Stewardship Track: 10 hour UU University workshop

• I ordered DVD of UU University for BUF so anyone can study the tracks (not arrived yet)
• Emphasis on economic crisis & economic justice – I have 2 copies of Economic Meltdown Funnies, which could prove to be a resource for an adult or youth RE class (matching issues raised and possible solutions with UU principles) – can be ordered in quantities
• Encouraged focusing stewardship on mission of the church
• Mission statement must be powerful, memorizable and short enough for a bumper sticker
• Many UUs are ambivalent about power and so are ambivalent about money
• We have bought into the myth of self-sufficiency – we can make it on our own
• We need a theology strong enough to counter culture of consumerism and build community
• Create services to help people manage all their money, not just what they give
• Our current way of life is not sustainable – economically and spiritually, not just environmentally

• Encouraged use of Common Security Clubs to start conversations about money, to study effects of economic crisis on our own attitudes and on justice issues and to make positive changes. (www.commonsecurityclub.org)
  • Common Security Clubs are a way to bring people together to face the economic crisis. Not only do we need one another to survive economic hardship, but we also need to break out of the social isolation that might accompany it.
  • Common Security Clubs have three main purposes:
    1 - Learn Together – Gain a deeper understanding of the economic times we are living in.
    2 - Mutual Aid – Support one another and boost our economic security at the local level.
    3 - Social Action – Press for larger changes to government policy to increase our economic security and prevent future economic meltdowns.
  • We would hold an "introductory session" to present the concept and format. Then people can commit to attending 5 sessions:
1. How Did We Get Here?
2. Everything Will Change
3. Personal Implications
4. Things We Can Do Together
5. Making Change

• Other handouts I picked up:
• 50 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Church’s Funding
• The Five Money Types
• UUJEC Toolbox for Congregations and Communities
• Generosity Exercises
• Generosity Resource List
• The Gifted Giver

1. Advocate Pending Legislation Toward Clean, Honest and Fair Elections in the US
2. US Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
3. In Support of America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act
4. Support Bolivian UUs Struggling for Justice and Human Rights
5. US-Sponsored Torture: A Call for a Commission of Inquiry
6. Oppose Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity-based Violence in Iraq
   

• UUSC has lots of resources on water issues. We can borrow the film "Flow" from them.
• Perhaps we can coordinate water rights action with BUF’s UUSC rep and signing people up for UUSC membership

Miscellaneous:

• I attended a workshop on effective web sites. Most of the suggestions have already been incorporated in our beautiful updated BUF web site.
  
• Another presentation was by the minister of the UU church in Tulsa and a former evangelical bishop who joined the UU Tulsa church when he discovered Universalist ideas. He wrote a book called "The Gospel of Inclusion". The presentation was on the challenges of opening our congregations to growth by accepting others from different cultural and spiritual backgrounds.