The Board met on Tuesday, January 8. After check-in about each member’s intentions for the new year, the Board welcomed the new treasurer, Cheryl Sims, who is very well qualified. Cheryl holds Masters of Science and PhD degrees from the University of Maryland in business management. She currently is a finance director in payroll management for a local software company. She has served in finance/treasurer capacity in other UU congregations, including in Palos Verdes and in Washington, DC. Cheryl was selected by the Nominating Committee to fill the vacant office until elections in May.
In the membership report, there were no new members last month.
In the Rev. Greg minister’s Report, he announced that he is newly engaged! The history workshop was well-attended and productive. He will post his presentation (slide deck) to the church website soon. Rev. Greg announced that Stewardship is recruiting “Connectors” – people who will contact and connect with members for the Spring pledge drive. If you are asked, please say “yes.” A separate group, composed of the Stewardship co-chairs and three other people (including Rev. Greg), is working on a program entitled, Institutionalizing a Ministry of Generosity. The program examines how generosity can be realized in our congregation beyond money. Rev. Greg has also been performing staff evaluations in preparation for the development of the 2019-20 fiscal year budget, which will be developed in conjunction with the Finance Committee and Board.
Last month, our intern minister, Robin Stillwater, presented a report of her interviews with 16 people who have previously been, or who are presently, involved with some aspect of church finances in recent years (the church administrator, Treasurers, Board Presidents, Committee on Money members, Stewardship members, etc). Now the Board has proposed to convene a conversation among financial leaders to help further right relations in the congregation and model conversation done well, as the church moves into the budgeting and nominating processes this time of year. The involvement of Right Relations will be sought. This meeting is meant to help key leaders in the congregation practice and engage in loving, caring, and joyful interactions, as they take on the challenging work of nominating new leaders, developing a budget, and addressing financial issues that have previously been fraught with some conflict.
The Investment Committee made recommendations for renewing our current CDs and disbursement of earnings. All presented motions were passed.
The board continues to work on their Big Rocks. The goal of Big Rock #1 (Functional Organizational Protocol), is to help committees be clear on their goals, responsibilities, accountability, and authority. By gathering information for this project, it is helping Board members be clear on what the different committees within the church are doing. Ultimately, a document will be published detailing the results. This information will be valuable for members who seek clarity in ways to become more involved in the church.
January is when we are required to report our membership numbers to the UUA. Pledging units need to have made a contribution of record in 2018 in order to be included in the count.
