President's letter
The President of UUCGV's Board of Trustees publishes a monthly letter in the newsletter.
Prez Says …June/July 2010
Growth, growth, growth in membership…
For several years we have been hovering around 90 members—adding a number of new members each year, but losing an equal number of members for various reasons. Ninety members is a difficult number to work with purely for economic reasons of having 62 pledge units paying for renting and using our own building 365 days a year and paying for a minister.
We have been fortunate to find in Zakir a minister able and willing to work and be paid only for a 2/3 time position the past two years and for this upcoming year, but this 2/3 pay is certainly unattractive and likely unsustainable in the long run for Zakir or any minister. UUA recommends having 120-150 members to afford a full time minister.
OUR PRIMARY SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM GOAL remains to increase our minister to ¾ then full time as soon as membership numbers and stewardship allow. Attracting and retaining even 20 more members will ease the burden of time, talent, and treasure contributed by all current members.
The means to achieve growth are multifaceted (and debated), but at a minimum must include emphasis on young families and young religious education attendees (where attendance numbers have dropped off most significantly); an organized, active membership team, with support from the entire congregation inviting friends and new acquaintances, and welcoming new faces on Sundays; and carefully targeted PR/ advertising broadcasting not only our presence, but who we are and what we stand for, within our community.
The above being said, an even more essential element of growth is continuing to do well what we currently do well: 1) Thought provoking sermons, inspiring music, great RE programs—with the goal of making Sunday programs so great that no one wants to miss one! 2) The multitude of other activities and events that fall within our penumbra—book group, Adult RE, choir, potlucks, campouts, Small group ministry, Men’s Cooking, movie and bluegrass nights, ….
Finally, we can only grow if we ourselves maintain our beloved community and make each other feel good. Our occasional individual inabilities to communicate clearly, compassionately, and respectfully with tolerance stress the beloved community we sustain together here at UUCGV. This year we emphasized individual issue/conflict resolution using compassionate (non-violent) communication techniques. In our town hall meeting we reviewed our UUCGV structure of conflict resolution when individual resolution has failed, or is not an option: 1) consult Reverend Zakir 2) seek counsel from Committee on Ministry [C.O.M members.: David Miller, Barb Zind, Shari Raso, and Monte High].
“Growth, expanding budgets, building programs, and such trappings of success matter only if they reflect positive transformation in the lives of the people touched by the congregation’s work.” Dan Hotchkiss
I believe we have a bright future ahead, and I know that you will support our extremely capable incoming board president Jana Rossier as well as you supported my term as president. Thanks to all who attended the May congregational meeting, gave good input, and participated in a few lively debates. Thank you to the congregation for allowing me the opportunity to serve our congregation in this capacity.
