As we mentioned last month, the Board has been studying Governance and Ministry. In this year we hope to become clear about the Board’s role and Committees’ roles and the Minister’s role in our congregation regardless of who is in these roles. We seek clarity for ourselves and hope to make these roles clear to all.

In light of this study, we have recently come to believe that RVUUF’s mission is really the owner of our congregation, not the Board, the Minister or the members of the Congregation. This means that we should empower committees to do their ministry work without seeking approval from the Board for every action. To accomplish that goal, we will be asking committees to make decisions based on certain criteria.

At its last meeting the Board approved the following motion regarding an action requested by the Social Justice and Action team (SJA).

The motion reads: “The Board authorizes the SJA to speak on behalf of the Congregation in relation to social justice issues, provided that:

1) The actions are consistent with RVUUF’s mission and UU principles,
2) The use of funds for their initiatives do not exceed the committee’s budget, and
3) Should the committee be considering any action that would put RVUUF at substantial financial or legal risk, the Board be consulted before that action is taken.”

The first committee to use this model is the SJA. We will continue to refine policy and roles as we venture into this new model, our charge for the last year of our developmental goals.

To facilitate our progress toward that goal, we have scheduled additional study meetings for the Board on the first Sundays of January, February and March at 12:15 p.m. for one hour. You are welcome to observe our study discussion. You will be receiving more information from the Board as we progress in our study.

We on the Board are always open to meet with anyone interested in learning more about our work. If you are really interested you might want to read the book Governance and Ministry by Dan Hotchkiss, which we are using as a study and discussion guide.

Your Board of Directors:
Diane Werich, President
Roger Howe, President-Elect
Alex Lukacs, Secretary
John Limb, Treasurer
Jim Meckel, Past President
Joanie Kintscher
Phil Westergaard