Greetings, Friends and Members of Unity Church-Unitarian!

Welcome to the first issue of Board Walk and Talk, a new email that will arrive in your inbox during the week following our monthly Saturday morning meeting.

Trustee Debbie Cushman shared information in the August commUNITY Newsletter about the creation of the board's communication and education committee, and briefly introduced this email.

One of the messages we heard loud and clear last year was that there are many of you who would appreciate a more regular cadence of communication from us. The communication and education committee of the board has considered several possibilities for how to accomplish this goal and decided to experiment with a monthly email blast. Your engagement with this new communication tool will help us know if it creates the value we hope it will.

We would be happy to hear from you if you have questions or ideas for topics you would like to see covered. Send us a note at board@unityunitarian.org.

This month’s topic is the pending changes to the Bylaws of Unity Church that members will have the opportunity to vote on at the annual congregational meeting in November.

Why changes to the bylaws? Most of the proposed changes come from suggestions made following the May 2022 congregational meeting. Briefly, the proposed changes would do the following:

1. Change the 75% minimum percentage of voting members in attendance at a congregational meeting for the selection of a called minister required to vote yes for the call to succeed to 85%. 
2. Make Roberts Rules Simplified the official rules governing congregational meetings. 
3. Allow voting by proxy at congregational meetings to call or remove a called minister. 
4. Add a 60-day waiting period after a person signs the membership book and makes a pledge before they are eligible to vote in any congregational meeting.  

Trustee LauraSue Schlatter, convener of the board’s policy and bylaws committee, covers the changes in greater detail in her September newsletter column (watch for that in your inbox early next week).

We want to hear your opinions, questions, and concerns about these proposed changes. Your input matters!

We hope to see you at one of these four listening sessions in September: 

• Wednesday, September 13 • 7:10 p.m. • Robbins Parlor
• Wednesday, September 20 • 1:00-2:30 p.m. • Robbins Parlor
• Sunday, September 24 • 10:15 a.m. • Center Room
• Tuesday, September 26 • 7:00 p.m. • Online via Zoom

Watch for more details and information about these sessions. 

Yours in service,

Unity Church Board of Trustees