Hello UTUUC Friends! In our continued effort to stay in touch with you, we will hold both our "Reflecting with the Board" sessions this upcoming Sunday, July 18, 2021 at 1pm or 7pm (NOTE: New date / time as to not conflict with the Celebration of Life for Carrie Bankes). 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:

The Board has accepted the resignation of Alice Ocrey. We are sad for her to leave but understand the decision. Our bylaws (Article VI I) instruct the Board to appoint someone to serve as her replacement until the Annual Meeting. At that time, we can elect that same appointed person, or another person, to serve out the remainder of her term (through March, 2024). The Board has tasked our Nominating Committee (Julie Willoughby, Aisha Ellis, Dave Willard, Darby Rosenfeld, and Alec Brownlow) to suggest candidates. If you are interested in serving out this Board term, please email the nominations committee at nominations@unitytemple.org by Thursday, July 22, 2021. The Board would like to take quick action on this in order to have a full board at our next meeting on August 10, 2021.

Interim Minister, Reverend Dawn S. Cooley, will be joining UTUUC on August 1, 2021. Read more about Rev. Cooley here. We expect Rev. Cooley to be with us for two years. In that time, we will first come to grips with where we are as a congregation, then, through careful discernment, where we ought to be heading. We don’t yet know what the next step beyond a 2-year Interim Ministry will be. The possibilities are multiple, and we are excited to look ahead! If you are interested in reading more about the Interim process, the UUA recommends the book In the Interim, by Barbara Child and Keith Kron. You can email us at transition@unitytemple.org if you would like to borrow a copy. The Board has appointed a Transitions Committee to work with Rev. Cooley. Thanks for all of your suggestions! Our charge was to find a diverse group of five members who are widely known among the congregation, display healthy interpersonal boundaries and have a clear perspective into our systemic church functions. Thank you to Vera Dowell, Fran Knechel, Glenn Brewer, Marsha Borders, and Ian Morrison for agreeing to work with Rev. Cooley on her Transitions Committee!

Lynne Hensel, Board Treasurer, presented the Board with a Midyear Budget Report as was requested. The report was comprehensive and reassuring that we are secure in our finances for our current year but that we will need to plan carefully for next year. Click here to read the report. You can also find a link to the letter in a bottom square on our website. The Community Transformation Team (CTT) is making progress towards our goal to return to Unity Temple for Homecoming Sunday on August 29. In the meantime, they continue to work on systems that will allow small groups to begin meeting mid-late summer at the Community Center and Unity Temple. We are close but ask for patience and understanding in this very complicated process to keep all of our members safe and healthy. Stay tuned for more details. Questions and comments may be directed to ctt@unitytemple.org.

Unity Temple Summer RE for Children continues each Sunday on Zoom at 9:30am. We'll have activities for all ages every Sunday with an opportunity to connect and practice our principles together. Feel free to contact our Summer RE coordinator, Juliana Engel-Storms at summer_re@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