President’s Letter - November 2009

Dear Members and Friends,

Your Board met for its regular monthly meeting on October 21, 2009, to discuss a host of issues, including setting a date for the mid-year membership meeting. The mid-year meeting will be held on January 24, 2010, in the sanctuary at 12:30 p.m. Mark your calendars and please make an effort to attend. This meeting is an opportunity for members to interact with the Board and raise any aspect of Fellowship life that they want more information on, or simply want to discuss. One issue that I look forward to discussing is when to have the 2010 annual meeting; should it be held on a Sunday (in lieu of a service) or on a weeknight (as discussed at the 2009 annual meeting)? And what about changing the name of our Fellowship-that issue was tabled in June 2009 to allow time for reflection.
Have we reflected?

At the October 21, 2009 meeting, the Board voted to appoint Gerry Peet to fill the vacancy created by Michael Schwartz’s decision to resign from the Board. Michael will be missed for his many contributions, including always “sensitizing” Board discussions by focusing on the impacts that flow from policy decisions. Many, many thanks to Michael for all his work on behalf of the Fellowship. In addition to welcoming Gerry, the Board also had fruitful discussion with the new chair of the Stewardship Committee, Catherine Marsh. Catherine has some professional training and expertise in the non-profit area and we are looking forward to seeing that committee re-vitalized. Stewardship is an essential component of a healthy congregation; an active, vital stewardship program creates the capacity to fulfill long range plans. If you are interested in getting involved in this exciting endeavor, I encourage you to give Catherine a call and discuss it further; it’s a fascinating area and it’s vital to our future.

The Board is also in the process of developing a covenant outlining how we do business. We began this discussion at our September retreat and at the October meeting a draft was circulated for members to sign. But rather than sign, we chose to continue the discussion of what certain passages really meant and decided to defer adopting the covenant until we reached a higher comfort level. Adopting a covenant is a fascinating process that can prompt some profound discussion. B&G is in the process of adopting a covenant, and I encourage all other committees to devote (at least) one meeting to discussing how your committee will function and conduct its decision making. Consider adopting a covenant of reciprocal promises that govern how you go about your work. Will your committee have regular meetings? (I hope so). Will your committee “vote” on issues via e-mail? (I hope not!).  How does your committee connect to the mission of the Fellowship and the principles of UUism? Significant responsibilities are delegated to our standing committees and it’s then up to the committees to discuss and establish how decisions will be made. I believe that how committee duties are fulfilled is just as important as the result.

On a personal note, I have not been around on Sunday as of late. Since August, I have been spending the weekends in Elmira with my father; he passed away on October 16, 2009. I want to thank you all for your notes and expressions of support; it really, really helps.

Rick Turner, President
Board of Trustees