July 2021 Board Blog

Hello Beloved UUCC Community!

It has been a busy past couple of weeks for your Board of Trustees! We are reaching out today to provide an update on some of what we have been up to and what is in store in the next month. We also have an important ask for you.

Welcome to New & Gratitude to Outgoing Members

Welcome to a new fiscal year for our congregation—the budget that was voted on at the Annual Meeting is now in effect. What that also means is that those who were elected at the Annual Meeting early in June have officially taken office (as of July 1^st) and others who have served out their terms have left their respective boards and committees.

First, a heartfelt congratulations! to those who will begin serving this community in the coming years—Jenny Afkinich (BoT – 2^nd President), Kevin Mercer (BoT – Treasurer), Reginald Nettles (BoT At-Large), Liam Estell (Nominating), Kevin Daniels (Nominating), Jenny Bonilla (Endowment), and Charles “Scotty” Scott (Endowment). It is hard work serving but it is also incredibly fulfilling and such an opportunity to not only make a positive difference in our community but to grow personally as well. Thank you for saying yes!

Meanwhile, Tim Lattimer, Amy Brooks, Wendy Ramsey, Kim Estell, Michael Bonilla, Jennie Fitzpatrick, and Greg Seidman are all leaving their respective positions on the Board of Trustees, Nominating Committee, or Endowment Board. We feel the deepest appreciation and gratitude to those members who have spent the last several years investing your energies, time, and hearts into this congregation and the people who make up our community. The work you have done is often not fully seen and realized and you have served with integrity, wholeheartedness, and deepest care. Thank you <3

Board of Trustees 2021-2022 Orientation

So, who are your Board of Trustees for the 2021-22 year?

• President: Colette Gelwicks
• 1^st Vice-President: Kristin Parrish
• 2^nd Vice-President: Jenny Afkinich
• Treasurer: Kevin Mercer
• Secretary: Jim Johnston
• At-large Member: Sarah Basehart
• At-large Member: Reginald Nettles

And we have already been hard at work for you, dear congregation. It’s an exciting, busy, and sometimes confusing time as we all learn our roles and responsibilities and how to work together. The Board started with a “Nuts and Bolts Session” on June 19—a session that provided everyone a high-level overview of the Board’s job and how we do the work. Board members received an updated Board Handbook in preparation. Together with our stellar Executive Team (Rev. Paige Getty and Executive Director Sean Griffin), we looked at the policies and bylaws, and talked about things like the consent agenda, how UUCC does policy-based governance, Board member duties outside of attending meetings, and how Board meetings work. We’ll continue this onboarding and orientation work over the summer.

UUA General Assembly Recap

Three of your Board members (Colette Gelwicks, Kristin Parrish, Jenny Afkinich) attended the UUA General Assembly from June 23-27 this year, offered fully virtually again for the second year in a row. We attended workshops and heard lectures. The Ware Lecture with Stacey Abrams and Desmond Meade was especially meaningful—we were reminded of what really matters (taking care of each other). During the General Sessions, business was conducted (a summary of all the results can be seen here) and we would especially like to highlight the three Actions of Immediate Witness that were affirmed (Defend and Advocate with Transgender, Nonbinary, and Intersex Communities, Stop Voter Suppression and Partner for Voting Rights and a Multiracial Democracy, and The COVID-19 Pandemic: Justice. Healing. Courage) and the Statement of Conscious “Undoing Intersectional White Supremacy” which was overwhelmingly approved. All of General Assembly, but especially the General Sessions, were both intellectually and emotionally challenging experiences and we hope we will be able to put what we have learned into practice. We left with a sense of optimism, pride in our faith, a renewed hope in what is possible, and the gratitude of having had the opportunity to look outside of the UUCC bubble and see the amazing work other UUs are doing in the world.

Upcoming Board Retreat & July Meeting

Here’s some of what’s to come in the next month or two as your Board continues to orient itself to the work ahead. On July 9-10, the Board will have its annual retreat. The purpose of this retreat is two-fold—first, it is an opportunity for Board members to get to know each other better. We’ll be creating a Board Covenant together and talking through the results of an Enneagram test we took to understand ourselves and each other in a different way. Second, the retreat allows Board members to do some of our most crucial work—visioning, strategizing, and planning for the year ahead. We’ll talk through where we see UUCC in the next years and, based on that collective foundation, discuss what the congregational priorities for the year should be that will move us towards UUCC’s vision, mission, and ends. The retreat is absolutely critical for what the rest of the year will bring as the Executive Team will take those priorities and develop plans and actions for UUCC staff and volunteers.

Only a few days after our retreat, on Tuesday, July 13, at 6:30pm, the Board will have its July meeting. We encourage you to attend virtually—among other things, we will discuss our priorities at this meeting and likely make some decisions about what is to come this year.

Our Ask

That’s a lot of important stuff happening in a short amount of time! Board members will need to use their connections to you, our community, to have these discussions and make good decisions in the coming weeks. If you have thoughts that you’d like to share with the Board before our Annual Retreat on July 9-10, please reach out! We’d love to hear from you. You may email the Board at board@uucolumbia.net.

In service,
Colette Gelwicks and Your Board of Trustees