Happy Spring, UUCC!
Your Board of Trustees has been busy, and we’re excited to share some recent updates. As always, we enjoy hearing from you — please reach out to us at board@uucolumbia.net with any feedback or thoughts.
Ends Monitoring Report
One of the roles of the Board is to ensure that UUCC is working toward our Congregational Ends. As part of the monitoring process, the Executive Team shared an Ends Monitoring Report for the Board to consider. For various reasons, it’s been several years since a thorough report was submitted, and this year’s report establishes a new baseline.
We are very grateful to the Executive Team, UUCC staff, and congregation leaders who participated in the collaborative process to produce a report for the April Board Meeting (access the report directly below this paragraph by clicking “download”). Through written communications and group conversation, the Executive Team has crafted a report we are proud of—one that both celebrates the very meaningful ministries of UUCC and also looks ahead by urging us to address challenges and consider important questions.
In the report, several themes are highlighted: that our congregants hunger for connection and community; that we’re sometimes struggling to reconnect after over two years of the pandemic; and that identifying and cultivating leaders is a challenge.
The Board agreed to make the draft report publicly available now while continuing to review and discuss it. As the Board moves forward with the monitoring process, we would appreciate your input! How do you feel UUCC is doing in the work on our Congregational Ends? Do you agree or disagree with the conclusions from the report? What do you notice about where staff focused within each End? What questions do you have? Please reach out to us and share your comments — email us at board@uucolumbia.net.
The final report will become part of the UUCC Annual Report published in advance of the Annual Meeting on Sunday, June 5th.
Budget for 2022-23
Executive Director Valerie Hsu presented the latest figures for the pledge drive, which is at 65% of our goal, with 149 households pledging a total of $491,300 toward our goal of $750,000. Valerie presented two scenarios, one where we raise $650,000 and a second where we reach our goal of $750,000.
In addition to the pledge income, Valerie presented estimates for other income streams highlighted by a ~$27,000 transfer from the Endowment Fund, and ~$70,000 from the federal Employee Retention Credit, estimated to be received sometime later in 2022. Additional budget considerations are planned staff bonuses, sabbatical coverage, and modest salary increases.
Some concern was raised about the current pledge drive shortfall, but it was pointed out that our current situation is not atypical for this point of the drive. Nevertheless, additional pledges are imperative and the most important first step to be able to consider any budget scenario. If you’ve already pledged, thank you. And, if you have not pledged yet (or perhaps are even considering increasing your pledge), please do so today here! Each pledge is important in helping us form a clearer vision of the coming year at UUCC.
Rev. Paige Sabbatical 2023
Alan Coltri, on behalf of the Committee on Ministry, presented their recommendation for a sabbatical for Rev. Paige as specified in her letter of agreement with the Congregation. Per this agreement, Rev. Paige earns a month of sabbatical time for each year of service, and sabbaticals must be requested a year in advance. A sabbatical is a time of rest and reflection, and represents a commitment on behalf of the congregation and the minister to continue their relationship for a year or longer following the sabbatical. It’s been 7 years since Rev. Paige’s last sabbatical and the Board approved the request for a 5-month sabbatical for next year.
Annual Meeting — Sunday, June 5 at 6:30pm
Planning is under way for the Annual Meeting in June! Rich Dean has graciously agreed to again serve as parliamentarian though we would welcome anyone who is interested in serving in this role in the future to please reach out. The plan is to hold a multi-platform meeting so that people can attend in-person or via Zoom, and voting will happen again using PollEV. Stay tuned for additional information coming soon.
Group Relations Workshop Committee
The Group Relations Workshop will be virtual on Zoom from 9 to 1pm on Saturday, May 21, and from 11:30 to 4:30pm on Sunday, May 22. We hope to see many of our fellow UUCC members and friends at the workshop, which is future-oriented and will focus on building community. Please see the Group Relations Workshop Committee’s recent blog post for more details, and see this blog post to register for the Workshop!
Advocacy Request Process
The Board recently considered and approved a process for advocacy requests. These could be requests to the Board to vote on behalf of UUCC to provide testimony, take a position on an initiative or effort, speak at an event, sponsor an event, or more. This new process can be accessed here. Please email us at board@uucolumbia.net if there are any questions.
New Board Member
Finally, at the April Board meeting the Board unanimously voted to add Chris Crandell as a member at large for the remainder of this fiscal year. Chris brings a wealth of experience and caring to the Board. She has been with our UUCC community for 32 years, previously served on the Board, and is active in many congregational activities. Welcome Chris, and thank you for serving!
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