Two Board Initiatives Approach Climax

Two of the Board of Trustees’ initiatives for the year will soon enter phases in which Church members will be asked to offer their advice and consent.

The first involves the work of the Task Force on the Constitution. The Board in January endorsed the Task Force’s proposal, which will be considered at a congregational meeting on March 21. In the coming weeks, the Task Force will make the proposal available and explain its works in open sessions.

The major changes:

• The Church would incorporate. Since its founding, the Church’s assets and liabilities have been vested in the trustees. A recent change in state law allows us to vest our assets in the Church by filing papers of incorporation, which would become the primary governing document. Our constitution would become the “bylaws.”

• The budget process would change. Church members would have the opportunity to speak on the draft budget at no fewer than two open hearings. (The Board has policies to ensure congregational input through a variety of means, including its own open hearing.) The membership would then vote up or down – no amendments – on the proposed budget at the Annual Meeting. It is poor practice to develop a budget that reflects the vision and priorities the Board has established in consultation with the entire congregation, only to have them upended at the annual meeting.

• Trustees would be elected for two-year terms and could be reelected twice. We hope that most trustees would serve two or three terms, developing expertise to enhance the value of their service; some trustees might choose the earlier “out” to serve the Church in other capacities.

• UUCA would indemnify employees, trustees and Church volunteers against liability for the execution of their Church duties.

• The entire constitution has been reviewed. Some provisions of limited or no value would be removed from the bylaws.

The second initiative is that a Task Force on Ministry has been studying succession, and what structure of ministry would be most effective in helping the Church achieve its vision. Among the alternatives is a collaborative senior/associate model. The Task Force also is considering what structure might be attractive to potential candidates of color. It has interviewed our ministers and staff, trustees and other lay leaders, and officials in the UUA and other churches.

The Task Force next turns to you, the congregation, for your views of Team Ministry. Elsewhere in the February Arlingtarian, the Task Force has a notice about its work and an invitation for you to talk with its members.
The Board will consider the Task Force’s final report in April. The Board will ask the congregation to endorse it at the Annual Meeting as a vision of our future.

Finally, the Board, ministers and staff are gratified by the 155-15 vote of the congregation to authorize new pews. We urge all congregants to give generously toward the $100,000 cost of recreating our sanctuary.

bennettminton@yahoo.com