Welcoming Rev. Ben

News from your

Board of Trustees

27 July 2021

To keep you informed on actions and activities of your UUSP Board,

we'll feature highlights from the most recent Board meeting, Board member profiles, financial information, details on specific initiatives, and more.

NOTE CHANGE: Monthly virtual meetings are

every 3rd Wednesday, 6:30-8:30pm.

To receive the agenda or link in advance, contact Communications.

Message from our new

Board President Karen Coale

What a difference a month makes! Thanks to our crack Interim Minister Search Committee — UU St Pete has signed a contract with the Reverend Ben Atherton-Zeman. In addition to unanimously approving this contract, your Board of Trustees also approved Susan Burnore to chair the New Minister Support Committee and approved a list members from which to build that Committee. Having led the Search Committee and served on our Board, most recently as Board President — she is a natural match for this position. Thank you, Susan, for stepping up — once again.

The past 18 months have been challenging for all of us, and for some of you the losses have been heartbreaking. Looking ahead — towards Rev. Ben helping us with our interim work — I am quite excited. From my perspective, Rev Ben is the right minister at the right time for UU St Pete as he helps us plan our future. However, to be successful, all members need to be engaged. Rev Ben will help us but we each need to participate and own the outcomes. Your input on effective ways to engage each of us would be appreciated as will be your participation.

During this pandemic — the UU St Pete community provided Dave and I with spiritual sustenance, support and love. This caring community is a beautiful foundation on which to continue growing and to build a bright future. ~ Karen Coale

Welcoming Rev. Ben

We're all so excited about our new contract interim minister, Rev. Ben Arterton-Zeman! He and his wonderful wife, Lucinda, spent a few days here last week - renting a house, getting to know a few members of the congregation, meeting the staff, and generally (we think!) falling in love with St. Petersburg and UUSP. The New Minister Support Team (currently Susan Burnore and Morgan Gresham) will be working to help them get settled over the next few months. Ben arrives on August 1st, with Lucinda and dog Loofah joining him later. Ben will be working part-time until August 15th, then full-time.

Let's all give him time to get comfortable before too many requests go his way. For now, please let Susan, Morgan, or Board President Karen Coale know if you have a special request, suggestion or offer. It's an exciting time for all of us!

~ Susan Burnore, Chair, New Minister Support Committee

Highlights from the July 21 Board Meeting

The Board of Trustees held its first regular meeting of the 2021-2022 church year and was pleased to welcome Reverend Ben to our community. His attendance at the meeting was appreciated and we look forward to a fruitful and exciting year as he begins his tenure in August.

Highlights:

· We welcomed new board members and officers: Trish Burch, Assistant Treasurer; Dani Skrzypek, Clerk; and three new board members: Barbara Archibald, Karen Coale, and Chris Vatland. At a special July 1 meeting of the Board, Karen Coale was elected as President and Bill Motter as Vice President. (Cynthia Patterson, Karen White and Sharon Winters continue as Board members, Paul Craig continues as Treasurer, Rebecca Wilson continues as Financial Secretary and Dani continues as Assistant Financial Secretary.)

· The Board passed a resolution to approve UUSP enrollment in the UUA retirement plan for all qualifiying employees.

· Earlier this month, an emergency hurricane policy was established in the face of Hurricane Elsa. The Board discussed how to best serve the congregation going forward. Cynthia Patterson and Bill Motter volunteered to research options and report back.

· The Board held a two-part orientation in late June/early July and identified important directions for its work. Re-engagement of the congregants is a top priority along with the importance of RE and supporting young families.

· Jeanay Johnson, our Religious Education Coordinator, reported that the nursery needs volunteers as well as a staff person. The parent’s covenant group would like to be involved in the hiring.

~ Karen White

Year-End Financial Report

In 2020/21 UUSP received $328,800 in contributions:

$208,388 for Church Operations (pledges, contributions, property usage)

$107,554 Kitchen Renovation

$1,187 Minister’s Discretionary Fund

$4,000 Little House Designated Fund

$7,671 Social Justice

After adding $12,000 to the new Hurricane Reserve Fund, our church ended the year with a surplus of $20,182. This surplus is primarily due to the fact we prepared our budget assuming we would return to in person services in January 2020. Since we did not, we did not incur as many operating expenses as

expected.

For more details and full reports, click here.

~ Paul Craig, Treasurer, and Trish Burch, Assistant Treasurer

How We Set Board Meeting Agendas

As incoming Board Vice President, Bill Motter has developed the following process for developing Board meeting agendas.

1st Wednesday of the month

Call for agenda items to Board, Officers and Committee Chairs with reminder to post reports to the shared Board google folder. Congregation members can also submit agenda items directly to Bill.

2nd Wednesday

Executive Committee Review & Agenda Development (Karen Coale, Bill Motter, Chris Vatland, Karen White and Rev. Ben)

2nd Friday

Final Board meeting agenda distributed to Board, Minister, Officers, Committee Chairs and posted on the website

3rd Wednesday

Virtual meeting 6:30-8:30pm. Contact Jeanay or Bill to receive the agenda and Zoom link ... all are welcome to attend

Soon thereafter

Draft Minutes posted for review by Clerk

Board Newsletter distributed to congregation members & staff