Pride of Ownership

Post Author
Jeff Walberg, Board President

Being a member of a UU congregation is a far deeper and richer experience than being a member of most other non-profit organizations or even most other religious organizations. And one of the ways to best experience the full meaning of your membership is to attend congregational meetings, such as the one coming up on Dec. 15 after Sunday service. 

The first important factor that makes UU membership different is that we develop and live out our own mission and vision. While we are guided by values and principles that we share with the wider association of UU congregations, we are given the amazing responsibility and authority to periodically review and refine who we want to be in the world, based on how we perceive we can best make a difference in the areas we care most about. The current plan is for the congregation to review and revise our mission and vision statements in 2026, and your participation will be encouraged and appreciated.

Naturally, there are many teams and projects at UUS that allow you to participate in mission and vision work. But that’s the part that’s similar to many non-profits, whether it’s building homes for Habitat for Humanity or serving food at the Free Lunch Program. What I want you to appreciate is something a little different. 

As an independent congregation, all of the resources that we or our forebears have gathered, built, or generated to sustain our work have come from the efforts and abundant generosity of our members, dating back nearly 200 years. 

And just like the folks who long ago raised the walls of our former home at 10 South Gilbert St, each of us is a property owner. And not just an owner of any property, but one that was specially and lovingly designed and constructed to help us best embody and live out our mission. Our stewardship encompasses our sustainably-designed building, our woodlands, our solar panels, labyrinth and gardens, playspaces, and tech equipment. And, as I and many volunteers know from knees-in-the-soil intimacy, it also includes the bioswales that help filter stormwater before it rushes downstream.

We are also currently all debt holders, to the tune of about $750,000. If we don’t make our mortgage payments on a monthly basis, we’ll quickly discover that we’re not the only owners of the property, nor the one recognized by the law.

Importantly and maybe less obviously, we are all also employers of our minister and at least nine staff members, including our ministerial intern. As people who care about just treatment for all people, we have a special obligation to be excellent employers.

And we make all of this possible with an ever-changing cast of dedicated humans who provide their time and talent. We organize ourselves to fill the many roles that any organization requires and that we do not have staff assigned to: managing our money, our human resources, our grounds, our technology, and so much more. 

Meanwhile, these same humans provide the vast majority of capital that this sprawling, living organism requires to persist. And perhaps this is where we are most different from other organizations. Because we report to no higher body–in fact, we pay the UUA annual dues for their support services–we don’t have corporate sponsors, philanthropic foundations, or major benefactors beyond our membership to supplement our cause. We are increasingly finding ways for non-members to contribute through summer camps, rentals, and grants. But, for the most part, there are only us chickens, as Annie Dillard once wrote.

As one of the volunteers most legally responsible for this organization’s well-being at this particular moment in its history, I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by the complexity of it all, particularly as we navigate difficult periods of change and adaptation. Our resources are relatively healthy and generosity is abundant, but the pieces aren’t all lining up quite the way they need to. We’ll be discerning the situation and what to do about it as a congregation in the coming months.

But mostly I simply feel humbled and grateful. What an amazing thing to be able to honor the legacy of so many generations who came before us while attending deeply and personally to the particular people in our congregation and wider community who need and want us to be here and to thrive. With humans doing so many troubling things in the world around us, I find great pride and solace in the work we all do together to sustain and regenerate UUS, day after day.

When you gather at UUS for Sunday worship or participate in any of our many activities, I hope you feel the same pride of ownership that I do. Truly it takes all of us to make all of what we are.

And I do hope to see you at the congregational meeting on Dec.15. It’s on these occasions that we can pause for a moment to truly appreciate all that’s come before while planning for all that lies ahead.

In community,
Jeff Walberg