March 2021 Board Meeting Highlights

In an effort to keep the congregation in the loop on what is discussed and develops during Board Meetings, your Board of Trustees will be providing regular updates following monthly Board Meetings. Please note that this account does not constitute the minutes of the meeting, which will be subject to the Board’s consideration and approval at the Board of Trustees’ next meeting in April.

Board meetings occur on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6:30pm (EDT) on Zoom and are open to the public. You are welcome to attend to listen in when you wish, and we encourage you to stay connected to our work and progress through these monthly updates. 

Updates & Highlights from the March Board Meeting:

Greetings, UUCC! Your Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, March 9, and were thrilled to be joined by members of the Quest class and their mentors to observe the proceedings.

Tim Lattimer led off with some opening words and a spiritual practice exercise based on the the book “Salsa, Soul and Spirit” by Juana Bordas. The focus was on gratitude and thanks. Board members reflected that they are grateful for our: students, teachers, friends, family, health care workers, and our UUCC community.

Jim Reiser, Co-Chair of the Pledge Drive Team, provided an overview of the pledge drive. We discussed expanding on our goals of next year and the importance of pledging generously to enable us to:

• Bolster UUCC’s connections
• Strengthen trust and advance reconciliation
• Build our Beloved Community
• Secure Green Sanctuary Accreditation from UUA
• Achieve fair and equitable compensation for UUCC staff

In keeping with the theme of gratitude, the Board also endorsed Jim’s request that Board members send thank you notes to each of those who pledge to acknowledge their contributions.

Kelly Blake, Chair of the Beloved Community Committee, presented an update on the committee’s work. To carry out their charge to do an action inventory and opportunity analysis, committee members are reaching out to various UUCC group leads to learn about work they may already being doing toward being welcoming and inclusive, as well as addressing racial injustice and other oppressions. The committee has also started a brainstorming document to collect recommendations for tools/activities that UUCC can use to advance anti-racism/anti-oppression work, and promote justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Colette Gelwicks presented a brief update on the Board’s recent Ends Assessment survey. 58 individuals responded to the survey. We are analyzing the results and process from this pilot survey and will have more to share at the April Board meeting. We are tentatively planning another survey for the fall with lots more outreach and communication.

Sean Griffin initiated a discussion about the next fiscal year’s budget and Annual Meeting. He asked the Board to begin thinking of priorities for UUCC. He shared that a “blue sky” budget that accomplishes all of the congregation’s goals would total close to $1 million. Our current budget is about $840,000. Over the next few months the Board will discuss, review, and approve a proposed Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget and prepare to present it at our Congregational Annual Meeting on Sunday, June 6, 2021. In one preliminary step, the Board endorsed the Executive Team’s efforts to extend UUCC’s building mortgage/commercial note with an offer from Howard Bank that provides for a savings of $25,000 over the next five-year period.

Closing words were provided by Sarah Basehart:

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.  —“You Were Made For This” by Clarissa Estes