By Jessica O’Brien
You’ve heard real estate folks preach “location, location, location”? Well, here at WUU, a welcoming, inclusive faith community, our mantra needs to be “communication, communication, communication.” I realize I’ve been remiss in continuing the tradition of Presidents’ reports, so this month I’m catching up. Hang onto your hats, there’s a lot going on!
Have you noticed the Facebook posts on events taking place at WUU? Matt Meyer’s Drumming and Spirituality Workshop was the latest to go up. Watch Facebook for more postings like this.
The Board has just begun a structured process of monitoring the Strategic Plan initiatives that were proposed for the next three years. We will be hearing from the committees responsible for the implementation of each of these initiatives on a monthly rotating basis. Please don’t hesitate to come to a Board meeting if you are interested in hearing how we’re doing with the Strategic Plan. In March we heard from Rev. Laura about Goal l: Small Group Ministries and Faith Development. In April we will hear from the 2-Service Task Force on Goal 2: Offering a more expansive welcome. And for May’s meeting we will invite the Communication Committee to report on Goal 4: Communicating and connecting with ourselves and our community. Hopefully Social Justice will be able to meet with us on June 28th for Goal 3: Strong Social Justice programs. Stay tuned for more information on this process.
The Annual Giving team has been working diligently to contact everyone about supporting the 2019-20 budget at WUU. Remember, we are self-supporting and everyone’s contribution is needed. Our policy states that to continue your membership at WUU, it is necessary to make an annual pledge. The Board recently clarified how to determine who our members are annually, and Pledge Campaign time is our opportunity to renew and recommit to membership by making an annual financial contribution—or to newly join WUU! The Membership Book is open the first Sunday of each month.
The Safety Task Force continues to implement practices to ensure our security at WUU. Having met with the police officers who evaluate safety at institutions like ours, the Safety Task Force has developed a plan based on their recommendations. You may have noticed the numbers at each door and the fact that our front and back doors are kept locked at all times. If you have questions or suggestions about safety, contact Les Solomon, Safety Task Force chair.
Dave Wilcox has been diligently training those in leadership positions on a new tool: Google Drive. We are using Team Drives in that software to post and store documents that can be viewed by all invited members of a group. Recently, the Auction team found it very useful during Auction planning to be able to share logo ideas, artwork, photographs, videos in process, and other important information on Google Drive. Learning to use a new piece of software is daunting for some of us and a breeze for others, and Dave has been cheerfully helping us all get up to speed. (Speaking of Breeze, that’s another software program we all will want to master, or at least navigate—members and leaders alike. It holds our up-to-date WUU Directory and calendar, for one thing. Our Breeze team will be getting in touch soon with WUU members and friends to help you start accessing it. Contact breeze@wuu.org if you have any questions.)
Speaking of technology, the Board has decided to facilitate meeting attendance by members who are not able to be present physically by using Zoom videoconferencing software. It will be available to committees and small groups too. Of course, we can always use our cellphone speakers to bring someone into a meeting, but access to a more robust microphone/speaker/camera system would be helpful. Stay tuned for more information on this.
A new updated Leadership list will be posted to the WUU website soon. This will include the names of staff, Board members and officers, committee and task force chairs, and the Program Council. Please use this list when you want to communicate, communicate, communicate. Remember, contact information is always available on Breeze.
Last week we welcomed our new Administration and Communications Assistant, Rachel McCabe. Rachel is getting up to speed and we’re so glad she has joined us. Her hours are Monday to Thursday, 9:30 to 3:45.
I’d like to report that the WUU Auction went well on February 23rd. It was a fun party, with lots of food, drink and socializing. Several WUU kids were present this year. Some helped out and they all went home with new possessions. While we don’t have final, final figures, it looks like we raised about $19,000 this year! Thank you so much to everyone who participated. And on that note, who’s interested in being part of the organizing team for next year’s Auction? You get to choose the theme, plan a menu, and really express your creativity and show off your organizational skills. Let me know if you would like to be a part of this exciting event next year (jessicaobrien100@gmail.com). This year’s organizing team is excited about helping a new group get started.
On March 17th, our Activities Fair after the service was a success. Many people indicated interest in participating on various committees. You should be hearing from these committees soon about how you can get involved. At the Leadership training last Saturday, it came up that the concept of “volunteering” doesn’t really define what we do at WUU. We’re more like a family where everyone pitches in to get things done, right? And we have fun doing it.
This discussion came up last weekend when the Leadership Development Committee led a trial training for a small group of WUU leaders and members. It was great! We focused on the Why? of doing this work at WUU and how this focus might engender leadership here that is different from what it may be at our jobs or in other arenas. Our WUU Mission, Vision, and Covenant state our guiding principles for leadership. These are all based on the Unitarian Universalist principles. It is very helpful for all of us in the congregation to review these statements on a regular basis, whether you’re a leader at WUU or not. They remind us of who we are…of who we aspire to be. You’ll find them at wuu.org.
Not to wear you out with the many more initiatives I could mention, let me finish with a resounding welcome to our new Board members: Fred Gilbertson, Doug Hansen, Stacey Bolling and Bruce Thomas. They will be attending Board meetings leading up to starting their terms in May—just to see how we function—and past and present Board members will attend an orientation evening in mid-April. A very appreciative farewell is due to Les Solomon, Nan Hart, Franz Gross and Ariel BenYishay for their valued past-service on the Board. Please thank them when you run into them on a Sunday—or at a meeting….
Respectfully submitted,
Jessica O’Brien, WUU President