October 19, 2015
LREDA, UUMA, UUMN Members:

We write to you with an update and good news! Most of you, we hope, remember the report that was made by the LREDA/UUMA/UUMN Task Force For Excellence in Shared Ministry in 2013. (Their report can be found by clicking here.) That task force made many recommendations, and we have been working for the last two years on how to implement those recommendations. Over the last few months, a separate task force has been working on identifying resources to assist us in our shared ministries. You can find the document containing an annotated list of these resources by clicking here. Our plan is to continually add resources to this document and update it as new resources become available.

We are grateful to the members of the task force - Michelle McKenzie-Creech, LREDA; Emily DeTar and Darrick Jackson, UUMA; Anne Watson Born, UUMN; Jan Gartner and Jessica York; UUA Staff— for their work, and we encourage you to not only utilize the resources, but also to let us know when you have more to add. Suggestions for additional resources should be sent to [email protected].

The next recommendation from the 2013 report to be addressed is to create and/or identify trainings and workshops that will support all of us in our shared endeavors towards excellence in ministry. We have assembled a group of representatives from our professional organizations and the UUA to create and discover more tools for our work. We expect this group to have something to report by the 2016 General Assembly.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and thank you for your commitment and service to our faith.

Cathy Seggel
President, LREDA

Don Southworth
Executive Director, UUMA

Tim Anderson
President, UUMN