Unitarian Universalist Congregation UUC BOARD AGENDA September 13, 2018, 7:00 PM

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1 Unitarian Universalist Congregation UUC BOARD AGENDA September 13, 2018, 7:00 PM 7:00 7:15 Chalice Lighting & Reading - Ellen Check-in 7:15 7:20 Review and Accept Revised Agenda 7:20 7:25 Member Forum 7:25-7:30 Consent Agenda: Approve (reports are found in OneDrive link from Lisa Evanylo and should be reviewed prior to meeting.) Minister and Staff Report Administrator s Reports DLFD s Reports Previous meeting minutes 7:30 7:40 Treasurer s Report 7:40 8:10 Old Business Kelly Eagan continues to search into possible back-up systems for our data. A meeting was held with Blacksburg Police Department regarding security issues and evacuation plans. Tim Pickering and Karen Hager will draft a policy and submit to the safety committee. Review board goals that were developed during the retreat*. 8:10 9:00 New Business Review plan for solar panels*. Discuss nomination for replacement for Susan Piercy who is unable to fulfill her role as member at large at this time. Discuss plan to complete minister evaluation*. Set meeting schedule for October and November board meetings. Discuss sharing the responsibility for the contribution to the monthly newsletter. Select volunteer for opening words for next meeting Extinguish Chalice and Adjourn Meeting *Related documents sent with the of the September agenda

2 September 2018 Minister s Report to the Board Submitted by Rev. Pam Philips Leads Worship Worship in August was somewhat eclectic, without a Soul Matters theme. We celebrated the 450 th anniversary of the Edict of Torda, one of the first expressions of religious tolerance. I addressed the paradox of our first principle (the inherent worth and dignity of every person) and the existence of evil, fulfilling the request of the DuPonts, who won my offering of a sermon in last year s service auction. I was joined by Jamie McReynolds and Ellen Plummer, delegates to General Assembly, in a service reporting out our experiences of GA. I was disappointed to have to miss the annual Water Communion but am grateful to Victoria Taylor for leading worship with Jim Kern and David Lally. In September, our worship services are addressing what it means to be a people of Vision. During the Labor Day service, we made a concerted effort to plan a service that would be welcoming to children as well as adults because there were no RE classes. This will be a particular focus for me this year creating worship services that feed children, youth, and adults. We also made use of the large television monitor during that service for hymn lyrics, pictures and videos. I will be working with the Worship Team to get more permanent and visible audiovisuals (wall-mounted screen or projection). Officiates Rites of Passage We held no rites of passage at UUC, but I was pleased to perform a wedding at Mountain Lake. I was sought out because the brides wanted to be married by clergy who affirmed their wedding. Provides Pastoral Care and Presence I continue to visit with congregants at the hospital, in my office, and over the phone. We have had several congregants who are experiencing health concerns, and I m grateful to other members of UUC for alerting to me when these happen. Many members were saddened by the death of a former member, and I m grateful to Cynthia and Dick Luke for providing a place and time for those who knew him well to gather and grieve together. Encourages Spiritual Development Most of my work in this area has been from the pulpit in the last month. Marilyn DuPont and I have been recruiting facilitators and planning training and sign-up for our new Soul Matters small group ministry program. This model is quite different from other covenant groups, emphasizing practice over analysis. Congregants will be able to sign up for groups for the second-half of September and groups will begin in October. Witnesses to Social Justice in the Public Square I continue to attend Virginia Organizing meetings, but this month I did not participate in any public witness. There is a move to re-invigorate a Virginia Legislative Ministry UU, and I m hopeful UUC can participate

3 Leads Administration I have been working on revising staff contracts to reflect the reimbursement of the cost of health insurance for the DLFD and Administrator (the difference their spouses pay to add them to their health insurance). The DLFD also asked for changes to evaluation/review and ownership of intellectual property. The personnel committee will be reviewing the contracts before they are signed. I will be meeting with staff to make goals for the upcoming year. I ve also signed up for a very well-regarded supervision workshop that will take place in November. Pursues Personal Renewal and Professional Development It was good to have vacation time to pursue renewal, especially time spent with my family in the Pacific Northwest. I also really enjoyed attending my high school reunion. After this first year of ministry, I really needed a vacation. I hope to take advantage of study leave and vacation time throughout the upcoming year rather than taking it all at once in the summer. I participated in several webinars/conference calls for Soul Matters for general implementation and particularly for starting a small group ministry program. I will be able to participate in more of these calls because they ve added an extra session per month. I am also participating in a monthly discernment circle with three other ministers who participated in the First Year Ministers Seminar. Finally, I will continue to meet with my mentor minister. Serves the Larger Unitarian Universalist Faith Summer, other than participating in General Assembly and Ministry Days, did not give me many opportunities to serve the larger faith. I was pleased to attend worship services at UU congregations in Hood River and Ashland, Oregon. I look forward to getting together with other UU professionals as our VACUUM (Virginia Cluster of UU Ministers) begins meeting again after a summer break..

