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In 2015, Unitarian Universalist Association staffer Rev. Renée Ruchotzke had an idea: What if there were an easier and more accessible way to offer leadership development for Unitarian Universalists?
At the time, trainings were primarily in-person leadership schools offered by UUA regions (and previously by districts) where people would gather in a retreat setting for a week. But that model was increasingly difficult to maintain since it required people to take time off, travel to a central location, and pay significant fees for lodging and travel, though scholarships were offered in many cases.
Ruchotzke’s solution? Develop a system to provide online congregational leadership and faith development, which eventually became the UU Institute, and a related resource, LeaderLab.
“I could see the writing on the wall, that things would have to change,” Ruchotzke said. “There were fewer resources, even ten years ago, and that’s only become more of an issue. I believed that this is my call to ministry—that there are lay leaders who yearn to be partners in ministry and haven’t had the tools available to do that. Our goal was to give them those tools.”
Ruchotzke was dean of the UU Institute for ten years before recently switching to other work on UUA staff, making way for Lillian Drab-Braddick, a member of the UUA Southern Region’s staff, to take on the role.
Early on, the UU Institute partnered with a then-fledgling software vendor called LearnDash, which facilitated multimedia online courses. The UUA, as one of LearnDash’s first customers, got a great deal, and still gets the service at a good rate, Ruchotzke said. For the initial classes, she sought out UUs she already knew were doing work teaching, blogging, or otherwise communicating ideas about congregational leadership.
Growth was steady in the initial years but picked up significantly during and in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Now, the UU Institute has more than 10,000 users, Drab-Braddick said.
The UU Institute’s offerings are a mix of recorded videos, written materials, and in many cases live virtual gatherings of class participants, with exercises for users to engage the material more deeply in either live sessions online or in their congregations. LeaderLab, meanwhile, is more like a library, with articles and links to materials, arranged in subjects, that are free to access and available any time.
Institute classes are offered at affordable rates, with new classes often about $30 per person, while older classes are discounted to about half that, with many resources offered for free.
Becca Boerger, a member of the UU Congregation of Binghamton, New York, and previously a member at the UU Congregation of Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, said she’s benefited enormously from UU Institute offerings in her growth as a leader in congregations.
Speaking of her early attempts at congregational leadership, Boerger said, “I did everything wrong. I didn’t know how to work with a group of people. I was used to my idea and convincing everyone of it.”
Leadership training courses through the Institute helped her approach congregational leadership in a different way, she said, offering skills she needed to approach the work more theologically and in covenant. Boerger also praised a class she took with members of her congregation more recently, “Tending Covenant: Training for Right Relationship Teams.”
Drab-Braddick said the Institute’s offerings have also changed how UUA staff work with congregations, allowing them to use their time more efficiently, citing classes like “Board Foundations” and “Effective Boundaries for Lay Leaders.”
“This is now a part of how congregational life does consulting,” Drab-Braddick said. “Once you do this [class], you can have a deeper conversation with congregational life staff.”
In the future, Drab-Braddick said the Institute hopes to reach even more UUs, and plans to continue updating and expanding its offerings.