1 – For Our Community
Mission Statement
Open Welcoming and Friendly
Intimacy, Fellowship and Support
Open and Effective Communication
Valuing and Recognizing our Church Community
Eternally Recreating Ourselves
2 – For Our Service Outreach
Strong Community Relations
Effective Leadership
Communication
3 – For Our Religious Education/Sunday Service
Coming Together on Sundays
Individual Development
Meeting the Challenge
4 – For Our Marketing
Send the Message
Internal Publicity Awareness
5 – For Our Finance/Ways and Means
Have Pledges cover Operating Costs
Present Clear Financial Information
Fund Raising
6 – For Our Staff
Our paid infrastructure
7 – For Our Building
Improvements
Expansion
Evaluating our church’s
sense of community and atmosphere is a delicate task. How do we measure
something so elusive? It involves the heart and the mind. Do members and
visitors feel welcome and wanted? Is the church a warm, inviting and welcoming
place to be on Sunday, or any other day? Do we see it as just another community
commitment that takes up our time?
Some members may feel a
sense of community by going to a committee meeting. For others, it may mean
joining friends at a circle dinner, contributing during workday, or singing in
the choir. Based on input from the focus groups and surveys, we have
established goals for our church community:
Mission
Statement
To clarify the ultimate and guiding
purposes of our congregation will be reflected in this statement.
Open,
Welcoming and Friendly
We will continue to be an open and
welcoming place where all can feel comfortable and accepted.
Intimacy,
Fellowship and Support
We enrich our lives and the church’s
future by interacting with one another on a personal level. We each have a
small circle of very close friends and a much larger circle of acquaintances
whom we admire and respect.
Open
and Effective Communication
We strive to expand and improve methods
of sharing information through many vehicles to our loving and caring community
including addressing the inevitable conflicts of opinion, directly, honestly
and respectfully.
Valuing
and Recognizing our Church Community
We recognize and honor those whose
efforts and contributions add energy and vitality to our church community.
Eternally
Recreating Ourselves
We seek to evolve as an effective and
viable church community that meets the changing needs of its members and
friends.
The key factors required to
make the Community goals a success are as follows:
2001
Create
a mission statement and review/update every five years.
Support
the reinstated Newcomers corner which provides information to new visitors via
handouts and conversation about our beliefs, activities, and publications.
Introduce a needs and wish list in the Journey as an opportunity for
members to become more aware and involved in the daily activities of the
church.
Utilize all means of communication in order to
touch a wider audience i.e. bulletin board, Journey, web site, order of
service.
We
will put forth a healthy vibrant image in any presentation that could be used
to foster growth and a sense of community.
Ensure the timely delivery of the Journey to our members and
friends.
Update and publicize accurate membership data with attention to
causes of addition and attrition of members.
Institute ways of recognizing and rewarding members i.e. chalice
lighting, MVP parking, newsletter article.
Support and maintain the policy of handling disruptive behavior.
Seek assistance from the UUA in identifying and
solving issues in a timely manner.
Utilize our internal publications as a means of
advertising members business endeavors.
2001-2002
Reevaluate and design a functional bulletin
board for committee and general use i.e. Board Minutes, SUUSI, SWIM.
Updated committee definitions and chair
responsibilities will be available to everyone. This could be available in
member Handbook and Website.
2002
Use newcomer mugs to help identify visitors.
Be responsive to exceptional physical needs of
our community i.e. offer wheelchairs and hearing devices.
Explore ways to implement covenanting groups.
Promote use of internal community resources by
creating a business page in our directory and consider a fee for classified
advertising.
Explore interdependent web of our world
together by camping, nature outings, hiking, canoeing, star gazing etc.
Encourage and publicize the use of time lines
for church projects.
Create new and innovative ways to support
workday i.e. birthday month etc.
Utilize congregational experts to train others
in the art of greeting.
Hold a Church wide discussion of behavior and
appearance to visitors. Use congregational experts for advice.
Seek out trainer/facilitator to provide
committee chairs with skills to help committees run better and reach goals.
Support families in our church by offering
childcare during various church activities.
Publish the important dates identified annually
at board retreat i.e. Rummage Sale, Workdays.
2002-2003
Hold regular events that support community
outreach and social interaction. Advertise appropriately to the larger
community.
2003/2004
The
Unitarian Universalist Church provides an open community for individuals of all
ages, races, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and religious
beliefs. Our welcoming community supports diversity within our organizations.
We also strive to strengthen the congregation’s appreciation of diversity
through participation in multicultural and interfaith programs and by studying
various religious and spiritual beliefs. This commitment to diversity is
reflected in our ongoing social justice efforts and in both short and long term
goals.
Strong Community Relations
UUCFL strives to
portray itself as an open and welcoming congregation that contributes to the
community and supports human rights locally and globally.
Effective Leadership
An energetic social
action committee who can identify and coordinate our efforts in areas where the
church can work to make a difference.
Communication
Utilize effective
ways of informing members and friends of our efforts to assist the larger
community.
The
key factors required to make the Service Outreach goals a success are as
follows:
2001
Involve other church members in your individual
service outreach efforts.
Provide frequent reminders to our congregation
of the who, what, when, and how to get involved in all social actions.
Continue to invite local social activists to
speak at Sunday Services.
2001-2002
Encourage committees and minister to
communicate more about current and future in order to support participation.
