The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bozeman is a liberal religious community of diverse beliefs, bound together by shared values.
Our active practice is to:
Gather as a welcoming, accepting and open community
Foster freedom of belief and responsible inquiry
Inspire spiritual growth and lifelong learning
Serve others by social action for social and environmental justice
COVENANT OF RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS
We, the members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bozeman, adopt this mutually binding covenant for the purpose of freely entering into relationships based on trust and respect in the building of and participation in our religious community.
- I promise to take responsibility for my personal well being and spiritual needs. I promise to live responsibly, to act with integrity and to speak honestly.
- We promise to show our respect by making clear requests in a timely manner, being civil in our interactions, honoring work hours, being open and direct in our communications, and showing sincere appreciation for work done.
- We promise to honor the staff’s authority over their spheres of responsibility.
- We promise to provide staff with adequate resources, a healthy work environment, and opportunities for professional development.
- We promise to support fair compensation and benefits for staff.
- Communicating openly and truthfully.
- Deeply listening with an open mind, loving heart.
- Giving of our time, talent, and money.
- Maintaining the commitments we make.
- Keeping informed and informing others of happenings within the church community.
- Supporting each other in our search for meaning, recognizing each of us as a teacher as well as a student in the learning process.
- Caring for each other in our joys and sorrows.
- We promise to maintain appropriate boundaries with our children and youth.
- We promise to include our youth and children as full participants in church life appropriate to their age and experience.
- We hold one another accountable to the covenant we have made to each other.
- We promise to communicate openly, directly and honestly with the Board.
- We promise to honor and respect the work of the Board.
- We promise to educate ourselves on the Board’s decision-making process, to raise issues directly consistent with that process, and to trust and accept the results.
- We promise to have a respectful relationship with the professional clergy, a relationship that models justice, truth, love, equity and compassion in all encounters.
- We promise to communicate directly and honestly and to provide feedback in a spirit of loving-kindness.
- We promise to support the professional growth of clergy and staff.
- We promise to honor those needs and concerns of the clergy that are outside of their roles as leaders of the congregation, including acknowledging that time away from church is protected personal time.
- We promise to recognize and value the unique role of the clergy in providing leadership for our church while at the same time acknowledging our own responsibility for carrying out the church’s shared ministry.
- We promise to support fair compensation and benefits for clergy.
This is a living document intended to reflect the needs of our congregation as it changes and grows. Accordingly, the Committee on Ministry and Board of Trustees will review it every three years. Additionally, it will be included in our orientation process, made available for all to see, and incorporated into our congregational lives. Concerns about the health of the church in regard to right relations will be directed to the Committee on Ministry.
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bozeman adopts this covenant while recognizing its source being from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, California.
We envision our community as a mid-size congregation of 150-300 members and friends, growing, and recognized as a welcoming place for those who value our liberal principles. Because we are growing, specific efforts are made to integrate newcomers into our life together. They are asked to help with Sunday Service tasks, invited to study groups and welcomed to social activities. Long-term members enter into mentoring relationships with those who have recently joined our Fellowship.
Our Sunday Services are varied, led by our professional and lay leadership. We have a choir which sings frequently, and often there are instrumental pieces. People who visit comment on how welcoming and friendly we are. We have a full-time minister and a full-time religious education director, who also helps with community outreach and justice projects. Our building is maintained by both volunteers and a part-time sexton.
We meet in a large building, with adequate classrooms and a sanctuary space which can be modified for social activities. There is a library, several staff offices, a youth meeting room, and a garden which has a meditation area.
Our building is occupied almost every hour of the day and evening with activities - either UUFB or the community. There are groups for study and intellectual/spiritual growth, a youth club, and a campus ministry outreach. Special interest groups meet monthly and there are many social activities just for fun.
Our justice activities are focused in one area of need which was determined by the Social Justice committee. We contribute money, time, and volunteer work to this project. Often, we are asked by other groups in the community to support their work on the environment, on human rights, and on economic fairness.
Some people refer to us as their “spiritual filling station”. Others call us their “church” or “community” or “fellowship”. Whatever the term, our life together supports us so we can care for one another and put our principles into action to make the world a little bit better.