May 2012
A year ago, in my first President’s Message, I wrote:

When the nominating committee asked me to run for president of this congregation, I said no, two times, for several reasons. . . Although I had been a member of two other UU churches, beginning in 1973, I did not think that I had been a member of this congregation long enough to take on a leadership role. . . Since I was elected, my feelings have been a mixture of confidence and humility. Many more members and friends have expressed their support for me. I promise to work hard to deserve it.

Here is an excerpt from the President’s Report for our Annual Meeting on April 15, two weeks ago:

When I took on the job of being your President a year ago, I intended to serve only one year. To be honest, I had grave doubts about my ability to do the job, but gradually I discovered that even when there were setbacks and difficulties, things were getting better. I was a small part of a process of healing and renewal, and the process was inspiring and sometimes even fun. Eventually, I realized that I didn’t want to quit halfway through the journey. Now, instead of counting the days until I can turn over the hard work and the problems to a new President, I’m looking forward to serving you next year.

Looking back, I can see that, while many things have changed in our Society during the last year, I have changed, too. These are a few of the lessons I have learned, some of them the hard way:

• Plan meetings, especially Board of Trustees’ meetings, ahead of time. Send out the agenda a few days in advance. Bring copies of it to the meeting.

• Welcome members of the congregation to Board meetings. Allow them to speak early in the meeting, if they wish.

• Don’t be afraid to impose a time limit on speeches, including your own. Even formal speeches should be no longer than the Gettysburg Address.

• Don’t be afraid to ask other people to work hard, but always say “Please” and “Thank you.” A little appreciation goes a long way to heal conflict.

• When people are having a dispute, listen to each person before taking any action.

• When someone appears to be acting maliciously, work on the assumption that the problem is poor communication, not evil intent.

• Use email to schedule meetings and to send out neutral information. Avoid using email to work out interpersonal problems. Use the telephone or meet face to face. Be very careful about sending out emails to groups or hitting the Reply All button.

• Help clean up the kitchen at least once a month. Learn how to make coffee in the big coffeepot and run the dishwasher. Remember to turn them on ahead of time to heat up.

• Bring cookies or brownies to meetings.

•Wear comfortable shoes.
-Ellen Nielsen, President

April 2012
At our semi-annual meeting last October, I asked you, the members of our Society, to begin thinking about what kind of program you wanted for our 2012-2013 church year, and especially what kind of ministerial services you wanted. Now it is time to make a decision. The 2012 pledge drive is about to begin, and the Board of Trustees is about to begin working on next year’s budget. In order to set a goal for the pledge drive and to get started on the budget, we need to know how much money we will need. Many items in our Society’s budget such as routine building maintenance, the electric bill, the cost of insurance, and the salaries of our two part-time employees, are predictable. The most significant variable in our budget is how much we pay the minister.

As most of you know, when there was a pledge shortfall last year, the minister’s compensation was cut drastically. The pay cut for Pastor Bud was proposed at the end of the budgeting process, and presented to the congregation at the Annual Meeting in April 2011. Pastor Bud continued to serve as our part-time minister for $27,000 per year, including housing allowance, medical insurance, and expenses, but few people were comfortable with this outcome. Because most people did not know what was going to happen until the end of the fiscal year, some felt that communication and trust between the congregation and the Board of Trustees had broken down. This year, the Board of Trustees has chosen to operate more transparently. Instead of settling for a budget-driven program, the board will ask the congregation to make an early choice about the ministerial program, and to support that choice by pledging enough money to pay for it.

Pastor Bud has told the Board of Trustees that he hopes to serve our congregation for one more year and retire at the end of April 2013. He has also said that if the vote of the congregation indicates that his continued service as our minister would divide the Society and keep us from moving forward, he will give the 90 day notice his contract requires and leave at the end of this church year. Pastor Bud has suggested that he serve as a three quarter time minister, and he and the Board of Trustees have agreed that fair total compensation for that level of professional ministry would be $50,000 a year. The Board has scheduled a Special Congregational Meeting to vote on this issue for February 19.

What would be asked of the congregation if we decide to hire a three quarter time minister next year?
One of our Board members, Dick Peppers, has done the math. In order to pay for the minister’s compensation of $50,000 and maintain all other UU programs at this year’s level and cover the routine expenses of our UU society such as building maintenance, we will need to raise $120,000 in pledges. If we hired a half time minister instead, which is another valid option, we would need to raise about $112,000. (This includes the cost of additional guest speakers.) Last October, some members said they wanted to go back to hiring a full time minister. When Pastor Bud was our full-time minister, he was paid $70,000 a year, so if we went back to that level of service at that rate of compensation, we would need to pledge between $135,000 and $140,000.