2002
Have appropriate committees designate one
person to coordinate offsite events possibly with Churches in Cooperation,
ROG, Boca Raton, and Hollywood i.e. MLK Day Parade, PrideFest, Pagan Pride
Day etc.
2002/2003
Enlist our Service Outreach committee to help
UUCFL identify a church wide cause that would benefit from our united support.
Sunday Service is the
centerpiece of church life. This time offers a haven in our busy lives to pause
and reflect together as Unitarian Universalists. Sunday Service is not however,
the only time we have together to learn and grow. Religious Education offers us further opportunities to help us
explore and understand our world as children and as adults.
Excellence in these two
areas of church life will ensure our future.
Coming
together on Sunday
With the leadership of the Sunday
Services Committee, maintain an ongoing program of high quality, varied and
exciting Sunday Services.
Individual
Development
Ensure all members have ample opportunity
to stimulate their spiritual lives, by means of small group discussions,
support groups, adult RE, traditional meals and retreats. This will widen the
scope of member participation in spiritual activities to give the church the
broadest and most diverse spiritual life possible.
Meeting
the Challenge
Foster intellectual development by
challenging members to learn something through new courses, services, and special
events that expand our horizons.
The key factors required to make the
Religious Education/Sunday Service goals a success are as follows:
2001
Continue to present diverse sermons from various belief systems.
Support
excellent Religious Education for our families through participation of the
current program.
2002
Discuss
controversial, ethical, and spiritual issues during Sunday Service and
Religious Education programs.
Minister
and Religious Education director to publicize adult and children prospectus
annually.
Plan
first annual ‘Unity Sunday’ held with nearby Unitarian Universalist churches.
2003
Conduct
a class to help members cope with the change in our church community.
Religious
Education committee to discuss sanctuary etiquette for children and adults.
2005
Investigate
the possibility of two Sunday Services.
We as
Unitarian Universalists realize that there are many people with open minds and
loving hearts. A strong marketing effort will entice this group to our doors.
This marketing strategy can also make our philosophy better understood to the
larger community.
Send the Message
Utilize many varied ways to promote
ourselves in the larger community in order to attract new members.
Internal Publicity
Awareness
Create an awareness of marketing
ourselves to the larger community while maintaining our UU values.
The key factors required to
make the Marketing goals a success are as follows:
2001
Energize
and support the Communication and Marketing Committee.
Continue the publicity
effort where members and friends will notify the Communications and Marketing
Committee of opportunities and vehicles (i.e. newspapers) in which to
advertise. Encourage Marketing Committee to keep members informed of current
advertising.
Educate
congregation to contact Web person to add activities and links to web site.
Create
a common logo that is tied to the Mission Statement in order to be easily
identified in the public arena.
2002
Publicize
the church’s service outreach projects.
Identify
and utilize members with marketing experience to further our marketing goals.
2002/2003
Integrate
college campuses into our marketing program.
2003
Print
advertisement specialty items i.e. garments, pens, and magnets etc. that
promote the church and create additional income.
It is critical that this
church sets church financing as a priority to our members and that we
communicate this clearly. Currently Ways and Means raises a significant amount
of money that is part of the operating budget. The long-range vision is to
eliminate these funds from the operating budget and use them elsewhere.
Have Pledges Cover Operating Costs
Get to a position within five years in
which pledge income covers church operating costs.
Present
Clear Financial Information
Communicate current
financial information that includes up to date operating costs.
Fund
Raising
To seek creative, fun ways
to raise money, separate from pledges, to underwrite our dreams.
The key factors required to make the
Finance/Ways and Means goals a success is as follows:
2001
Entice new members and
retain current members to increase net pledging units.
Encourage congregation
to participate in programs that benefit the church’s’ income i.e. Albertson’s
card.
Reestablish the
service auction as a fun entertaining event.
Finance committee
regularly updates the congregation concerning our state of affairs.
2002
Encourage members to
employ their individual talents to raise money i.e. spaghetti/bingo night, game
night/ book sale.
2002/2003
Review rental policies
for multi areas of use such as the kitchen, classrooms, and sound system.
2004
Increase services
offered to renters i.e. multimedia, catering services, and beverage
services.
We begin
this plan with a full time minister, part time administrative assistant,
Director of Religious Education, music and choir directors, and sextant.
For a number of years we
have enjoyed a low turnover in our staff. Our challenge is to be good employers
and compensate our employees adequately.
Our
Paid Infrastructure
Evaluate and fulfill the staffing needs
of our changing congregation.
The key factors required to
make the Staff goals a success are as follows:
2001
Review staff policies
annually to ensure employer and employee needs are being met.
Reflect our Unitarian
Universalist values as responsible employers. We will offer appropriate
compensation and benefits to each employee while living within our current
financial means
2004
Employ a part time
Custodian.
The building we are in today
was the first step towards our vision. Now we have decided to take our next
step towards our future. This building is the place we gather to explore our
spiritual lives and participate within a community.
Our property is one of our
strongest assets. It is amazing to think that this lot was once a barren site.
Then, with loving hands, we planted and cultivated the beautiful foliage we see
today.
In the next 5 years
we envision a building plan that responds to the varying needs of the
congregation. Building expansion was always the intention, which is evident by
the architectural designs.
With seed money and mindset
we are poised to proceed.
Improvements
We need to ensure that the appearance and
functionality of the current building is maintained. All of these tasks will need
to be in alignment with the expansion plan.
Expansion
We will create a building that meets our
immediate and future needs.