As I wrote the Moderator’s submission for the annual report, and as I now submit this last Moderator’s minute newsletter article, I have had an opportunity to reflect back on this past year. It was a good way to connect the unknowns and potential at the start of the church year to the upcoming completion of this year with the benefit of hindsight. The theme for this year “Return, Reunite, Reimagine” has held fast and true throughout the highs and lows and joys and sorrows that we faced together as a church family. Our return to services in the Sanctuary during the mid-summer, and our hopes for a quick end to the COVID pandemic, were completely dashed as the Delta variant took hold in the early fall. We again thought we were out of the woods with a feeling of normalcy just before Christmas when Omicron became pervasive and led to more lockdowns through the winter. After over two years surviving a world-wide pandemic, and with so much sacrifice and loss in our community, we are finally seeing the blooms of a fresh start for spring as this pestilence enters a perpetual, yet seemingly manageable, endemic phase. We have returned again and again as a church community, we reunite with love in our common mission and ministries and we continue to reimagine UCG’s future so that we may adapt and thrive.
At UCG we have an excellent mentoring partnership between the Moderator and the Moderator-Elect. The Moderator-Elect has the chance to shadow in this critical role for a year and gain invaluable knowledge and detailed insight into all aspects of the business and ministries of the church. The Moderator facilitates communication between church lay leaders, ministers, staff, congregational members and the wider community by setting the agendas and chairing meetings of Council Exec and Church Council. The Moderator participates as a member of CMRB and provides overarching guidance and input as an ex officio member of many boards and committees, particularly Board of Business and other critical Council-created ad hoc committees. This lay leadership position keeps the congregation and Church Council updated on important church business while listening to varying concerns, thoughts and input as a conduit for the ministers, Church Council members, staff and the congregation at large.
This year I partnered with Moderator-Elect Barb Gibbs to ensure that she had a full understanding of the role and responsibilities. Barb worked diligently on the updates to our policies and procedures and we brain-stormed on the best way to move them through the review and revision process towards approval. As we look towards next year in church life, UCG is in excellent hands with Barb, Jeremy Archer as the incoming Moderator-Elect, our Church Council members and our excellent Boards and Committees.
This year saw many important decisions and exciting changes occur, such as:
Final Disposition of Residual 2021 Budget Funds from Forgiven PPP Loan
Based on the congregation’s decision to place disposition of the residual funds with Church Council, Jim White, Council Member-at-Large, led a committee composed of representative congregational members who evaluated recommendations on how best to utilize the available funds. The PPP Residual Funds Committee made the recommendation, which was approved by Council, to donate a portion of the available funds to a local community non-profit, transfer another portion into the church reserve fund and, significantly, to use the remaining funds to update and renovate the church education wing.
Completion of a Marketplace Compensation Analysis and Development of a Compensation Philosophy
The Compensation Task Force, led by Karen Johnson, engaged an external consultant to perform the first compensation market analysis in many years. The team determined appropriate data-based salary adjustments after staff input and consultation with the Board of Business, Council Exec, Church Council and other stakeholders. More recently the group shifted focus to develop a church-wide compensation philosophy, consideration of a revised Compensation Committee mission and initial discussions on the formation of a Human Resources Board.
Launch of Financial Sustainability and Stewardship Committee
The Church Council brought to fruition the long-term goal of forming an independent committee to review and advise the Church Council on the long-term sustainability and stewardship of church finances. The members, led by former Moderator Rebecca Beachy, is composed of a diverse group of church members who have professional expertise in areas such as (but not limited to) fiduciary management, accounting and auditing, financial planning, non-profit leadership and budgeting, revenue development, grant writing, endowment investments, insurance policies and human resources (staffing, salary setting, benefits).
New Revenue Opportunities
Leased Parking to Publix: Council Exec and Church Council worked with staff through the vetting and approval steps resulting in an additional external revenue source which ultimately was critical for balancing the annual budget.
Charter School Collaboration Committee: After initial discussions with staff, Council Exec and Church Council met in December to form an exploratory committee, led by Council Member-at-large Beth Hinrichs. The Committee devised a strategy for congregational input, met regularly as a Committee, and had multiple email and in-person exchanges with school representatives and with congregants, both in support and opposition. The team developed a survey to gauge congregational support, provided a short yet concise timeline to meet the lease negotiation deadline and, after careful review and edits to the lease language, finally brought a vote before the congregation (which ultimately did not pass) to consider the wider church’s support for a partnership with the school.
We also saw a return of in-person Time and Talent in the fall and the start of the Vinery Program which we hope will connect the church closer to the college-age communities. Throughout all of these endeavors my role as Moderator was to create opportunities for open dialogue amongst stakeholders while maintaining an unbiased and open-minded position as these major initiatives were shepherded through the church decision-making process. Moderators should maintain as much personal neutrality as possible so that all sides and positions can be heard and balanced while an issue or proposal is under review.
The consideration for UCG to host a public charter school saw many varied and deeply-held beliefs from many church members. To know that so many of my beloved church family felt so passionately about this potential partnership and wanted to share their opinions and feelings, for or against, was encouraging and invigorating. No process is perfect when you are in uncharted territory. This was the first time UCG had considered such a partnership and the Committee tasked with carrying out Church Council’s charge did an outstanding job in an unenviable position. There were many folks that expressed frustration and misgivings. There were also many others that stated encouragement and support. Any recommendations and suggested changes which might invite unease, particularly changes to our By-Laws, are to be carefully weighed and vetted by impacted Boards, Committees, staff, ministers and the congregation as appropriate. There are many steps and hurdles along the way so timelines are developed as soon as possible so that the plan of action is clear. Congregational input and buy-in for any potentially controversial proposal must occur as early in the process, and as often as necessary, to ensure all voices are heard in a timely manner. In the same token, our congregational model is balanced with the critical understanding that the church leaders, ministers and staff must be trusted and relied upon to follow the established By-laws, policies and procedures to move proposals through the decision-making and approval process which will instill the congregation’s confidence in those decisions. My take-away is the firm and unwavering knowledge that the Committee did their very best in an extraordinarily short period of time so that this church community could come together to democratically make a decision with finality. As we move forward I believe it is critical that we continue to respectfully listen to each other to weigh out all considerations, trust in the process and our church leadership and understand any lessons learned so that UCG can improve the path forward the next time a similar opportunity comes our way.