Congregational Polity

Like all Unitarian Universalist congregations, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh practices congregational polity, which means that while UUFR is a part of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, the congregation is an independent organization and the most important decisions, in accordance with the congregation’s bylaws, are decided by congregation members themselves at congregational meetings which are held at least once a year. All congregational members are eligible to vote at congregational meetings.

The Board

While UUFR practices congregational polity, the congregation, through its bylaws, delegates most decision making to its board of directors. UUFR has an eight-person board, which includes the president, the incoming president, the past president, the secretary, the treasurer, and the lead minister. The lead minister is a non-voting member of the board.

The board’s main responsibilities are (1) to stay in relationship with UUFR membership, (2) to help the congregation realize its mission by creating long-term goals for the congregation and a strategy to achieve those goals, (3) to create policies to ensure the well-being of the congregation, and (4) to monitor and evaluate the lead minister and staff as they carry out the strategy and follow the policies the board has created.

The board is assisted in its work by several committees. These include the Nominating Committee, the Financial Advisory Committee, the Committee on Ministry, the Anti-institutional Racism Committee, the Memorial Committee, and the Healthy Congregation Committee.

The Foundation, which has its own board, oversees the congregation’s endowment.

The Staff, Ministry Teams, and Operation Teams

While the board creates goals and strategies, it delegates the authority and responsibility for realizing those goals and strategies to the staff, which is led by the lead minister and assisted by ministry teams and operation teams, which are made up mostly of volunteers.

To see a list of all current board members, committee members, ministry team members, and operations team members, visit the “Who Does What?” page. To see a more complete description of all of these groups, visit the Leadership Descriptions page.