Terry: In this season of gratitude, I am so blessed to work with Lisa and Reverend Jessica.
Rev Jessica shared information about the SENSITIVE LOCATION designation. This designation was mentioned by Carol McKinley this past Sunday. As a church, we are automatically granted Sensitive Location status. This means that ICE is very limited in what they are legally permitted to do on our premises, by federal law. There is an emblem that is widely recognized by those who are at risk from ICE interference. The board discussed and decided to display this emblem, on our building and website. To learn more about Sensitive Locations, search, EL CENTRO DE LA RAZA and check out their Sensitive Location Toolkit.
Peter Kreidler, on behalf of the stewardship committee, shared some thoughts about a change in culture, that is happening in many UU congregations. Instead of a few weeks, once a year, devoted to stewardship, the hope is that we can move toward a year-round attitude of giving as a spiritual practice.
We agreed to meet on Tuesday, December 10th, because our regular meeting date falls on Christmas Eve. We plan to devote much of that meeting to financial and budgeting issues, in preparation for building the budget for the next fiscal year.
Susan Welsh shared some work that the finance committee has been working on some policy updates, and a proposal to establish a long-range capital planning committee.
Paul Wilson submitted some very exciting facts about current and projected growth, and the need to start immediately working on how to expand our capacity to accommodate this.
We have learned that the Elizabeth Bondy estate left the Fellowship a generous gift. The board voted to accept this bequest and use it to establish the Bondy Memorial Fund for Special Projects. It is our intention that this will, in part, be used to fund activities (eg. an architect consultation, if needed) of our newly established Task Force for Expansion Feasibility.
December Conversations with the Board will not have a designated topic. We invite you to bring whatever questions or concerns you might want to discuss.
Please enjoy this lovely season of gratitude and giving, spend lots of time with people you love, and join us for December 8th’s Unitarian Universalist Christmas pageant.
Lisa: I often have trouble at the holidays. Christmas, although beloved, involves so much excess, and when I think of the many privileges I enjoy in my life, I often feel dragged down by the conviction that I have done nothing to deserve all I have. But Thanksgiving always makes me happy. Acknowledging gratitude in my life makes me happy, and I love that at this time of year we talk more about gratitude, as we should throughout the year.
I feel wonderfully grateful to be an active part of KUUF. Last week in choir we sang “We shall come rejoicing…”, and we have so much to rejoice.
Our Fellowship is growing with new members, surpassing the Welcoming and Membership committee’s goal of 130 by the end of December. We are now at 140. And we are seeing more families with children. What could be better? Of course, this also creates challenges, and we now have a task force to study how KUUF can accommodate this growth in the Sanctuary, in parking, and in the future as growth continues.
Our minister is a huge factor in that growth, and the more I work with Reverend Jessica, the more I rejoice that she has come to us. Her sermons, her pastoral care, her commitment to social justice embody what KUUF can be in our community: a beloved source of caring and outreach to those who need it in our immediate community and in our wounded world. At our last Board meeting (we now meet on the 4th Tuesday of each month, to accommodate Reverend Jessica’s very full schedule) (and remember, she IS still a half-time minister!) the Board addressed several very important issues. Here are some of them:
KUUF is hosting the ordination of our own Margo Rhinehart as a minister in the UUA. This is incredibly exciting news! Margo has been a KUUF member since her son, now in grad school, was a small child. She has served several terms on our Board, has sung in our choir, has been part of the Worship Committee, led the Rummage Sale and Farmer’s Market, and done so much more. Her work here inspired her to become a UU minister, and over the past years, she has pursued that, while working a full-time job and raising a delightful son. We are so pleased that we can host her ordination on March 7, 2020. Please mark the date, and come to celebrate Margo!
We are in good financial shape. Our pledges are coming in, we hope to see our partnership with Easter Seals flourish with a new, 5-year lease.
We hope to expand Reverend Jessica’s contract to ¾ time as of the beginning of 2020. She has already been putting in more hours that her contract allows, and the expansion reflects the many things she is being asked to do by our community, including teaching OWL in January, increased pastoral care, and increased opportunities to be part of social action in our community.
That is all I, as co-President will share with you for now. I will hand this over to Terry, the other half of your Board presidency. Before I go, let me just say that I rejoice in sharing this role with her.
Terry Mallory & Lisa Johnson
KUUF Board Co-Presidents