NORTHLAKE CONGREGATIONAL COVENANT OF RIGHT RELATIONS

We, the members of Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church, covenant together to strive to keep a community where we can examine and live out our highest values. To that end we make these explicit promises to each other, in order to strengthen our mutual love and respect, and remind ourselves of ideals for living together as a church and in the wider world.

To be in right relation with myself, I promise to:

• accept myself as I am, realizing my limits, and forgiving myself when I fall short;
• respect and uphold my personal boundaries while challenging my comfort zone;
• strive to model justice, truth, love, equity and compassion in all my relationships.

To be in right relation with other members, we promise to be welcoming, respectful and supportive of the members of the church community by:

• deeply listening with an open mind and loving heart;
• communicating openly and truthfully;
• endeavoring to get to know others;
• knowing when and how to get help for self and others;
• honoring the commitments we make;
• being willing to work through conflicts and misunderstandings directly with the person or persons involved;
• becoming knowledgeable about church governance and policies;
• keeping informed and informing others of happenings within the church community;
• being mindful of the church’s mission;
• attending congregational meetings;
• supporting each other, recognizing each of us as a teacher as well as a student in the learning process;
• giving of our time, talent and financial resources;
• being aware of growth opportunities and willing to accept leadership opportunities;
• holding the right to disagree while respecting the beliefs of others.

To be in right relations with the Board, we promise to:

• understand the goals and the mission of the Board;
• communicate openly, directly and honestly with the Board members;
• educate ourselves on the Board’s decision making process, raise issues directly consistent with that process and trust and accept the results;
• express appreciation to the Board as appropriate;
• understand that if something benefits the community, it also benefits us.

To be in right relations with the staff members, we promise to:

• provide staff with adequate resources, a healthy work environment and opportunities for professional development;
• understand the responsibilities of the position and honor staff’s authority over their spheres of responsibility;
• show 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;
• support good personnel policies and pay practices.

To be in right relations with the minister, we promise to:

• communicate directly and honestly and provide feedback in a spirit of loving kindness;
• honor those needs and concerns of the minister which are outside the ministerial role, acknowledging that time away from church is protected personal time;
• support the professional growth of the minister;
• recognize and value the role of the minister in providing leadership, while at the same time acknowledging our own responsibility for carrying out the church’s shared ministry;
• express our appreciation as appropriate;
• support fair compensation and benefits for the ministry.

To be in right relations with the wider community, we promise to:

• be aware of concerns, needs and conflicts in environmental, economic and social justice issues and be informed about resources which may be used toward their resolution;
• speak up about injustices and support active discussion and action on current issues;
• know and articulate Unitarian Universalist Principles and strive to embody them in our actions;
• participate and encourage participation of others in regional, district and national and international Unitarian Universalist activities.