So, Who’s Running This Show? - Exploring Models of Collaborative Leadership and Shared Ministry in Unitarian Universalist Congregations

Abstract

The paper examines various models of co-leadership or other forms of collaborative shared ministry among Unitarian Universalist (UU) religious professionals, evaluates both the potential positive and negative impacts of such models, and outlines best practices for how to establish, embed and maintain them. The author analyzes the models within the specific polity and theological heritage of Unitarian Universalism, including the ways that that heritage has historically both enabled and challenged systems of oppression. He contends that current leadership structures in UU congregations often perpetuate and enable paradigms of patriarchy and white supremacist culture which exclude people of color, queer people, and other historically marginalized people, and so inhibit further growth and diversity in the faith. In order to address various financial, demographic, and governance challenges that Unitarian Universalism currently faces as well as more profound religious and moral issues of equity and inclusion, it is necessary to challenge and deconstruct those paradigms, and erase false preconceptions as to what may be possible within the inherited structures of the denomination. Theologically, the paper also evaluates the implications of UU values and principles for leadership models among religious professionals. The author argues that alternative leadership structures are fully compatible with the newly articulated Shared Values of Unitarian Universalism, and will help promote and expand Beloved Community. If properly implemented, new models for ministry and leadership can inspire UUs to imagine a brighter and more optimistic future for their faith – and by extension for the culture, politics, and socio-economic dynamics of the wider society.