After a two-year hiatus from the Alliance board, I was excited to board a plane to Charlotte for the recent board meeting at the Oratory in Rock Hill, SC. I have heard nothing but praise for Brooks Wicker’s enthusiastic leadership over the past two years, and the board continues to be in capable hands with Carol Blythe at the helm.

In addition to her passion for the Alliance in general, one of the signal strengths that Carol brings to board leadership is her passion for social justice. In particular, at this board meeting, Carol took the initiative as president to encourage local churches to consider using and promoting Fair Trade coffee on Sunday mornings. She also encouraged us to contact our U.S. senators about the New START treaty. She also demonstrated her willingness to shoulder her share of the burden by offering to help coordinate a place to stay for any young adults groups who wanted to be involved with the Ecumenical Advocacy Days in the D.C. area through the National Council of Churches. Board members were also encouraged to support the movement against the bullying of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered community.

Before the board meeting even began, we hosted a Gathering for Alliance members, friends, and supporters at Whitehead Manor Conference Center, featuring coffee, cakes, conversation, and plenty of opportunity to share the good news of the Alliance.

This small, informal gathering is an example of the Alliance’s increasingly intentional goal of providing both more frequent and more varied opportunities for Alliance folk to gather together. Also, be on the lookout for news about the Spirituality Gathering, an annual prayer and spirituality retreat that the Alliance has inherited from the Advent Spirituality Center. All who are interested in the Christian contemplative tradition will want to take advantage of this opportunity.

In my return to the board, I continue to be impressed with the collegiality of the Leadership Team. Their commitment to a non-hierarchal model is an inspiration that lives out the values the Alliance has always expressed at its best. To help sustain this model, we took time in the board meeting both to talk about development strategies as well as to engage in actual development work: making phone calls, writing letters, and writing checks ourselves! If your congregation has not held an Alliance Sunday this year, we encourage you to see the excellent materials available on the Alliance website.

Some other exciting developments include work toward establishing an Alliance Disaster Relief Fund to help receive and coordinate donations to relief organizations in case of disasters around the world. There is also a Task Group hard at work on developing the “cadillac” of Search and Call processes to help the Alliance facilitate the discernment process of congregations calling new staff members. The hope is for the Alliance Search and Call process to soon have the integrity and clarity of our newly-revised Clergy Recognition Process.

The Summer Communities of Service will also have a triumphant return in 2011. The current plan includes eight sites between the UCC and the Alliance, assuming a total of 22 interns.  The Alliance would be responsible for 4 sites and 11 interns.  This project is one of many exciting initiatives! Many of you have also answered the Call to Communities, and we look forward to hearing reports of the good work being done when we gather for Convocation the weekend after Easter in Louisville.