Between Us – What is a Congregation?

By Rev. Clyde Grubbs, February 1, 2024

A congregation is a voluntary organization; that is the employed staff function to facilitate the work of the organization, yet most of the activity and functions are performed by member volunteers. Ideally the members and staff are guided by a common mission and vision.

In the middle of the last century there were more members with time to be volunteers and the volunteers had more time to donate to their congregations. Today that has changed. Many people, especially those who, not yet retired, have very busy schedules.

In 2024, the best practice is to organize activity led by ad hoc teams rather than standing committees. Staff help to resource and advise teams that exist to accomplish projects. The team does not meet once the project is complete, thus minimizing volunteer burn out.

In the old committee model, members continued service on a particular committee and often treated an area of congregational governance as a personal possession. Often congregational projects were not under the oversight of the governing board, but were the property of the committee. In its most dysfunctional practice, committees were given budgets to do their thing and were known to convene a meeting at the end of the fiscal year to spend the funds “left” in their budget lest the congregation at its annual meeting decided to reduce their allotment.

It is important to maximize volunteer morale. One of the factors in sustaining morale is members’ belief that the congregation is fulfilling its mission and vision. Members may express that idea in different ways, such as “more social justice” or “more community outreach” or observing that we are (or are not) “walking our talk.” They may also hold up caring and spirituality growth as areas that need to be strengthened.

The congregation’s vision and mission will inspire morale when activity demonstrates progress toward fulfilling it. But here is a limit to both staff and volunteer energy. Optimally there are teams (also known as ministries) working on projects that reach outward to the larger community, such as speaker series, coffeehouses, the celebration of prominent members, OWL projects, or pastoral care/caring circles. Public worship is an outward reaching project IF we advertise and provide childcare. At the same time there are teams (ministries) working to support our vision of being a caring and supportive community. All contribute to fulfilling the vision and mission, and thus both contribute to volunteer morale. When we look at FPUU-Canton, the teams (ministries) working on outreach and mission to the community are less developed and need more of our attention.