It has been a busy month in the Solomon household: Three grandchildren graduations (high school, undergraduate and graduate), the first wedding engagement among the grandchildren, my last aunt passed away so now I’m the elder Solomon, visits to families in Oklahoma, and helping Jo’s stepbrother in New Mexico as he begins to deal with the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. As I write, I’m sitting on the deck of our cabin near Taos (elevation 8000 feet) deciding what is the President’s message for July and as soon as I can put this to bed, I can resume our exploration of New Mexico’s beauty!!
At WUU, we continue to come out of COVID. It is exciting to see new life emerging. Here are some of the Board highlights:
- We announced the new Budget for the year 2022-23. Thanks to Ben Puckett and the Finance Committee for finding the right way to fund our activities for the new year. Fortunately, with the signing of a new contact with the Montessori preschool and the return of the Church of God rental on Saturday, the task was a bit easier. Projected income: $497,200 and Projected expenditures: $473,907. Our projected capital reserves: $109,716.
- We are completing our annual performance review of Rev. Laura. Thanks to Franz Gross and the Personnel Committee for their work to update the evaluation procedures and thanks to the sample of congregants who were invited to provide feedback. The response rate was 70%!
- Like each of the Program Council’s teams, the Board submitted our plan for major goals for 2022-23 to the Visioning Circle Leadership. These included 1.) Seeking council with resources outside WUU about best governing practices, 2.) Improved communications, 3.) Two retreats with the Program Council, 4.) Conduct a 5-year evaluation of WUU’s ministries including work of the Board and Minister, and 5.) Review the congregation’s match of ministries and resource allocations including staffing, ministries, demographics, etc. to enable WUU to move into the next phase of congregational life.
- Reestablished a monthly mortgage paydown program with the Sunday offerings. Starting in July, the first Sunday offering will go to the General Fund, the second and fourth Sunday offering will go to Social Justice work and the third Sunday will go to pay down our mortgage of just over $680,000. An additional $1,000 each month on the Mortgage Paydown Sunday will save more than $90,000 in interest payments over the life of the loan and reduce the length of the mortgage by more than 20 percent! Each fifth Sunday offering will go to the Minister’s Charitable Discretionary Fund.
- We elected six delegates to attend the UUA General Assembly: Anne Stevens, Lesa and Kanen Craig, Colin Miller Moore, Helen Hansen, Melissa Stump. All attended virtually though a trip to Portland would have been nice!
Here are some of the new ways the Board is working to improve communications:
- The Board notebook is available in the Gathering Hall for congregational review. It contains the primary documents that guide our work including policies, practices, motions, etc.
- We have created a special email address to enable folks who want to keep up with the Board’s work, attempting to reduce email overload while permitting those who want to know to have easier access to our communications. It’s boardupdates@wuu.org. Please contact the Breeze Team to be added to the email list (breeze@wuu.org).
- Rev. Laura and I intend to have occasional café conversations to enable folks to participate in a Q&A session, etc.
- Each monthly Board meeting will include 10 minutes at the beginning for congregants to speak. Additionally, visitors are invited to attend in-person and on ZOOM.
Respectfully submitted:
Les Solomon, Board President
June 16, 2022