With the help of E.D. Mann, and Steve Segner, Dick Peppers has researched our pledge history for the past few years. Last year (2011), our pledge total was only $88,600, but in 2010, the total was 122,422, and in 2009, the total was $128,392. We lost members during 2010-2011, and some members made no financial pledge that year. Since then, we have acquired some new members, and our Society has become a more peaceful and hopeful “safe harbor.” Nevertheless, a pledge goal of $120,000 represents a significant challenge, even though we have done it before. To achieve this goal, we would need to raise the amount of pledges received in 2011 by almost one third. Every member would have to pledge, and most members would have to pledge more than they did in 2011.

Can we meet this challenge to raise enough money to pay our minister fairly? Can we do it every year from now on? I believe we can, because of our faith in the resiliency of this Society, our hope for its future, and our love for each other, which can transcend our differences.
--Ellen Nielsen, President

March 2012

As we move into 2012, many members of our congregation are engaged in spirited discussions about the role of social and political activism in our Society. Most of us have followed current events closely enough to realize that our country is in turmoil. The United States has been at war for almost twelve years, millions of people are worse off economically than they were five years ago, and this year’s Presidential election may be the most polarizing since the election of 1860, which triggered the Civil War.

Our congregation could become polarized too. In some ways that is inevitable. We’re all too familiar with the jokes about herding cats, and trying to keep politics out of a UU society is like trying to keep sugar out of a bakery. Diversity plus political activism can lead to painful conflict. Conflict is all too familiar to us, and we don’t want to invite more, but it seems unlikely we can all march to the same drum.

Some of us are impatient with what appears to be foot dragging while others worry that an activist minority is pushing too hard. One criticism that I’ve heard recently is that our congregation is divided into two kinds of UUs—people who are serious about taking some kind of action to make the world a better place versus people who believe that that the UU should only be a safe haven for intellectual contemplation and spiritual growth. Is this division real? Does it have to be that way? What can we learn from history?

All of the successful liberation movements of the twentieth century were non-violent, and were built on solid spiritual foundations. For example, in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King, Jr. said that effective non-violent direct action required four steps:

1. Identification of the problem—Leaders of the black community in Birmingham had long been aware of the existence of specific forms of racial injustice in their community, which did direct harm to all African Americans living there.
2. Attempts to negotiate with the opposite side—Good faith efforts to persuade the white power structure in Birmingham to dismantle the segregation system had failed.
3. Spiritual and emotional preparation—The black community participated in intensive non-violence training based on the commandment of Jesus to “Love your enemies.” They were united by prayer and music and faith that they were in God’s hands. Nothing else would have given them the courage to march against police dogs and fire hoses, and in some cases to send their children to do the same.
4. Direct action--The action in Birmingham was non-violent, carefully planned, and directed against the unjust institution of segregation, not against individuals. The objective was not to crush their enemies, but to transform them by changing their hearts.

For the most part, the civil rights activists in Birmingham were successful in dismantling a domination system and changing people’s hearts. They could not have succeeded without the wholehearted support of the black churches which provided manpower, financial support, space for meetings and non-violence training, and spiritual leadership.

It’s not surprising that some social justice activists in our UU Society yearn for that kind of support, and feel frustrated if it doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. They too see themselves as fighting a domination system that touches the lives of all of us, and wonder why other people with other priorities just don’t get it. Meanwhile, members of our congregation, who wouldn’t dream of standing on a corner holding signs denouncing capitalism, might be preparing and serving food in a homeless shelter, or serving on the board of an organization that helps abused women and children start new lives, or working with the League of Women Voters to ensure fair elections, or advocating for abandoned animals, or reaching out to other members during difficult times. Some are simply working to hold the infrastructure of our Society together. We need them all.

I don’t believe that there are two kinds of UUs. We are a herd of unruly cats, but there is no Us and Them. The image that stays with me is that huge pile of bags of rice stacked in front of the pulpit. When our congregation collected and donated the rice to the migrant workers’ food bank several months ago, there were no name tags attached—there was no way to identify the donors or their political views. The rice was a gift from all of us. Our principles unite us more than our differences divide us.
--Ellen Nielsen, President

Febuary, 2012

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

At our semi-annual meeting last October, I asked you, the members of our Society, to begin thinking about what kind of program you wanted for our 2012-2013 church year, and especially what kind of ministerial services you wanted. Now it is time to make a decision. The 2012 pledge drive is about to begin, and the Board of Trustees is about to begin working on next year’s budget. In order to set a goal for the pledge drive and to get started on the budget, we need to know how much money we will need. Many items in our Society’s budget such as routine building maintenance, the electric bill, the cost of insurance, and the salaries of our two part-time employees, are predictable. The most significant variable in our budget is how much we pay the minister.

