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Governance and
Leadership
"Congregational
polity" is the Unitarian
Universalist technical
term for the way in which
churches, fellowships and
societies of this
denomination are governed.
In plain English, we
govern ourselves. We
select our own ministers,
raise and spend our own
money for salaries,
building upkeep, supplies,
and community outreach, as
established in budgets we
set for ourselves. We
exist without any need for
such hierarchical figures
or structures as bishops,
archbishops, presbyteries,
dioceses, stakes or
synods. Each year, we
create an "Annual Report."
Which is not to say that we have no structure at all. The Unitarian Universalist
Society of Iowa City is a member of the national
Unitarian
Universalist
Association (UUA), which serves our own and other congregations in a variety
of ways, including providing consultants for fund-raising, for instance; and
helping churches "match up" with ministers who meet and understand
our interests and needs.
A wonderful UUA magazine,
The World, brings worldwide
thought and concerns into UU homes every other month. And we are a member of
the
UUA
Prairie Star District, an organization of eight
Midwestern
states whose members and delegates meet annually to share program ideas.
The UUSIC congregation holds annual meetings twice a
year. At one of these meetings, it elects its own leadership, in the form of a
board of directors
(president, vice president, past
president, secretary, and
treasurer).
Trustees, also elected to
the board, guide the society's finance, program, buildings
and grounds, and administration. This body is guided by the
UUSIC Bylaws
(PDF)
(DOC).
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Unitarian
Universalist
Society
of
Iowa City