On 9 September, Unitarians from across the UK gathered online, mugs of tea and coffee on hand, to view the new Congregational Support Toolkit. Hosted by Simon Bland, Liz Slade and Lizzie Kingston-Harrison, the Toolkit replaces the old and much-loved ‘Help is at Hand’ guidebook for Unitarian Administrators. Covering everything from employment policies for ministers, and staff, to charity law and copyright issues, it’s a necessary guide for those of us who run our congregations, as our resources have often diminished, whilst at the same time the complexity of charity law and other issues facing us has increased.

Those present discussed the Toolkit, offered feedback on its layout, and suggested content we wanted to see. As ever, we had a wide-ranging discussion about issues we face. One topic, perhaps beyond the scope of the Toolkit, but very important, was the need for exploring what ‘Ministry without Ministers’ looks like, given that many of our congregations do not, and cannot have, a minister. How do we minister to each other and our communities? Perhaps that is our next challenge! Thanks to all those involved in creating the Toolkit, it looks set to be a valuable resource.

Update – from Lizzie: “The Congregational Support Toolkit is now live! https://toolkit.unitarian.org.uk/. This ever-growing resource is where you will find many tools to support your congregation, from document templates to “best practices” to current stipend rates for ministers. We hope you will find this toolkit useful. If you have any suggestions for new content, please get in touch: info@unitarian.org.uk“.