Carleton Sheppard (Chair), Barry Brenneman, Grace Ditsworth, Andy Hogg, Dru Monroe

            Happy Pi Day - 3.14( 159265359)

There are two items on my mind this week. One, I would like to share out some updating and awareness of office staffing for the community. Many of you will note the earlier mention in the E-news a couple weeks ago, that the Office Manager position has been filled and we are thrilled to welcome April Yax as our new office manager. April has made a seamless transition into her new role and responsibilities with us, and I certainly offer gratitude and appreciation for Dennis Spurlin, who stepped in and covered the office details in the gap, along with initial welcome and training for April.

            Additionally, I offer gratitude to our recent former office managers Caleb Alexander, Heather Thornton, and Jodi Boyd who each brought unique skills and improvements to the "professionalization" of the office duties. When Beacon called me in 2016, as your new minister and church administrator, there was a clear stated expectation to improve office functioning, processing and to better organize the behind the scenes running of the non-profit, business side of things. I am so pleased for Beacon, that with some intention, lots of caring work and communication from key leaders, committee chairs and congregants, along with our staff there have been many improvements. I look to the present and forward towards the future for the continuation of Beacon's organizational maturity in its business affairs.

            Secondly, I wish to share out to the larger community that our current Music Director, Gabriel Hernandez has spoken with me, and the Board has accepted his offer - he will continue in position with Beacon until December 2019. This is encouraging news and the choir is thrilled to have this continuity for the full calendar year, up to and through the Christmas season next winter. Gabriel will be taking some additional classes as he finishes his second degree in performance, so the timing works well for all. This timing will provide the music program continuity through staff changes this summer, as we will be saying good-bye to our accompanist Mikayla Rogers this May/June as she completes her degree. It will be good to have Gabriel in place to assist with recruitment for our next accompanist. As well, Gabriel will be in place and ready to help next fall in recruitment for his own replacement for January 2020.

In Community,

Rev. Kevin

Dear Beacon Members and Friends,

I want to update you on the Building Expansion progress since we last met in a town hall on Feb. 3.  And much progress has been made.   At that time we had received a much higher construction estimate than expected ($430K opposed to less than $300K)  and were planning to meet with the contractor as soon as feasible.  Prior to meeting, on February 6, the Building Committee and several Board members met to determine the deletions we could make while retaining the essence of the project.    These cuts were principally things we felt we could do internally in the next year or two without a great deal of costs. We are fortunate to have skilled and willing members of the congregation to do small construction projects. 

On February 12, four members of the BET (Carl, Theresa, Skip and Barry) met with Loven and together were able to negotiate a price of $320K.  The City and the contractor required that the changes be designed into the project. The list of deletions are linked here.  As I write this we are awaiting the City's approval of those changes.  We did have another issue where a different plans reviewer felt we should plan as though every room in the building was full at all times. That would have been catastrophic to the project and has been clarified.  The notes from the meeting with Loven and with the City are linked to this note. 

Loven is asking for one last review on March 22.  Therefore on Sunday, March 24, after the service, we will have a town Hall to review the changes that have been made, and what we hope is the final plan. The Building Committee and Board have adhered to the Congregation's direction of building the project within the funds available and without a mortgage.

Many thanks go to Carl, Theresa and many others who have spent countless hours to find a workable solution. Their hard work has made a huge difference.  Keep your fingers crossed!! 

Dora   

On March 17, we will begin our work with the curriculum called  Love Connects Us.

Find out more details about what is happening for this coming Sunday in the  Religious Exploration blog.

Do you wonder how you can honor this time of lent in your UU home?

Find weekly blogs about Lent and UU here.

What are our Twelve Senses and how do they relate to spiritual development?  Check this new addition to the RE blog and this month's sense: Movement.

Coming up:

Director of Religious Exploration 

Dear Beacon Members and Friends,

            I wish to share out awareness and concern for the recent edition of the UU World, and the article which has caused quite a swirl of controversy and social media attention in the past week. The article, entitled "After L, G and B" written by Kimberly French, has been the center of a firestorm since the magazine dropped last week.

Read further information here -

          

In Community,

Rev. Kevin

The internet provider, DreamHost, provides free hosting for our  beaconuu.com website.  We are now protected by their "DreamShield" malware remover and their free "Let's Encrypt" SSL Certificate Authority.  You will need to use the "HTTPS" address rather than the "HTTP" address in order to encrypt the communication to and from the Beacon website.  From now on, please use  https://www.beaconuu.com to connect for a more secure connection.

 

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