DPA meeting, 11-1-01

Florida District of the Unitarian Universalist Association
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President's Report DPA Annual Fall Meeting November 1-2, , 2001, Boston, MA

The fall gathering of district presidents in Boston is an excellent reason to say yes to the Nominating Committee when they call to ask if you would consider serving as District President. The Annual Dues paid by each district to the District President's Association provides funds for transportation, lodging at the Pickett and Eliot houses, and all meals but Saturday evening. The result is a weekend full of interaction with lively UU leaders from all over the country, information of importance to the district congregations and members, and an education in associational functioning. Oh yes, and an opportunity to shop at the UUA bookstore with a (token) discount!

This report is organized in three broad categories. 1) Information provided by the UUA (usually in the form of Tracy Robinson-Harris, the Acting Director of Congregational, District, and Extension Services, but from others as noted) sometimes at the request of the district presidents, 2) information shared among the district presidents formally and informally via networking, and 3) other miscellaneous items of interest.

A District Handbook is in the making for members of district boards. It is hoped that core functions of districts and key indicators for tracking whether they are happening will be identified.

APF information -- How the loop between money from congregations to the UUA as part of the Fair Share program comes back to the Districts and so to congregations ins services;

Settling and Start-up of new district professionals (DE's and program consultants) · Co-employment of field staff issues and just compensation

Conducting a 3rd and 7th year review of field staff · Universal Access-Accessibility Task Force (Jacqui James, UUA contact person). Issues of interest to Florida District : Outreach with Accessibility, Anti-oppression, Social Justice; brochures are available from the UUA for congregations.

Resolution to GA planning committee to avoid scheduling other meetings (youth, ministerial) during the district in-gatherings so that all members of a district attending General Assembly can attend

Restructuring the organization of the UUA and implications for the Congregations, Districts and Extension department -Kay Montgomery , Executive Vice-president

Electronic Wizardry ideas-posting "what works" on the district website for congregational access; Utilizing district list-serves for newsletters (several districts have eliminated print newsletters) and other information, i.e. conference and assembly reminders. Every email address known to the district can receive information initially with an option to unsubscribe at any time. (Chalice Lighter grants made with fanfare at Annual Meetings

RE-Young Adult Council annual summit

Trend-spotting-Conducting small trainings for small pieces rather than global trainings in big blocks

Board functioning-including a worship component in board meetings; Linkage ideas, i.e. the District President and board member liasons meet periodically with local congregation boards; information about board functioning is available from ncnb.org (National Council of Nonprofit Boards) and the Thomas Jefferson District website (board development info).

Other achievements of the weekend included:

Creating permanent working groups in the areas of finance, personnel and communication and support.

Planning and organizing a workshop to be sponsored by the district presidents at General Assembly in addition to the pre-GA workshop on "Identity-Based Conflict" being sponsored and partially underwritten by the DPA

A heartfelt talk about September 11 and its aftermath for ourselves and our districts, with responses ranging from the personal (impatience in the face of the life's fragility and uncertainty) to institutional ( a commitment by one congregation in the Pacific Northwest to send 100 "letters" a week to congressional representatives by fax and email-no envelopes to open).

Thank you for allowing me to represent you! To be a part of this lively, dedicated, always thinking and reflecting group is a great honor and great fun.

Respectfully,
Kathy Converse President, Florida District