I am looking forward to our Congregational Meeting on Sunday, June 4 after the service. What a lot of work goes into getting all the moving parts of the meeting organized!

In addition to hearing brief reports on congregation life in the last year, we will have several important votes at the meeting. We will vote on nominees to the Board, Nominations Committee and the Personnel Committee. We will also vote on the budget for 2023 2024 and the adoption of a Mission Statement. The agenda, slate of nominees and their bios, the budget, annual reports and the draft minutes from the last Congregational Meeting (held on June 5, 2022) are on our website (https://uucharlottesville.org/congregational-meetings/). The proposed Mission Statement will be posted after the board votes on it at the board meeting on May 24.

The Mission Statement Task Force has been working hard to come up with a mission statement which is brief, powerful and inclusive of all the passions congregants expressed in the Congregational Conversation and the Cottage Conversations. It is quite a challenge!

Adopting a mission statement is an important step leading to the development of a strategic plan which will focus our mission on specific actions. We will begin the process of developing the strategic plan this fall, though we will be giving it a lot of thought through the summer. All the information we gathered in the Cottage Conversations will inform the strategic plan and it will bring all our hopes, dreams and commitment to definitive steps that will involve the whole congregation.

Our Treasurer, Kay Frazier, and I presented the proposed budget to the congregation on May 7, 2023 after the Sunday service. Kay has an impressive ability to make complex information easy to understand. It was heartening to hear how our budget and the process of developing the budget reflects our UU values. You can view the discussion at this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX9S50mKYDE

The Children and Youth Religious Education program is winding down at the end of the school year. I am looking forward to the Coming of Age Service this Sunday! It is always inspiring to hear what our youth have to say.

We had a terrific auction on May 13. It was fun to be together, share delicious snacks, and support the congregation. A great success!
I greatly appreciate all the passion and effort that so many people bring to making UUCville a place where love is in action!

Submitted by,

Pam McIntire, President