Attendees: Rob, Brian, Joyce, Martha, Sally, Alex
Guests: Anna Dyer, Beth Harrison
PC Cluster Groups
Operations (Alex): Building, Committee on Ministries, Communications, CUUE
Congregational Life (Joyce): Caring, Connections, Pastoral Care Team
Justice and Outreach (Sally): Social Action, Roosevelt Tutoring, Interfaith
Food Distribution
Sunday Services (Martha): MOCA, Music, Worship
Faith Formation (Alex, interim): Chalice Circles, The Learning Journey, Youth and
Family, Zine
Governance (Rob): Board of Trustees, Program Council, Finance, Personnel,
Stewardship
Pastoral Care and Caring Committee Alignment
Beth Harrison presented the draft charter for the Pastoral Care Committee to become a committee. It needs to become a formal committee in order for it to have a budget so expenses can be reimbursed, The role of the Pastoral Care Committee is clarified to be: Providing a sympathetic listener and short term non-professional support to members and friends of the UUFRC community. This is separate from the Caring Committee which is part of the Connections Committee and coordinates transportation and food for fellowship members in times of need. The Program Council approved the request of the Pastoral Care Committee Charter to go to the Board for final approval.
General Assembly Delegate Selection
The Unitarian Universalist General Assembly will be June 21 -25 in Pittsburgh (and online). We need to find 3 delegates and the Program Council is taking on this responsibility this year. By our January 3rd meeting each of us needs to share a suggestion of one person to be a delegate. There is a modest stipend and delegates have the option of attending online. This year there will be less business at the meeting than in the past. In early January Martha will create a draft announcement to our fellowship about the General Assembly.
Cluster Report for Congregational Life
Joyce gave a detailed update on the many activities of the Congregational Life Cluster. She meets with the chairs of each of the cluster committees quarterly. The activities of the Pastoral Care Committee are confidential. When Joys and Sorrows are shared a member of the Pastoral Committee notes them and reaches out to members when a need for connection is perceived. Members can also reach out to Pastoral Care Committee members at any time. The Caring Committee provides food and transportation when needed. The most recent need was for meals for the Rossi family. The Caring Committee Chairs, Gwen Leonard and Tom Beetley, attended the recent Pastoral Care Training. The Connections Committee is the largest in her cluster and has a cooperative leadership model. They coordinated a Newcomers Dinner and a Pizza and Game night
Rental Policy and Marketing Update
Erika Pretell and Liz Sloan are developing a marketing plan for renting our building. When it is completed it will be displayed clearly on our homepage. When someone does rent the building we will need an internal “building supervisor” on site during the event. Perhaps some of our young congregants would be interested in this role.
Proposed revisions to the Charter of the Connections Committee
Joyce presented a document with the Current and Proposed Charter of the Connections Committee for review by the Program Council. One of the additions was to add “Support the Connections Coordinator in Building Community”. Another change was to not limit the number of Connections Committee members to no more than 10. A proposal was to have votes adopted by the majority present at each meeting. Brian suggested they adopt a culture of consensus.
Childcare Oversight for December and January
12/4 Sally
12/11 Sally
12/18 Alex
12/25 none
1/1 none
1/8 Sally
1/15 Rob
1/22 Alex
1/29 Alex
Progress on Strategic Plan Team & Cluster Meetings
Sunday Services has met
Congregational Life will meet tomorrow 12/7
Justice and Outreach met
Operations – will schedule
Committee Budget Requests for 2023-24
The Finance Committee needs to have Budget Requests for 2023-24 by 12/31 because the Pledge Drive is February 5 – 12. Program Council members were asked to pass this information and deadline on to their Cluster Committee Chairs.
A note regarding finances: Brian mentioned that at the recent Thank You Party for all a local Mexican Restaurant was utilized. In the future he suggested we consider using local restaurants run by marginalized groups be utilized for our catering. Jason and Brian are going to bring this suggestion to the Board.
Leadership and Engagement Initiatives
Brian and Alex presented a draft list of topics for two Advanced Leadership Classes. Brian clarified that how we do our work is a spiritual practice. The topics may be covered in short videos.
Some of the current suggested topics for Class 1 are:
Post-pandemic circumstances
Collaboration and Co-leadership
Relation of Committtee work to the Strategic Plan
Faith and Conflict (when conflict occurs address it and do not gloss over it)
Some of the suggested topics for Class 2 are:
Spiritual Grounding and fun of our Committee Work
Recruiting members
Engaging Committee members
Prioritizing Work and Resources through the Strategic Plan
Caring for Committee members
Hybrid Meeting Facilitation
Brian, Alex and Peter are hoping to have a plan for the two classes to present to the Board in February.
Next Meeting
January 3, 2023
Leader – Sally