As most of you know, when there was a pledge shortfall last year, the minister’s compensation was cut drastically. The pay cut for Pastor Bud was proposed at the end of the budgeting process, and presented to the congregation at the Annual Meeting in April 2011. Pastor Bud continued to serve as our part-time minister for $27,000 per year, including housing allowance, medical insurance, and expenses, but few people were comfortable with this outcome. Because most people did not know what was going to happen until the end of the fiscal year, some felt that communication and trust between the congregation and the Board of Trustees had broken down. This year, the Board of Trustees has chosen to operate more transparently. Instead of settling for a budget-driven program, the board will ask the congregation to make an early choice about the ministerial program, and to support that choice by pledging enough money to pay for it.

Pastor Bud has told the Board of Trustees that he hopes to serve our congregation for one more year and retire at the end of April 2013. He has also said that if the vote of the congregation indicates that his continued service as our minister would divide the Society and keep us from moving forward, he will give the 90 day notice his contract requires and leave at the end of this church year. Pastor Bud has suggested that he serve as a three quarter time minister, and he and the Board of Trustees have agreed that fair total compensation for that level of professional ministry would be $50,000 a year. The Board has scheduled a Special Congregational Meeting to vote on this issue for February 19.

What would be asked of the congregation if we decide to hire a three quarter time minister next year?
One of our Board members, Dick Peppers, has done the math. In order to pay for the minister’s compensation of $50,000 and maintain all other UU programs at this year’s level and cover the routine expenses of our UU society such as building maintenance, we will need to raise $120,000 in pledges. If we hired a half time minister instead, which is another valid option, we would need to raise about $112,000. (This includes the cost of additional guest speakers.) Last October, some members said they wanted to go back to hiring a full time minister. When Pastor Bud was our full-time minister, he was paid $70,000 a year, so if we went back to that level of service at that rate of compensation, we would need to pledge between $135,000 and $140,000.

With the help of E.D. Mann, and Steve Segner, Dick Peppers has researched our pledge history for the past few years. Last year (2011), our pledge total was only $88,600, but in 2010, the total was 122,422, and in 2009, the total was $128,392. We lost members during 2010-2011, and some members made no financial pledge that year. Since then, we have acquired some new members, and our Society has become a more peaceful and hopeful “safe harbor.” Nevertheless, a pledge goal of $120,000 represents a significant challenge, even though we have done it before. To achieve this goal, we would need to raise the amount of pledges received in 2011 by almost one third. Every member would have to pledge, and most members would have to pledge more than they did in 2011.

Can we meet this challenge to raise enough money to pay our minister fairly? Can we do it every year from now on? I believe we can, because of our faith in the resiliency of this Society, our hope for its future, and our love for each other, which can transcend our differences.
--Ellen Nielsen, President

January, 2012

President’s Message
As 2012 begins, we are two-thirds of the way through our church year, which begins and ends with our annual meeting in mid-April. During the next four months, we have work to do. We must continue the healing and rebuilding of our UU congregation, and we must lay a foundation for its financial sustainability.

Our society’s primary source of income is member pledges. We receive a small amount of income from endowments, and we earn money from renting our space to other groups and from fundraisers such as auctions and rummage sales, but we rely on pledges from our members to maintain our building and grounds, pay the salaries of our minister and our two hourly employees, continue as a member society in the UUA, and reach out to our local community through FAITH and Family Renew. That’s why we have an annual pledge drive. Consider this message the beginning of that pledge drive.

If you are a member, when you joined our UU society, you agreed to support the society with your time, your talent and your money. According to the section of our bylaws on responsibilities of members (Article III, Section 5) each member is expected to make “an annual financial pledge to the congregation at a level to be determined by the member according to his or her circumstances” What does that obligation mean?

The first part of this clause says that the pledge is made to the congregation. This means that the money you pledge will be used to support programs in which all of us participate and maintain a building which all of us use. Your financial pledge is one way of affirming that you are in relationship with the whole congregation, whether or not the society or its members always meet your expectations or fulfill your needs. Pledging should not be conditional on your approval of everything that goes on in the UU; it should be an act of faith, in the sense of fidelity.

The second part of the clause advises you to pledge at a level to be determined by you, according to your circumstances. Some churches pressure members to tithe, or dictate the amount they should contribute—our UU does not. Some churches publicize the amount members give and use public embarrassment or even threats of hellfire to coerce members into giving until it hurts--our UU does not. The amount you pledge is your business. Only two people, the Treasurer and the person who keeps our financial records, will know how much you have pledged, and they have made promises of confidentiality.

