “yes” votes in the Congregational Poll to be admitted to the agenda for UUA General Assembly 2025 (where one will be selected for three years of study, reflection, and action). Registration is free and required at the link below.Learn more about CSAIs, the social witness process, and the Commission on Social Witness.

• Thursday, April 17 at 8:00pm ET: Fat Liberation: Building Justice and Inclusion for Larger Bodies Feedback Session

February Gathering

Amid all the social and political turmoil around us, we met to reflect on generosity, illustrated by James Rhee’s childhood experience of receiving the gift of a toy, a red helicopter, from a friend’s father for performing a simple act of kindness. Using Rhee’s framing, our conversation explored the question “What if human ‘goodwill’ were part of all our human interactions, including in the business world?” This idea offered us a lesson for our times, the power of being more “curious than furious,” potentially collapsing our divisions through affirming our shared humanity. Drawing from Rhee’s experiences, consider what it would be like “to see the world through the eyes of a five-year-old child.”

This “podcast” episode was actually a TedTalk by James Rhee.

For a longer conversation with James Rhee, you can listen to the “extra credit” podcast episode, an extended interview of James Rhee by Brene Brown.

January Gathering

During our time together in January we explored the value of Transformation through Phoebe Judge’s interview of Dan Stevenson for the Criminal podcast.

We discussed how complicated the decision is to call the police or not and the implications and dangerous risks of doing so. We reflected on the ways in which we have witnessed transformation of spaces into places for spiritual connection. Someone shared that Lynda’s Phones is a non-profit that funds the design, construction, installation and maintenance of Wind Phones in the USA. These phones are installed for people to communicate with ancestors and loved ones who have passed on and have become a community resource. We also discussed ideas for how we want to transform spaces and relationships in our lives moving forward, such as establishing or contributing to little free libraries, painting stones, creating small spiritual altars, and more.

• The 50th episode of Criminal features Dan Stevenson returning for a snippet (beginning at 7 minutes in)
• Extra credit episode: not a podcast but you may enjoy this short documentary on YouTube,“Buddha of Oakland”

December Gathering

In December we explored the shared value of Justice — We work to be diverse multicultural Beloved Communities where all thrive. We covenant to dismantle racism and all forms of systemic oppression. We support the use of inclusive democratic processes to make decisions within our congregations, our Association and society at large.

Our “text” was from the podcast What is Owed? by WGBH, focusing on the first episode: When a City Tries to Heal Itself.

Content note: this episode includes audio from the recording of the murder of George Floyd.

In our conversation, participants referenced these resources:

• A book, How the Word is Passed

• Part of the Widening the Circle of Concern report regarding reparations

• A blog entry regarding the work of UUs and their congregations to explore reparations in their context

• The third episode of What is Owed? by WGBH; it includes an interview with reparations advocate, Unitarian Universalist, and UUA staff member Woullard Lett

November Gathering

In our second session, we focused on our shared value of Interdependence. The podcast episode we listened to was Krista Tippett’s interview of adrienne maree brown: On Radical Imagination and Moving Towards Life through On Being. Together, we wrestled with questions such as:

• What transformation have you experienced in your relationships? Have you had an experience like amb’s with her grandfather? Connecting across differences via common roots (Love, Christianity, spirituality)? How can we bring these lessons forward with us?
• Do you practice democracy and/or liberation in your daily life? In your congregation? Where/how could you do so?
• In what ways are you, your congregation, and/or our faith shaping change? How might we move differently in order to do this more effectively?
• “Homework” for further consideration: How are you practicing pleasure? What new pleasure will you bring to yourself as you move forward into 2025?

Our Chalice Extinguishing words were All is Not Lost by UUA Chaplains Victoria Safford and JJ Flag.

October Gathering

In this introductory session we built a covenant and listened to an excerpt from the first episode of The Cracked Cup podcast by Liz James and Anne Barker [content note: episode contains some low-level swearing language]. We considered the questions: How do we create brave space together? What does it mean to care for one another, and how might we do so with humility and grace? We will continue these explorations throughout our time together.

As Unitarian Universalists recently affirmed seven Shared Values that define our faith, this series explored each one, using a podcast episode from a diverse list of pods as the “text” to generate thought, discussion, and learning together.

Please explore the documents and links below, including our Resources page, to find out more about what we studied, learned, and shared in this series.

More Information

• Podcast Theology Learning Community Covenant (Google doc); Large Print: Covenant (Google doc)
• Podcast Theology Outline (Google doc); Large Print: Outline (Google doc)
• Podcast Theology Resources Page
• Shared Values Resources Page

2025-2026 Board Retreat Template

Design and lead your own retreat with some help from us with the NER Board Retreat Template (Google doc)!

• Gathering
• Opening
• Getting to know the new Board
• Reflect on the current moment and how we respond
• Covenant — either writing a new covenant or reflecting on an existing covenant
• Goal/Intention setting based on your mission
• Goal/Intention setting if your mission is unclear
• Wrap-up and closing

How Startup Retreats Support Your Congregation’s New Ministry

Please watch this short video (YouTube) [5 mins] to learn more about New England’s approach to Ministerial Startup Retreats.

Your primary contact on the New England Regional staff will work with your leaders to design a Startup Retreat that best meets your needs. Our goal is to create a space for you to name what most needs naming to best start this new ministry partnership.

Possible Components of a Startup Retreat

• Sharing more about your congregation, its stories, culture, hopes, and dreams.
• Surfacing patterns in the congregation’s relationship with ministers.
• Exploring dimensions and challenges of shared ministry.
• Setting intentions for integrating spiritual growth into your shared leadership.
• Clarifying roles and accountabilities (both explicit and informal) of the minister and board.
• Establishing boundaries around time, responsibilities, and communication methods.
• Clarifying the type of relationships and boundaries the minister will have with leadership.

Planning for a Startup Retreat (Things to Keep in Mind)

• Overall the total startup time would run about 4-6 hours — including meals! The timing of Startup Retreats is up to you and your leaders, but it’s best to plan for an intensive schedule that your congregational leaders have energy for.
• New England Regional staff have found that doing startups in two sessions can really be a benefit. This gives participants time to absorb and process as well as spreading the time commitment out.
• We’ve also found startups can work well virtually. Zoom breakout rooms and report back of small groups is a great way to have conversations and can be more accessible to more of the congregation as well as making it easier to have multiple sessions.
• New England Regional staff schedules are often fairly full in the Fall, so it’s helpful to us to get these on the calendar sooner rather than later. Boards often want to settle dates so they can get the event into people’s calendars. When your primary contact reaches out for a check-in, schedule your Startup Retreat as soon as possible.
• Similar workshops are recommended for religious educators and other staff although the focus and participants would be different. Contact your primary contact for information about this.

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