So after a month of trying to figure out this new normal of working from home, the staff has decided it is time for us to get back into a routine. Many of us, as I'm sure many of you, have been working some just about every day. It is hard to take a break from work when your office is your dining room table. But in an effort to avoid burnout and keep us at our best, we will begin to both take our regularly scheduled days off and also take some of our earned vacation time.

Most staff take off on Fridays and Saturdays. This will continue to be the case. This means that you will need to begin planning ahead. If you need a Zoom meeting scheduled for Saturday morning, you will need to notify Christina by Thursday morning (or even earlier). If you send a staff member an email on Friday, you will most likely not receive a response until Monday. Also, please note that Monday is Rev. Tricia's day off. She is doing her best to stay away from email and meetings on Mondays.

I not only encourage staff to take their time away from work, I also encourage you all to take some time off. Give your heart and mind some time away from work - we will all be better off if we take care of ourselves. Thank you!

As we make our way through these challenging times, I find it important to know that many things so important to us do continue. The UU remains active (if physically empty) and yes, the board still meets the third Tuesday every month. If you are interested in attending a meeting, please email Christina ( [email protected]) for the link to the Zoom meeting. And if you simply want a brief summary of our meetings, you can always find past minutes online at this link.  This is a public Google folder that holds the recent history of board activity. Minutes are generally posted two days after the next month's meeting (February's minutes posted two days after March's meeting). 

 

This week the board met to discuss Stewardship (going well), the Budget, and how to conduct a virtual annual meeting.

 

I'm happy to say that we have a robust budget with a focus on building on the good things we are doing already as a community. It is very difficult to predict what lies ahead in the next 12 months, but we are flexible and will monitor our finances closely during the year. While the stewardship campaign has generally been a success, giving us the foundation for a solid budget, we also must acknowledge that the pandemic quarantine has affected people in different ways. Some pledges have understandably dropped. If you feel you need to alter your existing pledge for this year or your pledge for next year due to your financial situation, please contact Christina to let her know. We are also blessed with a group of congregants who recognize the unusual disparity of our time and have stepped up to increase their pledges (both for the current year and for next year) to help offset the necessary decrease from those who are more affected. Thank you to you all for supporting the FUUSB. We are a community that stands together, and I know we will remain vibrant and supportive as we navigate this unknown together.  

The Board of Trustees

April 22-24: Earth Day Live 2020

 

COTS (the Committee on Temporary Shelter) is providing critical services to homeless people throughout this pandemic. Please support our First UU for COTS Team and help us meet or exceed our goal of raising $2,000 for COTS in this year's virtual COTS Walk. You can donate to our team at this link. Thank you for your support!

You Can Help Members During These Uncertain Times:

Many members of our Society are unable to make a pledge for the 2020/2021 fiscal year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have lost their jobs and some are just too unsure of their financial situation to make that type of commitment. These are members who are active in our community, have supported FUUSB financially in the past, and fully intend to support the Society in the future. They just don't feel that they can make a pledge for this coming fiscal year at this time.

We also know that there are other members of our Society that are more financially secure right now and might be able to make a gift in addition to their pledge. A gift that might help cover the loss of pledge income we're seeing in these uncertain times. So with a starter gift from a very generous member, we have created the Angel Fund. The Angel Fund is designed to accept one-time gifts (separate from your pledge) that will help replace lost pledge income due to the pandemic. Our hope is that members who are unable to pledge for the next fiscal year will feel some sense of relief knowing that the Society will not be negatively affected by their inability to pledge at this particular time.

We hope you will consider making a gift to the Angel Fund. Gifts can be made by sending a check to the Society with "Angel" in the memo line or by giving online from our website: uusociety.org/donate. Make sure to mark your gift as going to the Angel Fund. Please contact Christina at [email protected] if you have any questions. Thank you so much for your generosity!

Dear Members and Friends,

The Climate Response Team formed in October 2019 under the auspices of the Property Team to consider options regarding the 20-year-old boiler system that heats the Meeting House using natural gas. In addition, the other houses on the property, 30 and 34 Elmwood Avenue and 27 Clarke Street, have aging natural gas heating systems that warrant replacement considerations. In the summer these buildings are cooled with a hodge-podge of window and portable air conditioners and fans except for 34 Elmwood, which has central air conditioning. Altogether this is roughly 25,000 square feet of building space being heated and cooled.

Given these capital replacement costs on the horizon and the climate crisis staring us in the face, we are endeavoring to look broadly and deeply at how to proceed in a way that will be most sustainable for our planet and our First UU Society. Our goal is to become carbon neutral in the process. To achieve this we need to learn exactly how much energy we are using now, then study how to improve our buildings' envelope sealing and insulation, the heat stratification of our high ceilings, and how we utilize the various spaces during the week. Finally, we can then consider which HVAC equipment will best fit our situation. As we attempt to move away from natural gas to some form of geothermal or air source heat pumps it will require more electricity than we use now. Though we have opportunities to further reduce the electricity we are currently using, we may need to expand our solar energy production. Financially, this approach may be more expensive in the short term, but will certainly reduce the operating costs for future generations and hopefully help to heal our beloved planet.

Our team has passion, experience and has been reaching out for help. We've had consultants visit from Burlington Electric, VGS (Vermont Gas) and Seimens USA. We are becoming a member of the Burlington 2030 District, which is a private/public partnership working to reduce building energy consumption, water use and transportation emissions 50% by 2030. They will be able to help us with professional resources to determine our energy baseline. This last Tuesday, Ron McGarvey, president of Vermont Interfaith Power and Light, attended our Zoom meeting. Ron did an energy assessment of the Meeting House back in 2005 and is helping us connect with other faith communities who have traveled a similar path.

If you have ideas, questions or suggestions please contact one of our team: John Lincoln, Jamey Gerlaugh, Mike Pelletier, Chip Patullo, Brian Haas, Peter Newport, Bruce Douglas or me, or join us at our next Zoom meeting on May 5 at 5:30 p.m.:  zoom.us/j/149545868 

Also, since the FUUSB is a member of Vermont Interfaith Power and Light and this is Faith Climate Action Week, the film The Human Element is available for free online viewing through April 26. Click on this link, then go to the bottom blue box that says "Sign Up Here to View the Movie Online." To check out Faith Climate Action Week, please visit vtipl.org. If you would like to receive the Vermont Interfaith Power and Light newsletter, please send me an email and I will forward it to their director.

Sincerely,

David McFeeters,  Facilities Manager

[email protected]

The 4th Knotty Conversations Webinar is happening April 30 from 7-8:30 p.m. The topic is "Following the Leadership of People of Color." Why is this principle important and necessary? And what are some best practices congregations might consider to address power differences rooted in a history of injustice? Join us to find out.

Due to COVID-19 we are not able to gather at the UU to watch the webinar together. Please join us from your home by registering at:

uua.org/new-england/events/region/knotty-conversations-anti-racist/multicultural-ministries-2

The members of the Racial Justice Team look forward to participating along with you.