From the President, January 2011
Happy New Year! I hope 2011 finds you happy, healthy and excited about TJMC-UU. As we begin the New Year, I want to take the time to extend my gratitude to Sally Taylor and the Membership Committee for all the hard work they did to engage the congregation in a conversation about the meaning and responsibility of membership. There were over 100 people involved in Cottage Conversations and 140 individuals who filled out the online survey. My thanks to all who participated in this process. This is what an active and engaged congregation looks like — when we can come together to have meaningful conversations. Join us for the Congregational Meeting on Sunday, January 23, to hear a full report from the Membership Committee.
This past Board Meeting was an exciting one. The Board endorsed the updated version of the bylaws that you will vote on in January. We passed the new and improved Policy and Procedure Manual. And we passed the Board Goals. Some of you may be wondering why we are passing the Board Goals in December. That is a good question that I want to take some time answering. The short answer is that we simply wanted to do too much. We had a set of very elaborate goals covering all aspects of church life and it was simply too much to accomplish at once. So we took the time we needed to make sure we are working on goals that are meaningful and timely. While we pared them down for this year, we have enough to keep going for the next several years! Our four goals for 2010 and 2011 are:
· Define a common mission for the TJMCUU congregation by May 2011.
· Develop a Six Year Buildings and Grounds Plan for review by the Board in May 2011, and for presentation to the full congregation during 2011.
· Support efforts to enhance the effectiveness and transparency of church governance and leadership development processes.
· Support the development and introduction of a robust stewardship program that significantly enhances the financial and non -financial vitality of the church and its congregation.
We have a significant number of action steps that go along with each goal. Some selected actions are as follows:
A. Mission
1. Provide opportunities for the congregation to give feedback on the written mission statement towards further clarification.
2. Develop a task force (of three to five people) to gather information towards writing a mission statement.
B. Buildings and Grounds Plan
1. Establish a task force under Board member leadership to review and update previous plans.
2. Develop a Vision for 2016 and define current reality, detailing key metrics for both by Jan, 2011.
C. Governance and Leadership
1. Complete the review of the current organizational structure as begun in 2009- 10 and with the objective of clarifying the roles of various groups and activities.
2. Train and support leaders of groups (including the Board).
D. Stewardship
1. Increase by 10% the number of members who make a contribution of record each year.
2. Increase overall pledge amount by 5% versus 2010.
For the full list of board goals, please stop the by the bulletin board outside of the Church Office.
We anticipate working with existing groups to attain some of our goals, but we will also need your assistance! I encourage you to contact a member of the Board if you are interested in any of the projects. Many hands make light work! Even on the Board.
In gratitude and peace,
Donna Baker