Unitarian Universalist Polity

Instructor: Rev. Audette Fulbright

Course Synopsis - The actual title of this course is UU Polity & Mission-Based Ministry.

Course Overview - We will be taking a concrete and interactive approach to considering three main elements of Unitarian Universalist parish ministry work: 1) Congregational polity; 2) administrative functioning and policy work in congregations; 3) basics in congregational conflict.

Course Objectives -- This course aims to be very practical in its approach to these ministry elements. Students should be able to articulate:

Congregational Polity:

1. What it is;

2. why it matters;

3. how it affects church/ministry work;

4. a vision of congregational polity for the future.

Administration and Church Policy:

1. Why it is important;

2. the relationship between effective church administrative functioning and ministerial effectiveness;

3. the relationship between sound church policy, congregational health and safety, and congregational growth.

Congregational Conflict:

1. The difference between healthy and unhealthy conflict;

2. a realistic understanding of how prevalent conflict is in congregational life;

3. basic skills in recognizing and dealing with congregational conflict.*

* Congregational conflict management is an extremely large subject area. Engaged students should find that this course offers a good basic starting point for reducing anxiety when facing especially minister-involved conflict, and some basic tools and insights for working with conflict in congregations.

Although most of the course will be written responses, there will be scheduled Zoom in-person sessions for live conversation. It will be in these that my "lectures" will be presented, with time for questions and discussion.

 Success in this course will be dependent on:

• engagement with the material;
• theological and practical response papers;
• active participation in online discussions of material;
• presentations.

Your response/prepared papers will constitute 20% of your grade; participation in discussion 40%, presentation 40% and keeping up with reading is expected.

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community.