Board Report January 2014
Board of Trustees
2013 Annual Report
During 2013 the Board continued its work to support and strengthen UUCB’s foundation and its capacity to carry out its ministry to its members and the community. We have benefitted from the guidance of the Governance Task Force in adopting formal policies to clarify the lines of responsibility and accountability among staff (both paid and volunteer) and Board members. This move to a policy-based governance model has resulted in the “global delegation” of authority to the minister, as the chief of staff. While the minister will have the responsibility to hire and fire staff, the Board retains the responsibility to fund, create, and eliminate positions. As part of our work to enhance our capacity to administer programs, we have moved the accounting function in-house, with the creation of a half-time bookkeeper position.
UUCB’s capacity to carry out its ministry has been further enhanced by the use of resources from the UUA. We have benefitted from the expertise of Mark Slegers, Music Director of First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon in helping to ascertain the appropriate staffing for this church’s music program. Consultant Barry Finkelstein gave us important insights into fundraising for our Annual Fund Drive, while Keith Kron encouraged us to examine our own personal predispositions in a “Beyond Categorical Thinking” workshop to help prepare ourselves for our search for a settled minister.
You could say that much of our work during the interim time has been to get our house in order so that we will have the best possible opportunity to attract the settled minister that is the “best fit” for UUCB. Board members and other leaders of the congregation made phone calls to every member of the congregation to solicit suggestions for representation on the Ministerial Search Committee. This input was used to create an excellent voting slate for a special congregational meeting held on April 14th. The resulting committee is one that can be said to truly represent our church.
On June 9th a second “special” congregational meeting was held to consider a proposal to “resource the endowment”. This one-time, unprecedented measure was put forth to address what we expect to be a short term funding shortfall for our operating budget. Funds were also requested to undertake needed capital improvements, since resources were inadequate to address them in the regular budget.
The Board has remained committed to being a “fair share” congregation with respect to payment of UUA and St. Lawrence District dues. It also has tried to bring staff salaries into the recommended mid-range for the Buffalo Niagara metro area. We fully expect that the work undertaken during the past year represents an investment that will help to bring UUCB up to date in its operations, enhance its capacity to deliver programs more efficiently, and enable it to grow in depth, as well as in numbers.
2013 Annual Report
During 2013 the Board continued its work to support and strengthen UUCB’s foundation and its capacity to carry out its ministry to its members and the community. We have benefitted from the guidance of the Governance Task Force in adopting formal policies to clarify the lines of responsibility and accountability among staff (both paid and volunteer) and Board members. This move to a policy-based governance model has resulted in the “global delegation” of authority to the minister, as the chief of staff. While the minister will have the responsibility to hire and fire staff, the Board retains the responsibility to fund, create, and eliminate positions. As part of our work to enhance our capacity to administer programs, we have moved the accounting function in-house, with the creation of a half-time bookkeeper position.
UUCB’s capacity to carry out its ministry has been further enhanced by the use of resources from the UUA. We have benefitted from the expertise of Mark Slegers, Music Director of First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon in helping to ascertain the appropriate staffing for this church’s music program. Consultant Barry Finkelstein gave us important insights into fundraising for our Annual Fund Drive, while Keith Kron encouraged us to examine our own personal predispositions in a “Beyond Categorical Thinking” workshop to help prepare ourselves for our search for a settled minister.
You could say that much of our work during the interim time has been to get our house in order so that we will have the best possible opportunity to attract the settled minister that is the “best fit” for UUCB. Board members and other leaders of the congregation made phone calls to every member of the congregation to solicit suggestions for representation on the Ministerial Search Committee. This input was used to create an excellent voting slate for a special congregational meeting held on April 14th. The resulting committee is one that can be said to truly represent our church.
On June 9th a second “special” congregational meeting was held to consider a proposal to “resource the endowment”. This one-time, unprecedented measure was put forth to address what we expect to be a short term funding shortfall for our operating budget. Funds were also requested to undertake needed capital improvements, since resources were inadequate to address them in the regular budget.
The Board has remained committed to being a “fair share” congregation with respect to payment of UUA and St. Lawrence District dues. It also has tried to bring staff salaries into the recommended mid-range for the Buffalo Niagara metro area. We fully expect that the work undertaken during the past year represents an investment that will help to bring UUCB up to date in its operations, enhance its capacity to deliver programs more efficiently, and enable it to grow in depth, as well as in numbers.