President’s Perspective: October 2018

The progress being made towards the goals developed from the 2018 congregation survey is very exciting. Numerous strides forward have been made in a number of areas.

Due to the work of the previous BBUUC Board, our Director of Religious Education is now a ¾ position. The new DRE, Chris Jarman is making a significant impact on our child, teen, and adult programs. The newly developed adult RE programs will begin in January 2019.

Two Chaplains, Pat Ray, Karen Christiansen, and our brand new Pastoral Care Team are in full swing. They call on our home bound congregants, and are available to serve members’ spiritual needs, be it in hospice, the hospital or at home.

On August 27 Eileen Morrison and I spoke with Christine Purcell, the ministry representative for the UUA Southern Region. She answered our questions about how to proceed with the desires of the congregation regarding a minister and pointed us to helpful online information.

As I informed the Board at our meeting on September 18, Ms. Purcell was impressed with the results of the congregational survey and the plans proposed by the Vision Task Force. Additionally she agreed with the direction our Board took at our planning session this summer:

The BBUUC Board requested the Long Range Planning/ Research Team to:
1. Review the Task Force Final Report from March 2018,
a. recommend actions,
b. identify the parties responsible for taking those actions, and
c. create timetables for completion of actions.

2. The Research Team will add its findings to the Vision Task Force Final Report to complete a Strategic Plan.

3. The Research Team is tasked with conducting cottage meetings (similar to the ICARE house meetings) to share the Strategic Plan with BBUUC members and get their input.

4.  The Board is charged with evaluating IF and HOW they would proceed with a minister search.

Options for the Board could be to establish a committee to search for a part-time, possibly retired consulting/contract minister or continue exploring other options for a minister.

Thank you to all of our church members who give many hours of their personal time to promote the ongoing activities of BBUUC.
Grace