4 Administrator s Report to the Board September 13, 2018 New Directory: In the next month or so, the directory will be updated, and only those few with no internet access receive paper copies (done once/year in the fall). This includes an updated Who are your UUC neighbors file. The updated directory will be on the member area of our website and is updated quarterly. Note that you can download the directory to your desktop, and every update gets included with the weekly announcements. New Pledges: Just this past week, we received an additional $700 pledge. Several have paid their pledge after the July 31 deadline when we close the books. These payments get credited to their pledge in PowerChurch (where I keep track of individual pledges), but the funds are included in the budget under pledges in Quickbooks used by the bookkeepers. Attendance/Members: See online Google Doc. Current membership at 213. Listserv FYI: An announcement goes out to 690 people each month when our newsletter is ready. Our twice-weekly announcements are sent to 411 people. I hope you noticed the change in the template for the announcements, and that you find it an improvement. If you have suggestions for further improvements, be sure to let me know. Stewardship Committee: The committee is up and running again after taking the summer off. The general sentiment was that we should not change the pledge drive format too drastically this year in order to give the congregation time to adapt to how it all works. The committee is seeking new members. We meet monthly. Auction: Be sure to get your auction donations in and plan to attend!

5 DLFD Report to the Board September 2018 Submitted by Karen Hager, Director of Lifespan Faith Development Registration CYRE: 103 LFD Activity Slots: 121 UUC Activity Slots: new families have registered, and 1 family has returned after a 1-year absence. CYRE stands for Children and Youth in RE and refers to unique children in the program. LFD Activity Slots counts the child for each activity they participate in; for example, a youth registered in both RE and MSYG is counted as 2. UUC Activity Slots includes non-lfd activities involving children and youth, like Children s Choir. Projects this Summer Registration Process The registration process for returning families was changed into one that provides returning families with a customized registration form containing last year s information that can be reviewed and submitted within a couple of minutes. In addition to being easier for families to use, the information received is standardized and requires less editing than in the past. Providing this new registration will be a much faster process in future years. Training Training for teachers and advisors was placed on video to lessen the amount of time needed for in-person training sessions, and to ensure that teachers and advisors who are unable to attend in-person sessions receive the same training as others. Training videos were created for these roles: Children s RE teachers OWL teachers Coming of Age facilitators Middle School Youth Group advisors YRUU / YAC advisors The videos reside on our members site as part of our three-part online training process. If you are interested in viewing one of the 15-minute videos, watch the Children s RE video at This will also provide you with a good overview of the training that our LFD volunteers receive. Adult Program A survey was run this summer to gain congregational feedback on proposed adult offerings, receiving 56 responses. Based on this feedback, these adult programs have been selected for : America Inside Out with Katie Couric Social Justice Film Series Common Read Discussion Group The Ware Lecture CSAI Workshop: The Corruption of Our Democracy CSAI Workshop: New (Or Not So New) to UU Personal Spiritual Practices More information on each program can be found online in the updated LFD prospectus at Additional programs may be released later in the year, as my hours allow.

6 Dumbledore s Army Our gr. 4-5 class will once again form Dumbledore s Army this year and fight 7 real-world horcruxes. They will work on: The Illiteracy Horcrux, through a book drive that will first be used by YRUU in their book sale; remaining books will be donated to the Montgomery-Floyd Little Library program. The Hunger Horcrux, through a food drive, including participation and leadership in It s Scary to Be Hungry. The Poverty Horcrux, through a drive for cold weather items, like mittens, hats, gloves, scarves and gently used children s coats. The Sickness Horcrux, through making and selling soup mix to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwest Virginia. The Hatred Horcrux, through an awareness campaign on fighting hatred. The Animal Cruelty Horcrux, through a donation drive for the Humane Society of Montgomery County, and through our very popular Pennies for Puppies / Koins for Kitties voting. The Environmental Horcrux, through work TBD that benefits UUC and its congregants. Please support D.A. s efforts! Key Dates in September: September 7: Social Justice Film Series September 9: Children s RE begins September 9: YRUU begins September 16: Coming of Age begins September 20: Ware Lecture September 21: MSYG begins September 24: America Inside Out with Katie Couric begins September 30: YRUU Book Sale

Unitarian Universalist Congregaton Board Meetng Notes June 14, 2018

Unitarian Universalist Congregaton Board Meetng Notes June 14, 2018 Present: Bill Baker (Treasurer), Steve Keighton (incoming president-elect), Jennifer Mercier (at large member), Sandy Power (incoming