From President Pam McIntire

It is heartening to witness how despite continuing COVID restriction, our congregation is coming together for fellowship and deepening understanding of our passions and needs.

The board facilitated three Listening Circles for congregants to explain what goals are important for our upcoming developmental ministry years. As our interim minister, Rev. Linda has helped us identify areas which need attention and strengthening. Now, we as a congregation need to decide on goals for developmental ministry which will begin in August 2022. The goals we identify will be part of the application for a Developmental Minister which we will submit to the UUA Transitions Office in December. The Developmental Minister Search Committee will interview candidates and hopefully we will hire a Developmental Minister to start August 1, 2022. This minister will be hired by the board (vs a settled minister who is called by the congregation) and will be rehired yearly as we need them to help us meet our goals. We hope to call a settled minister at the end of the developmental ministry years. The draft developmental ministry goals developed by the board and the summary of the listening circle comments can be found on the Developmental Ministry Search page of the uucharlottesville.org website https://uucharlottesville.org/developmental-minister-search/ After the search committee meets with transitions office staff, there will be more opportunity for congregation input on the goals.

The board is learning about Policy Based Governance as we work to determine board goals for the year. This understanding of governance focuses board attention on listening to the congregation and providing a big picture vision for the church. The management of the church lies with the paid staff and volunteers, with direction from the board. The board holds staff accountable for running the church according to the church policies and vision, but does not engage in micromanagement. In this way, board time is spent on setting a course for the church based on the vision of the congregation.

In the next few months, the board will continue to examine several ongoing interests. These include:

• How can we provide connection and growth for the congregation while considering safety from COVID infections?
• How can we develop and broaden leadership in the congregation?
• What does membership in UUCville mean?
• How can we foster excellence in communication throughout our UUCville community?
• How can we continue to support our social justice/ anti-racism actions?

I want to say again how much I appreciate our really extraordinary staff. Rev. Linda has been an incredible gift to us with her hard work, creativity, commitment to helping us deepen our connections despite COVID, and her wise, direct, loving and honest communication. Rev. Leia has been supporting all aspects of congregation life: pastoral care, religious education: in-person programs for children and youth, expanding Adult Faith Development programming, leading worship, and providing support and direction for the board. Our director of administration and finance, Sean Skally, has been beyond amazing with handling everything from budgets, accounts, overseeing building maintenance, revamping and managing the technology for our worship services and so much more that I don’t have room to list. Our Director of Music, Scott DeVeaux, has provided us with such excellent and heart moving musical offerings. Each week I hear more appreciation for his creativity and hard work. I want to especially thank Caroline Heins for all her hard work in the office and in managing the details of RE programming. And, she does it all with patience and kindness. “What else can I do to help?” seems to be the phrase she lives by.

I also want to thank all our incredible volunteers. What an amazing community we have! This week’s service at the park was such a group effort! Our church grounds have never looked so beautiful. The inside of the church is looking lovely with the new paint. Our membership team is working hard, our personnel committee has reviewed our staff benefits and contracts, our RE teams have provided fantastic programming, our finance committee is keeping us on track, our Covenant groups are continuing to provide personal connection, and our Soul Matters program looks inspiring. Our website is fantastic and comprehensive – what a huge leap forward in excellence in communication! Our policy review team keeps us on track. And, so many keep us active in the larger community through our social action initiatives.

It is heartening to see how we are thriving despite so many challenges!

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