Our Mission
Our Mission, Vision, and Covenants
Our Mission
Our mission is to be a caring community that encourages spiritual growth and actively works to improve our society and the environment.
Our Vision
We envision a welcoming congregation with abundant resources and diverse ministries, nourishing people in body, mind, and spirit within a garden that honors the Earth. We envision our church as a wellspring of spiritual exploration, learning, and action, where all are inspired and empowered to connect with our wider community and to improve our world.
Our Covenant
We promise to live in harmony and civility, with awareness, tolerance, acceptance, and celebration of our diversity. We commit ourselves to enthusiastic support of our Fellowship and of the Unitarian Universalist tradition through our individual gifts and talents.
Our Covenant of Right Relations
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Bowling Green strives to be an inclusive community, celebrating diversity and individual freedom of belief as stated in our Association’s purposes and principles. We encourage the free expression of ideas and opinions consistent with our Covenant of Right Relations.
This covenant is a set of promises we make to guide, strengthen, and deepen our relationships. We rely on it to nurture and support a just and caring congregational life. In abiding by these promises we aspire to live into our fullest potential and seek to do our part in creating a sacred space where each one of us has the opportunity to be appreciated for our unique gifts, and to be challenged to learn, grow, and contribute.
We promise to:
Speak and act with care, courtesy, and compassion.
Support the right of all voices to be heard and graciously share opportunities to honestly share with other members our hopes, needs, concerns, and stories.
Listen actively to the needs of others, assume best intentions, and acknowledge differences among us in our ideas, beliefs and opinions. Ask respectfully for clarification and honor confidences, valuing every person during times of agreement and disagreement.
Address the situation with loving kindness when we witness disrespectful interactions.
Raise concerns bravely, promptly, gently, and directly with those involved, and invite others to do the same with us. Seek support if needed and take advantage of opportunities to learn ways of working through conflicts constructively.
Be open to self-evaluation and willing to change.
Take full responsibility for our own wellbeing and actions, refrain from blaming, identify assumptions, and allow time to reflect and identify feelings, needs, and requests.
Offer help when we can, and ask for help when we need it.
Be gentle with ourselves as we seek to learn and practice more compassionate communication in working together to create effective strategies for meeting our needs and the needs of the community. Seek forgiveness and grant it when we fail to keep these promises, and then begin again in love.
Treat e-mail as public discourse and use the same standard of courtesy, respect, and kindness as in speech.
Strive to be an informed member of the congregation and to participate actively and respectfully in the democratic process by which this community governs itself.
Honor and abide by congregational decisions arrived at through the collective wisdom of this process and follow agreed-upon policies and procedures of the congregation.
Show respect for the minister and his leadership role within the congregation.
Attempt to resolve controversies on policies, programs, and finances through the appropriate committee or channel.
Bring a sense of joy, humor, and fun to the fellowship of UUBG, while supporting the general welfare of the congregation in times of ease and times of struggle.
May this Covenant be a touchstone for enriching our relationships and our capacity for contributing to building a more just and peaceful world.
Adopted by vote of the congregation on 7 February 2016.