by Les Solomon, WUU Board President
This has been an interesting month for transitions. Here are the highlights:
Retreat. Twenty-five WUU leaders, representing virtually all areas of program/ministry, met all day for their first retreat in 3 years! Using the raw data from the Visioning Circles, we narrowed the list down to 6 areas: Communications, Leadership/Governance, Small Group Ministries, Intergenerational Engagement, Adult Religious Education, and Worship. The Board and the Program Council teams will begin their work to integrate these priorities into the plan for 2022-23. Thanks to Sally Fisk, Linda Lane-Hamilton, Anne Stevens, and Jess O’Brien for their hard work to make it happen!
Board Meeting. We met to:
- Budget: Adopt the 2022-23 budget including income sources from pledging, Church of God, Quaker, Temple Beth El, and Montessori and to provide a plan for program expenditures. New for this year, revenue from the forthcoming Annual Auction will be rolled over into the following year’s budget to provide a more accurate way to project income. Additionally, we (Congregation, Board, Program Council) will be engaging to further discussions about our ministries with special emphasis on the Journey to Asylum as its needs are becoming better understood.
- Personnel: Review procedures and recommend changes for the annual performance/ministry review of Rev. Laura. Also, congratulations Barbara Chowning for her election as a congregational representative to the Personnel Committee, and thank you to Carolyn Wilson for her years of service.
- Visioning Circles: Begin work on the Visioning Circle recommendations. Three areas are of importance—Governance, Communications, and Training. The Board indicated that Governance/Leadership is the most important for its own work. Its Governance Committee will report at the June meeting.
- Additionally:
- Future Board meetings will be in person, pending guidance from the Medical Advisory Task Force. Open to all with an opportunity for member input at the beginning of the meeting.
- The Board Committee Chairs will meet in mid-month to coordinate their work.
- The Executive Committee, including Rev. Laura, Katrina, Dave Banks and I will begin frequent meetings to discuss a range of topics such as shared ministries and on-going challenges.
Finally, it is clear that we need better communications. Certainly, this is on the radar screen for both the Board and Program Council. However, here are some initiatives starting right now:
- Minutes: The approved minutes from the April Board meeting are available here.
- Reference Notebook: I have placed a copy of the Board’s notebook in the Gathering Hall bookshelf. It contains the Board’s policies, procedures, tools, resource documents, and recent Board minutes. Feel free the read it there and return it to the bookshelf.
- Chat: If you want to talk, one of the best ways is to hop on board the golf cart for a conversation on Sunday. Usually, I’m at the driver’s seat and we can find a place under a shade tree if it’s a lengthy conversation. Of course, feel free to call.
- Governance Pyramids: If you are confused about what the Board does and how that differs from what the Program Council does, take some time to review this chart. The really fun stuff (or at least challenging) happens at the intersection of the two pyramids (shared ministry). Please take some time to study this chart. We will talk more about this as the year progresses.