A Word of Thanks from Team Kelly

Dear Friends,

It has been another incredibly rich year here at First Unitarian Society. We continue to be honored and humbled by the privilege of being your ministers. We are seeing you all move deeper and deeper into the work of co-ministry, becoming more active in this community, finding your place and your work, holding and caring for this congregation as your very own spiritual home, doing the work to make it grow into the community of deep welcome and belonging we know it can be. We are grateful for the ones who worked with us as co-leaders in this experiment of shared faith.

There are four folks who completed their service on the FUS Board of Trustees:

Alyssa

Ryanjoy, FUS Board President

Lorna Aaronson, John McGevna, and Annelise Alvin, Youth Advisor

We owe these four a huge debt of gratitude. They served tirelessly through difficult conversations, hard decisions, challenging moments, as well as times filled with laughter and joy and all the beauty of people working together toward a common goal. They served with a great deal of love and grace, understanding and compassion, holding the best interests of our community at heart through it all.

We also had the immense privilege to work with the five members of our Mission and Vision Task Force:

Emily Smith, chair

Emily Cusic Putnam, Larry Johnson, Lisa Munro, and Joy Stieglitz Gottschalk

For the past year, these folks have listened to you, thought deeply about your comments, your hopes, and your visions of who we are as a community, and brought it all together in two statements that beautifully reflect who we are now and who we hope to be in the years to come. The hours they spent, the countless meetings, the spreadsheets filled with your feedback, they did all that work and more with good humor, fellowship, curiosity, and compassion. They were a joy to work with and learn from and we are forever grateful.

It takes all of us to create this community of love and hope. From ushers and greeters, coffee makers and ministry team leaders, CRE teachers and Journey Circle Facilitators, our hearts are filled with gratitude for each and every one of you. This community lives and breathes with and through you and it remains our great honor to live amongst you here in fellowship and gratitude. We look forward to the years to come and to all we will build together and all we will welcome through these doors into the love of this community. ◊

As the 22-23 church year closes, our Board of Trustees is energized by the growing momentum in our congregation. From seeing new faces at services to having a full slate of delegates at General Assembly, we can feel the deepening engagement of members and friends along with programing that continues to shift and change in ways that resonate with those who are learning about FUS. How wonderful it has been to see a thriving co-ministry, well-attended programing, and the reengagement of members and friends after a period of extraordinary challenges. We deeply appreciate the work of our ministers, staff, and all of you who give in many ways to our community.

As we reflect on our work this year, we’re grateful for the opportunity to focus on our strategic goals and look ahead to the future as we discern how the Board can best support FUS.

We continued our commitment to anti-racism and anti-oppression work in our congregation, participating in Nehemiah’s “Black History for a New Day” course to deepen our own competency in systemic racism. Our governance committee worked with a local non-profit to begin a review of our Board policies and bylaws through an anti-oppression lens.

Engaging with these community organizations was also part of a concerted effort to be more connected to our community and denomination. Board members have taken advantage of learning opportunities through the UUA and spent a day with our Congregational Life Consultant from the MidAmerica Region for deeper discussion about Board responsibilities and strategic planning. Through a recently started group, we also are connecting with other large UU congregation boards.