Hello UTUUC Friends! In our continued effort to stay in touch with you, we will hold our "Reflecting with the Board" sessions this upcoming Sunday October 17 at 1pm and Monday October 18 at 7pm. Zoom Meeting link for both can be found here. Meeting ID: 582 581 1029   These sessions are a time for us to listen to you–we want to hear how you are, as well as your ideas, suggestions, and concerns. Here are a few things we would like you to know:

Homecoming Sunday was a great success!! It was so good to see many of you! Registration is now open for Sunday mornings moving forward. Click here to sign up weekly here.

Our Annual Fund Drive is underway!! Our Staff along with our Finance & Investment Committee have been working to present a budget to the Board for our approval which the board will then bring to the congregation at December’s Annual Meeting. As many of you heard this weekend during the board welcome, we are taking a different approach this year. Instead of making cuts to our budget beforehand, we plan to present a budget containing all of what we need for our congregation. We want all to see what it costs to create our community and would like all of you to help make it happen. This years’ pledge goal of $1,206,081 is the projected amount needed to meet our expenses. For more information, click here to see our current budget and our 2022 projected budget. Before the campaign comes to a close on October 30 you can: Review the 2022 campaign information you should have received by mail here, then Fill out your pledge form and mail into the office as soon as you can, or Make your commitment online at https://onrealm.org/unitytemple, or Call the office to pledge over the phone at 708.848.6225 ext. 104

The Board is working on codifying what committees report to the Board and making certain they all have charters that include specifics on term limits and number of members. We are also encouraging all committees to do their work with the congregation’s values in mind: Transformation, Connection, Acceptance, and, Justice. Committees of the Board currently include Finance & Investment, Personnel, Development (in the process of starting), Buildings and Grounds (in process), Shared Ministry (in process) and Rentals & Events (currently a 1-person committee). Rev. Dawn and our staff are examining what other non-Board committees and/or teams are active and will work to have a staff liaison for each committee/team. The Nominating Committee of the Board seeks candidates for the Board!! Please email nominations@unitytemple.org if you are interested! The nomination process can be found on our website here (Nominations Process drop down) if you would like more information about serving in this vital role in our congregation.  Our December 12, 2021, Annual Congregational Meeting will be on Zoom again this year. With last year’s record attendance, we hope this allows for maximum participation. We learned some great lessons last year that we will bring into this year’s plan. Stay tuned for details and information regarding pre-annual meeting sessions.

Religious Education for Children and Youth 2021-22 is underway!! We'd love to have you be part of it! To register your child, share your gifts with our young people as a volunteer, or learn more about the programming please contact Rev. Emily Gageegage@unitytemple.org or Val Ridenour  vridenour@unitytemple.org.  Our staff have worked diligently to create and update our new website!! It is full of useful information for our congregation! We hope you will visit it regularly at unitytemple.org for all the latest UTUUC information.

We look forward to reflecting with you all.    Together in our hearts, Your UTUUC Board of Trustees

Ed McDevitt, President Julie Willoughby, Vice President Kimberly Brumirski Aisha Ellis Amanda Kaleta-Kott Stephanie Kiesling Stephen Lee, Secretary Rich Pokorny