Regular updates from UUCF’s Board of Directors. Please click on headings to read in full.
Living the Mission
December 17, 2024. December at UUCF is bringing the joy back for me. Last week’s Joy Service, as usual, raised the rafters with heartfelt music, dancing, and even surprise games. But I’m realizing with that joy comes a need for reflection. I am craving the time for quiet meditation offered at this Friday’s Blue Christmas Silent Retreat. This has been a challenging and discouraging year for many of us. I know there’s work to do to Grow, Connect, and Serve. So that’s why on behalf of the Board, I’m writing to share that – as promised in September – we are bringing an essential discussion process to all congregants in January. Yes, this is our Living the Mission effort. Please keep reading! We need everyone’s attention on this activity and a commitment to participate in at least one – and hopefully two or more – Living the Mission discussions. We are a new congregation in many ways. We have many
Talking & Listening for the New Year
Let’s talk. Really talk. The UUCF Board of Directors has set its priorities for this coming congregational year, and talking – as well as its critical partner, listening – is top of the list. Why focus on talking and listening? Because the Board wants to hear the congregation’s thoughts on key vision-focused questions … questions like: What is some of the most important work that UUCF is doing today? Grounded together in community, what might we create for the future? Just as important, the Board wants the congregation to talk to each other, face to face, about those questions. So many of us are new at UUCF! More than two-thirds of us were not members the last time UUCF underwent a visioning process. So that’s why we’re organizing this process, called Living The Mission – a series of conversations that the Board will then take to help articulate and frame short-term goals for the congregation. By taking the time to
Highlights From UUA General Assembly 2024
Dear UUCF Community, More than 3,400 Unitarian Universalists from across the U.S. and abroad gathered for an all-virtual Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) General Assembly (GA) June 20–23. GA, an annual event, provides opportunities for UUs to connect, learn, and conduct important business of the association. UUCF is grateful to its delegates – Susan Bennett, Kaye Cook, Eric Gopelrud, Ed Groak, Bob Kaminsky, Steven Myles, Kendra Niehaus, Ruth Perry, Kären Rasmussen, Ashley Rothermal, Jan Taddeo, Marcia Tugendhat, and religious educators Diana Tycer, Courtney Firth, as well as Rev. David Miller – for representing a broad range of congregational perspectives in consequential and challenging discussions and votes. The 4-year process of reviewing Article II of the UUA bylaws concluded with the adoption of the revision (with one amendment), with 80.2% of all UUA delegates voting in favor. This change places love squarely at the center, surrounded by the newly articulated values of Equity, Generosity, Interdependence, Justice, Pluralism, and Transformation. While some at UUCF may