On behalf of the Unified Governance Working Group (UGov), the Rev. Bernard Wilson, Chair and Phil Porter, UGov member supporting communications, have issued a report on the group's progress toward fulfilling a General Synod 27 request to bring a proposal for a single UCC governing body before the July 2011 assembly in Tampa Bay, Fla.

Significantly, this most recent update recommends a board of approximately 51 members that is created based on competencies needed for good governance while maintaining commitments to diversity. Earlier models had proposed a board of 85-91 members. It is anticipated that a reduction from the current five board, 225 member structure will streamline strategic decision making and speed important ministry actions on behalf of the United Church of Christ.

A final recommendation is expected to be presented to the Executive Council at its October 2010 meeting. The Executive Council will be responsible for next steps in the process. 

The UGov working group has also requested and Porter prepared for download under the direction of Wilson, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document regarding their work and process.

The complete update is below:

An exciting new vision for how the United Church of Christ can move effectively into the future has emerged from a diverse group of UCC members who have been meeting over the past few months.

The Unified Governance Committee held its second "face-to-face" meeting in Cleveland from July 15-17. In serious and thoughtful conversations over the three days, the group crafted a new plan for one unified board of 51 members with responsibilities for strategic planning, fiscal oversight and resource stewardship. This is a shift from a current structure of five boards that include more than 225 members.

Committee members were surprised at the way the plan developed. Committee Chair Bernard Wilson, Senior Minister of Norfield Congregational Church in Weston, CT, noted, "As we gathered on Thursday night, I would never have predicted that we would end up where we did. It was clear that these faithful people were open to the Spirit moving through the process. Our working process aims for full agreement when possible, consensus for broad and general agreement if there is not full consensus and by vote if necessary. They listened, grappled, prayed, debated, cooperated, challenged and then with two standing outside full agreement came to a broadly shared consensus. I shouldn't be surprised at what can happen when we allow God to lead us. But I was surprised, and gratified and moved as well."

Some important overarching themes were confirmed through both large and small-group conversations. One was that "good governance" was of primary value: how can the United Church of Christ most effectively carry out the important functions of the national setting of the church? How can the church deal nimbly with present realities and prepare for the future? As committee member Sylvia Ferrell-Jones put it, "With "good governance," the church is better able to pursue its mission of spreading God's love and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Good governance supports good decision making processes without over-burdening the organization and over-spending resources. The best governance systems enable both inclusion and efficiency.

Rev. Jim Antal, Conference Minister from Massachusetts noted that the size of the board that UGov is recommending is smaller than models previously presented. "One of the pieces of feedback we heard over the past few months was concern that a large board would be unwieldy. We value wide participation in the UCC, but can a group of 85 work together effectively? Many organizations, including many other mainline denominations, are moving toward smaller boards to provide more effective governance. It wasn't hard for the committee to come to consensus around this number of 50 or so."

The committee also agreed that both diversity and expertise were needed on the new board (which is currently being called the "United Church Board"). It became clear to members of the committee that in order to achieve both of those goals, the Nominating Committee would need to be given latitude to find people with specific skills and abilities who also reflected the full diversity of the membership of the UCC. Therefore, the guidelines for creating diversity are broad but also visionary. Fifty-percent or more of the members will be people of color and 50 percent or more will be women. These important benchmarks came from previous restructuring plans that UGov reaffirmed. Additional guidelines are also being put in place to insure other sorts of diversity.

An important characteristic of this new plan is that the various entities of the church (conferences, historically underrepresented groups, affiliated ministries, etc.) will have opportunities to suggest candidates for board positions from which the Nominating Committee will choose, but there will not be specific positions on the United Church Board that will be appointed by those entities themselves. The committee felt that this was the most just way to have both expertise and diversity while also creating a board that was of an effective size. Rev. Marilyn Pagán-Banks, a committee member representing the Council for Hispanic Ministries, expressed a view point that was articulated several times during the meeting, "I think we're at a time and place in our life as a church where each one of us is called to carry the interests of the whole church, in all its glorious variations, no matter what particular groups we might be a part of."

Steve Sterner, Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries, was excited about the new clarity about the relationship between governance and mission that came out of UGov's conversations. "In some ways, we have mixed these two functions in the past—how our organization is run and how we carry out God's work in the world. By simplifying our organizational structure we will free up time, energy and resources for the important mission work that we are called to do. Do we know exactly how that will look? No, but given the passion and creativity of the membership in the United Church of Christ, I have no doubt that many new and exciting ways will be discovered and shared."

The UGov Committee will continue over the next couple of months to refine the model, clarifying details and discussing elements of the plan that are as yet unresolved. As a committee formed by Executive Council, they will present their report to that body in October, which will take the next steps toward moving the plan forward. The General Synod in Grand Rapids in 2009 voted to request that a proposal for unified governance be brought to the next General Synod in the summer of 2011 in Tampa, Fla.