By Michael Bloom

The services in August seemed a bit different somehow and I noticed an uptick in in-person attendance.

Oh, that’s right, we have a new Minister!    : – )

If you haven’t heard, the Rev. Ed Proulx (pronounced “Prew”) officially joined us at the beginning of August.  I’ve been closely following his thoughtful three part series “Say What? So What? Now What?” about the Greek word of “metanoia.”  If you have missed any of them, please check them out on our Youtube channel. Check out his full biography on our website here.

The board met each month this spring and summer and got a lot accomplished.  No vacation for us! : – )

Here are some of the highlights of our work this summer.

MAY:  We updated our policy manual to formalize the relationship between the Board and the English as a Second Language (ESL) program.  We authorized ESL to hire an ESL Program Coordinator using money raised via their “Faithify” fundraising platform. We also initiated the creation of an Accessibility Task Force.

JUNE: We appointed Alejandra Posada to fill the vacancy on the Long Term Planning Task Force.  We completed and submitted the collaborative ministry appraisal process with Rev. Michelle LaGrave.  We said goodbye to Rev. Michelle LaGrave and wished her well in her new position.

JULY:  We gratefully accepted and acknowledged a very generous gift of $25,000 from the estate of Rosemarie Schrage, spouse of the late Robert Schrage.  We also conducted a team building board retreat.

AUGUST:  We adopted the Accessibility Task Force charter.  The Task Force is led by April Smith and includes Lisa Rockett, Carla Saunders, Cynthia Miller, and Michael Ho. The charter is available in the members area if you would like more information about the work.

In August, we also decided to move forward with establishing a formal Religious Education Committee, which is really recognizing, honoring, and building on the great work being conducted by our current “ad-hoc” team of curriculum designers and teachers including Jill Rose, Tineke Berends, Ann May, Pat Smith, Hilary Ritz, Deborah Wotring, and others.

Also in August, we heard an update on Bradley Smith’s work on a security policy for our church. This effort was moved to our front burner in the wake of the fire incident at Community UU Church in Plano, Texas.

On a happier note, also in August, we scheduled our “Ministerial Start-Up” events for March 8, 9, and 10, 2024.  Start-up workshops include multiple facilitated meetings and activities intended to build and strengthen new relationships.

As always, please contact me or other board members if you have any questions.

Michael Bloom