Dear Ones,

As we turn toward a season of growth and anticipation, it seemed like a good time to share with you our progress so far on some of our work together specific to the Interim opportunity. WES members and staff are busy all the time with fulfilling the mission, including caring for one another, showing up for our neighbors in justice and compassion, learning and reflecting to bring out the best in each other and therefore in ourselves, and all of the other activities aimed at bringing about a world in which love and justice cross all borders. Our shared commitment to the mission has not stopped, even as we have adapted to the pandemic and to the Interim time. Meanwhile, we’re also working together on some of the opportunities for reflection and growth that this transitional time in between long-term clergy Leaders is presenting to WES. 

As you may recall, between September 1 and October 14, 2020, the Transition Team hosted twelve Cottage Meetings. These meetings offered opportunities for me to meet many of you and for many of you to meet me. Members were invited to share what they love about WES, what questions they had about the Interim period, and what they hoped for WES’s future. 

Members of the Transition Team took notes at every meeting. There were some topics that were frequently spoken about, but a high degree of variance in terms of what members thought about those topics. Part of the reason for my delay in reporting back to you was that it took time for the Transition Team to assist me with analyzing pages and pages of data from those meetings, looking for common threads. Given the relatively open format of the meetings, the direction of each conversation was unique. 

The one strong common theme among participants in Cottage Meeting was that members enjoy each other’s company and value community. It is possible that what was meant by “community” varied from person to person. Members seem to appreciate having a place to connect with others who share similar values, though they also appreciate the dialogue that occurs between people who may agreeably disagree on how to live those values and share them with the world. 

Members discussed the impact of the pandemic and what might be possible going forward. Participants expressed appreciation for the accessibility of online operations. At the same time, many members yearned for the day when it will be safe to gather in person. Overall, it seemed that participants wanted a hybrid future, one in which WES offers programs both online and in person. 

I want to pause here from the analysis of Cottage Meeting conversations to affirm that the staff and Board and I heard you on this point. As we are drafting the budget for 2021-2022 and working on our reopening plan, we are committed to maintaining the accessibility of online activities that we have discovered during the last year. Some of our newest members Zoom in to Platform and to their Deepening Circles and other activities from very far away; we value these members and want to make sure WES continues to be a home for them. Furthermore, as we are planning ahead for holding some activities in the WES building, we are mindful of the impact of our choices on the most vulnerable members of our community. It would be unethical to leave them behind or to make them choose between their safety and their community. Our return to in-person operations will be gradual and will be informed by scientific data as well as our values. 

Returning to the topic of the Cottage Meetings, there were some conversations about staff transitions and finances. Members wished for more regular information about those areas. In terms of finances, it should be noted that most of the Cottage Meetings occurred before the fall membership meeting, in which the budget was updated in a favorable light, and before the Connect Campaign. There is still more to do to help WES stabilize finances long-term, but if Cottage Meetings were held today, the tenor of the conversation about finances might be different. I’ve been in conversation with Business Administrator Tom Hutton and some of the volunteers on the Endowment and Stewardship Teams as well as the Board about more ideas for sharing financial information with members so that conversations about WES’s financial health are not as dependent on the pledge drive. That being said, I’m very excited about this year’s pledge drive, and I’m looking forward to discussing it with you further at this Sunday’s Platform. 

In terms of staff transitions, it seems that further discussion is needed about how members can contribute to an environment that encourages staff retention. In addition to the skill of the Senior Leader as a supervisor and the oversight by the Board, staff retention is affected by many factors, including: member treatment of staff, shared understanding of the boundaries between members and staff, and financial resources provided through pledging for staff compensation and professional development. Our new Employee Handbook is helping staff and lay leaders achieve greater clarity of roles, boundaries, and expectations, which I believe will improve WES as a working environment and will assist with staff retention. The budget we are drafting to inform the pledge drive includes moving toward fair compensation for current staff and increasing professional development expenses for all staff. It will take several years of steady improvement to reach recommended levels for fair compensation and professional expenses. The Board and I have been paying attention to how we can improve WES as a working environment for staff. We will continue to invite members to consider how their treatment of staff can support this effort. 

Future steps for Interim goals include more conversations in small groups, investigation of connections with our strategic partners (both interfaith justice partners like CAN and WIN and national affiliates such as the AEU and the UUA), and reflections on WES history. WES may also have opportunities to discuss our justice priorities and partnerships as more of our members are trained by WIN to facilitate those conversations. The Transition Team and I are in the early stages of planning the next round of small group conversations in the late spring and early summer. 

This is just a taste of some of the activity that was inspired by conversations at Cottage Meetings. Thanks again to the Transition Team for their assistance with organizing those gatherings, taking notes, and analyzing the data. Thanks also to everyone who shared their thoughts, either in a Cottage Meeting or with me directly. WES is working hard on exploring this interim opportunity as well as fulfilling the mission every day. You can be proud of how you have handled this past year. I hope you are as excited as I am at the possibilities for what WES members can achieve in the future. 

Take care,

-Lyn

Lyn Cox

Interim Senior Leader