Members and Friends,   We write to recognize Rev. Alan Taylor’s decision to step down as senior minister at the end of June, which he announced earlier today. We share with you our immense gratitude and appreciation for his leadership over the last 18 years, a time of enormous growth and change for our Congregation. During his tenure, we have cultivated our beloved community, restored our building, acquired new real estate, identified our core values and mission, expanded our social justice mission, and more than doubled in membership. It has truly been a golden age!   Like us, you may be feeling a mix of emotions at this news and may have questions in the coming days. So where do we go from here?   We celebrate and reflect. In the coming weeks, we will form a committee to plan a Farewell Celebration for Rev. Taylor, which we anticipate occurring sometime this August.  We will send out more information soon for everyone who wants to contribute and participate.   We honor Rev. Taylor and wish him well. In recognition of his 18 years of service and consistent with Unitarian Universalist Association standards, the Board has agreed to provide Rev. Taylor with one year of paid leave while he makes the transition to the next stage of his ministry.   We remain together in community. Rev. Taylor will be available to speak with you until the end of June. The pastoral associates are available to speak with you at any time. You can reach out to the pastoral associates at pastoralassociates@unitytemple.org   We, as a board, are also committed to being accessible and responsive to you during this transition and will immediately be available to you in the following ways:

Coffee Hour – We will come together after the service on April 11 for our virtual coffee hour. Reflecting with the Board – We will be available to reflect, discuss and answer any questions at our Reflecting with the Board sessions on Sunday, April 17 at 1pm and on Monday, April 18 at 7pm. Email – You can contact the entire Board by emailing bot@unitytemple.org.

We engage new leadership. Consistent with our bylaws and the Unitarian Universalist Association’s guidelines, we are working with the Unitarian Universalist Association to begin a process to search for an Interim Minister who will join us through this time of ministerial transition and who likely will begin serving at Unity Temple this fall. The Board will have more to share on this search for an Interim Minister in the coming weeks. We continue our work. As Rev. Taylor mentioned in his letter, the Board, with your help, will continue its work to review our governance and policies. We seek to ensure that our governance and policies reflect the highest ideals and principles of our faith–honoring the inherent worth and dignity of every person and seeking justice, equity and compassion in human relationships.   With recognition of the past, and hope for the future, we remain, Your Board of Trustees