Is there a minimum pledge? In theory, there is none, but our society pays dues on a per capita basis to the national and state UUA organizations and the Northeast Florida cluster. The total amount per member is about $100, so that might be considered a “minimum pledge.” Beyond that, you should make a financial pledge that you can afford to fulfill. It’s fine to set up an installment plan—many members make quarterly or monthly pledge payments. Making a specific pledge, rather than just giving what you can when you can, is better for the UU, because that enables the Board of Trustees to create a budget and stick to it. As you pledge, think in terms of sustainability.

As the entire congregation participates in the pledge drive, the Board of Trustees will begin preparing a budget for the next church year. We will not be able to complete this task until we have a good idea of how much pledge income will be coming in. This year, we hope to avoid a repeat of last year’s process, in which the budget—and the minister’s salary-- had to be cut drastically at the last minute because of a shortfall in the amount of money pledged.

The budget process will begin with the Finance Committee and the Treasurer working together to establish a baseline budget which covers the cost of maintaining the building and paying our two part-time hourly employees. This amount can usually be predicted, based on the records for the previous year. The amount of income from our endowments and sources such as building rental is also predictable. Then the cost of our programs will be added in, on the expense side. At this point, the BOT needs input from you, the congregation.

What programs are most important to you? Even if you do not have young children, do you believe that supporting our religious education program is an investment in our future? Should it be expanded? How much should our congregation give to community organizations such as FAITH and Family Renew? Beyond Share the Plate, should we develop additional ways of reaching out to people in need in our community and around the world? Do we want more music? Our choir performs as an act of love, but we pay our pianist to play every Sunday, and to rehearse with the choir. Do you want to hear more guest speakers on Sunday morning? Talk to BOT members, or come to our monthly meetings, and let us know what you want.

Very soon, the congregation and the Board of Trustees must make an important decision. This year, we have had a part time minister because last year we did not raise enough money in pledges to pay for a full time minister. At the Semi-annual Meeting in October, we heard from some members that it is important to go back to having a full-time minister. At the same meeting, the congregation heard a presentation which explained how much money we would need to pay for a full-time minister, for a part-time minister, or for guest speakers every Sunday if we did not have a minister at all.

Because Pastor Bud is planning to retire next year, our UU Society has come to a fork in the road. If we want to return to having a full time minister, we must make a long-term commitment to pay for a full-time minister. If we don’t believe that such a commitment would be sustainable, we need a different long-term plan. As a congregation, we must make a promise to our present minister and our future minister that we can keep, just as individual members, as they make their annual financial pledges, make promises they intend to keep.

As you consider your annual financial pledge to our UU society, keep these two words in mind—fidelity and sustainability.
-- Ellen Nielsen

December, 2011
Recently the Board of Trustees held several special meetings in an attempt to deal with a serious conflict between two members of the Society. Our meetings dragged on, and we began to take sides. The BOT members’ ability to work together was threatened. As we travelled along that road, we found ourselves without a tool kit and without a road map. We came out of the experience convinced that we needed to work with the congregation to develop a covenant of right relations.

This is not a new idea. Pastor Bud has mentioned a covenant of right relations a number of times in the pulpit and in informal discussions. Many other UU congregations have adopted such covenants. Our Board has already looked at covenants developed by UU societies in Tallahassee and in Charlotte, NC. The key word in the last sentence is “developed.” We know that it won’t work to borrow a document from another congregation and stick it onto ours like a Band-Aid. The Board has heard from the congregation many times that you want our UU to be a safe harbor, where the members can express different ideas and opinions safely and treat each other with respect. That’s our destination—how do we create the road map and the tool kit we need to get there? We made a start at the last BOT meeting when two members of the board volunteered to work with Pastor Bud to develop a plan to involve the congregation in this process. By our December 21 meeting, the Board of Trustees should be able to approve a plan to work with the congregation on this project.

Meanwhile, the Board of Trustees began practicing what we preach, by agreeing to use email mindfully and respectfully, following some guidelines provided by the UUA District. Here are a few excerpts from “Congregational Email as a Blessing, not a Curse” by Rev. Kenn Hurto:

• Never use email to negotiate anything more than an appointment.
• Never use email to work out disagreements, to complain, or to criticize.
• Never use email for any conflict over any sensitive issue.
• Never use email to discuss anything confidential.
• Never use email in any way that is contrary to our Unitarian Universalist principles.

