Dear TJMC Congregation and Board of Trustees,

This month I’m doing a combined report to the Board and congregation, as I believe it is equally relevant for both audiences.

I want to first thank everyone who helped make the past three weekends so successful. We had a great auction, fun 75th anniversary party, and a productive facilitated session with UU consultant Paula Cole Jones. Many congregational volunteers, staff, the board, and everyone who participated pulled off three successful weekends. I can’t help but take pleasure from the way our congregation comes together to organize even one event; in this case, my joy was threefold.

The auction, as always, was a great evening out at TJMC. Cindy Shepard, Janine Jakim, Carol Gardner, Kay Frazier, the UUGuys men’s group, and others really outdid themselves. The highlight for me was an intense bidding war for an old, hand-carved wooden alligator. In the end, Kim and I took him home for $22, and he has become part of the family. We have since found out that his name is Manny, he’s about the same age as I am, he hails from Mexico, and has lived most of his life in our Religious Assistant Caroline Heins’ grandmother’s house.

The next weekend saw a wonderful service that people talked about for several weeks afterwards, followed by an all-church potluck. It was a gift that the weather was so beautiful, and we enjoyed ourselves in the social hall, the yard outside, the playground, and just about everywhere else on our grounds. I got a TJMC 75th Anniversary temporary tattoo that I wore proudly all week!

I have received a lot of positive feedback about the work we did with Paula Cole Jones on the first weekend in May. It was planned as an opportunity to process the racist event that took place at our church this past winter, and it was a great experience for many of us. We had more than 100 church members attend over the course of two days. As I indicated at the beginning of each session, we’re planning to have Paula back to facilitate additional conversations around topics recommended by another UU consultant who visited us last summer and did a report on the current state of our congregation. (You can see or download it here.)

In the coming weeks, the Board of Trustees will be presenting its budget to the congregation, and holding several conversations to discuss it. You should plan to attend one of these sessions. As someone who works professionally in the field of budgeting and financial analysis, I can attest to the fact that a budget tells the story of an organization. In a budget’s numbers, you will see the beliefs, values, fears, and aspirations of the people who put it together.

For anyone who can’t make these sessions, or wants more focused time to discuss the budget, president-elect Colleen Anderson and I are offering to visit with your church committee, covenant group, or social circle. We are both committed to hearing your input, and enjoy the opportunity to meet with folks to talk about church life.

Please keep in touch with me, the church staff, the Committee on Ministry, and other Board members. Sometimes Board service–which involves spending a great deal of time with other connected church leaders and long-time members–can give the false sense that everyone is aware of everything that’s going on in our community. By reaching out with your questions, we’ll get a better sense of what the congregation wants to hear about. As of today, our congregation stands at about 425 members–nearly as large as we’ve ever been. In a community this large, staying connected is everyone’s job!

Faithfully,

Adam