<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>FUUSM Members and Friends:</div><div> I have presented the following idea about congregational leadership orally to some individuals and received a favorable response--so I am presenting it in writing in anticipation of our Annual Meeting.</div><div><br></div><div> In her report a few weeks ago about the Board discussion concerning a FUUSM minister, Robin Bozian mentioned four primary tasks of the minister:</div><div> -Worship Services</div><div> -Caring/Outreach</div><div> -Administration</div><div> -Face of the congregation.</div><div><br></div><div> I propose that we use the funds allocated in our budget for the half-time minister to augment the budgets of the first three entities of this task list. We should also increase the membership of the Worship & Music Committee and of the Caring Committee and ask these committees, if they are willing, to share the tasks that had been done previously by the committee chair. They may opt to designate a person as the primary lead for their function. If there is an agreed-upon committee chair, we should consider a part-time wage for the leader of these committees, using funds allocated to the half-time minister in the FY 2026 budget.</div><div> In the case of the "administration" tasks, we can increase the hours (and wage rate) of our extremely competent administrative assistant, if she is willing.</div><div> In the case of the "face of the congregation," we can ask the Board to designate someone for this purpose on an annual, quarterly, or some other basis.</div><div><br></div><div> This idea obviously needs a lot more discussion, but I wanted to get the ball rolling before the Annual Meeting.</div><div><br></div><div> We owe a huge debt of gratitude for the people who have thus far managed the tasks of these two important committees and to our administrative assistant for the dedication and creativity she has shown in her work. Martha McGovern (Worship & Music) and Cathy Rees (Caring) have carried out the respective tasks of their committees with dedication, creativity, and assiduous attention to detail. I would like to nominate those two, along with Dawn Hewitt, for Unitarian sainthood! \U0001f604</div><div><br></div><div> Maybe the Board has a person in mind for a half-time position.If they don't, I think it would be very difficult to find someone to assume such a position by July1, 2025.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">George Banziger; 740-434-5685; 740-434-3354 (mobile)<br></div></div></div></div>
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