“This is not about where your congregation is going, it is about how leaders can help your congregation get there.”
Gilbert S. Rendle.

In a year of tumultuous change, many of us have wondered where we’re going next both as individuals and as a community. Few could disagree with Rev. Andy Pakula’s introduction to the course:

“We need strong, inspiring and courageous leadership in our congregations more than ever. This course will equip you with the skills to lead change in your congregation, so that we can help support the spiritual, emotional, and organisational needs of our communities and play our part in making the world a better place. Based on Gilbert Rendle’s classic book ‘Leading Change in the Congregation’, the course leaders Rev Andy Pakula and Rory Castle Jones will guide you through the hurdles, challenges and exciting possibilities involved in leadership for change in congregations.”

So, over seven weeks in January to March 2021, Unitarians from across the UK gathered on a Monday evening for online sessions looking at cycles of change, what ‘leadership’ means in this context, and how to help your congregation change whilst looking after your own well-being. We talked, we prayed, we scribbled on online whiteboards (surprisingly fun), and at the end of it, we came away with the ability to do a congregational review – and the feeling of being part of a supportive network. We asked people what they thought about the course – here’s some answers.

What did you learn?

“During the course I learned that as congregations we have similar problems, but that what’s problematical is that because individual Unitarians and congregations are resolutely independent we have little knowledge of the commonality of our mutual issues, and so we have never developed common processes. We constantly re-invent the wheel at local level and almost never see the bigger picture! This course has allowed a diverse group on Unitarians to discuss their mutual and common concerns in a way that would not have been possible pre-Covid. Andy and Rory have created a new dynamic in thinking at a national level.”

Commenting on what it was like attending the course, there were some very differing perspectives identified by individuals and by Unitarian communities. One person commented: “At times it seemed people had read an entirely different book from the one I had engaged with!”. However, there was also some clear agreement between most of those who attended about certain key elements in the course.

The importance of professionalism in leadership

When asked why they thought the course was effective, one view was “it brought a level of professionalism to organisational structure and governance that has been sadly lacking, and gave a theoretical structure to good governance by using a published ‘management’ book. Too many times, good governance and organisation [in congregations] is ‘managed’ by ‘spiritual’ books. It’s simply not the same skill set, and it needs to be acknowledged as such. I particularly appreciated the last session which highlighted the difficult but necessary choices that congregations need to make in order to thrive. For some it may have been difficult to listen to, but it is a necessary message for our Unitarian movement.”

What are you going to do next?

Several attendees said that they were taking action as a result of attending the course, for example, having regular meetings to discuss how to tackle long-term problems such as inappropriate behaviour, bullying, and the need for a complaints procedure. One person was hosting an engagement session to introduce and enable congregational engagement with the “Leading Change in the Congregation” course, looking at the broad picture of why change may be needed in congregations.

Another valuable perspective was from one person who attended whose congregation had gone through considerable change in previous years, who commented: “A few years ago we had big problems which severely damaged our congregation, but as we have learnt, sometimes an upheaval leading to change is sometimes a good thing and we have now moved on and are growing in numbers. We have found that putting our congregation first and at the heart of all things happening in the chapel was and is the way for us. We now gel as a congregation much easier and any small problems or questions are tackled before they become too large.”

This past year has seen a big increase in training and learning opportunities open to Unitarians, as we’ve taken advantage of Zoom to share wisdom on everything from anti-racism to the importance of registration for same-sex marriage, and courses that were previously offered only in person can now be done online. It’s a great trend, although let’s hope that in future we can offer both on- and off- line options! I think that all of these opportunities, including the Leading Change course, represent a growing representation of the importance of professional training for Unitarians at all levels, not only worship leaders and ministers, and on many different aspects of our work. If the course is run again, I’d recommend it to anyone in a leadership position in their congregation, or who thinks they might be looking to take one on.