Midcoast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
March, 2018

In keeping with our Covenant of Good Relations, the Midcoast UU Fellowship strives to keep its members of all ages physically and emotionally free from harm.

The Board of Trustees may deny attendance at any congregational service or function to any congregation member, friend, or visitor deemed to be disruptive or harmful to the Fellowship. This behavior includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Threats to the safety of any adult or child
• Disruption of worship services, congregational functions, congregational activities, or virtual/online spaces dedicated to the Fellowship.

Disruptive behavior, and the response(s) to it, might take these forms:

I. Life-threatening and urgent
If the disruptive situation is life-threatening, any person may take all appropriate measures, including calling 9-1-1.

II. Urgent (but non-life threatening), requiring immediate response
If the verbal or physical disruption persists long enough to interrupt the event, Fellowship leaders may wish to confer, however informally, and take appropriate action without putting themselves (or anyone else) at risk.

Worship: If intruders verbally or physically disrupt worship, the minister and/or worship associate is responsible for maintaining the atmosphere of the service and may choose to call for a song to drown out and/or distract the disruptive behavior. A Board or COM member will go to the Religious Education area to advise those adults about the disturbance. If possible, someone could video the occurrence for possible future legal need, but do not release the footage to the public or retain the footage beyond its immediate or legal need. Don’t engage in discussion. Tell the intruder(s) they are trespassing on our sacred space and ask them to leave the property peacefully.

III. Non-urgent
The Fellowship’s members will use the Covenant as a tool to assess and resolve nonurgent disruptive behavior. If it becomes apparent that the disruptive behavior is a pattern (i.e., unlikely to resolve on its own), at least two people from the following bodies will confer to formally address the disruptive behavior:

The minister; any member of the Board; any member of the Committee on Ministry; and if necessary, a worship associate.

Those leaders will choose any of the following steps, as they deem appropriate and/or necessary:

A. Conduct a face-to-face meeting to resolve the issue, held between a Board Member, a responsible Fellowship member, and/or the Minister and the offending party. The Board and Minister will be informed about such meeting.

B. Send a letter from the appropriate Fellowship leader and/or the Minister to the offending party, specifically outlining the behavior that needs to be corrected. (This step may be conducted in addition to the step above.) The Board and Minister will receive a copy of the letter.

C. Conduct a meeting between the Board of Trustees, at least one member of the Committee on Ministry, and any other parties involved in the dispute, with the purpose of reviewing actions taken thus far and developing an appropriate action plan for addressing the issue.

If an action plan is developed, it will be administered by the Board of Trustees. Action plans may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Exclusion of the offending person(s) from Fellowship worship services, functions, or activities for a certain period of time.
• Specific conditions, behaviors, or terms under which the offending person(s) may return to the Fellowship, and/or attend worship services, functions, or activities.
• Specific conditions, behaviors or terms under which the offending person(s)’ membership or attendance will be immediately terminated.
• Permanent termination of the offending person(s) from membership at Fellowship, and/or exclusion from participation in Fellowship activities. Permanent termination shall require a two-thirds vote of the Board of Trustees. If membership is terminated, the offending person(s) will be informed in writing within 30 days.