Adopted by the Board of Trustees on August 15, 2011
We, the members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis, adopt this covenant for the purpose of being in right relationship with one another. Through this covenant we make a formal commitment to act with mutual trust and respect in our church community. This covenant serves as a public statement of what it means to be a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis. We believe that members bring their best intentions into their relationships with the Church and its members, clergy, and staff. Yet, this covenant will serve to remind us of our explicit responsibilities in maintaining a healthy congregation. It will provide a framework for upholding our mission and living our shared principles and values.

Member to Self

• I promise to nurture my spiritual needs.
• I promise to accept myself as I am, realizing my limits, and forgiving myself when I fall short.
• I promise to take responsibility for my personal well-being and to balance my commitments to the Church with those of the other areas of my life.
• I promise to live responsibly, to act with integrity, and to speak honestly.

Member to Staff

• 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.

Member to Member

We promise to be welcoming, respectful, and supportive of Church community members by:

• Communicating openly and truthfully.
• Deeply listening with an open mind, loving heart.
• Remaining cognizant of everyone’s right to speak.
• 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.

Member to Board of Trustees

• 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.

Member to Youth and Children

• We promise to serve as proper role models for our youth and children.
• We promise to be thoughtful and careful in our communications with our youth and children, speaking with clarity and honesty, listening deeply and attentively.
• We promise to be patient with our youth and children, allowing them time to gain experience and to learn for themselves.
• We promise to make our actions with our youth and children intentional, well thought out, consistent and trustworthy.
• 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.

Member to Clergy

• 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, as a teaching congregation, to support the professional growth of clergy and interns.
• 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 the 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.

Member to Larger Community

• We promise to conduct ourselves in an ethical manner and thereby promote such behavior in our children and the community.
• We promise to act in a manner to foster acceptance of other faiths and cultures and to work to build an anti-oppressive world.
• We promise to be aware of concerns, needs and conflicts in environmental, economic and social justice issues and to use our resources toward their resolution.

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.