Rev. Hurto’s recommendations sound reasonable, but in practice, they are not so easy to follow. Email is a simple and efficient way to communicate, and we often want to communicate feelings as well as information. Playing telephone tag is frustrating, and sometimes it’s hard to wait until we can talk to each other face to face. It is so tempting to sit down at the computer and let our fingers fly. Just a few nights ago, I was feeling tired after a long day and frustrated when someone I like and respect didn’t seem to get my point of view. I composed an email response that was clever, sarcastic, and definitely contrary to Unitarian Universalist principles. Once I had expressed my feelings I felt better, but then—I hit that fatal “Reply All” button. I’d broken the agreement to use email mindfully and respectfully. I’m still apologizing! I’ll add another recommendation:

• Never use email when you are too tired to think straight.

As we move toward our destination—the safe harbor— we will stumble, and perhaps fall down, but if we keep trying to do better, and trying to live by our UU principles, we will get there. You’ll be hearing more about the Board of Trustees’ proposal for a covenant of right relations next month.
-- Ellen Nielsen

November, 2011

President’s Message

On Sunday, October 23, we welcomed fourteen new members into our Society, including Janet Boes, Mimi Cerniglia, James Geczik, Arthur Gibert, Bonnie Gibert, Judi McCausland, Shannon Mcleish, Scott McPherson, Enda Nolan, John Petros, Rocky Rivera, Jim Rothweiler, and Carol Thomas. Some are new to our congregation, and some attended for months or even years before making the formal commitment of becoming a member.

What does that commitment mean? In the words of our Bylaws: “Members agree to support each other in the search for truth and meaning; to engage in respectful discourse with other members; to support the congregation by personal participation in congregational activities and by making an annual financial pledge to the congregation at a level to be determined by the member according to his or her circumstances.” Members also have the right to vote for officers and trustees, and to accept, reject, or amend a budget for the following year presented at our annual meeting in April. Unlike some churches, Unitarian Universalist societies are run by their members—there is no hierarchy of clergy to tell us what to do. This can be exhilarating—different UU congregations can move in different directions, according to what the members want. However, it can be scary as well—with freedom comes responsibility.

For instance, our society is free to decide whether we want a full-time minister, a part-time minister, or no minister and a wide range of guest speakers. We are free to choose—but we are responsible for financially supporting whatever choice we make. At our semi-annual congregational meeting on October 16, we began a conversation about making this choice—what we might want during the next five years, and what it might cost. We won’t actually be completing the decision until our pledge drive and annual meeting next spring. We have a lot of thinking to do between now and then, but it will be members who decide, including our new members who have made a commitment to be part of the adventure - Ellen Nielsen

August, 2011

President's Message,

Sometimes people describe trying to get things done in a UU congregation as “herding cats.” However, in a functional UU organization, there are no herds and no herders. The minister and the board of trustees don’t have as much authority as they would have in a mainstream church, but somehow, UU people make intelligent decisions and carry out plans competently without orders from on high. The process isn’t always neat and pretty, but things get done. If you tried to draw a map or a diagram of the process, it would look more like a network than a pyramid.

In our UU Society, we have a network of committees. For example, the Program Committee works with the minister to plan Sunday services. The Caring Committee makes sure that no one in our congregation faces loss or illness alone. The Alliance and the Action for Social Justice Committee identify ways for us to reach out to help in the wider world. The Religious Education Committee makes sure we have Sunday morning programs for children and Explorations programs for adults. Meanwhile, the Building and Grounds Committee maintains our physical space and the Finance Committee watches over our investments and our budget. All of these committees connect with each other through the Board of Trustees.

Except for the elected Board of Trustees, members of committees are volunteers who simply show up and go to work. They choose a chair or someone volunteers to do that particular piece of heavy lifting, and the President confirms that appointment. If you are looking for a way to serve the UU, use your own special talents, and spend time with people who share your interests, please consider joining one of the committees. Here is a list of the standing committees and their chairs:

Action for Social Justice—Shannon McLeish
Building and Grounds—Cliff Jackson
Caring—Joan Thate
Finance—Lorell Remington
Membership and Public Relations—Vera Theisen / Carolyn West
Program—Dan Gribbin
Religious Education—Frankie Proctor

Ellen Nielsen

Listed below are the names and contact information for members of the Board of Trustees May 2011 -- May 2012:

Nielsen, Ellen, ellennielsen@att.ne, 677-2509 (President)
Ternent, Bill, Waternent@aol.com, 788-7880 (Vice-President)
Proctor, Frankie, fmproctor@bellsouth.net, 671-1226 (Secretary)
Segner, Steven, spsegner1@aol.com,788-3039 (Treasurer)
Elliott, Philip, Pelliott@cfl.rr.com, 672-6100
Gilbert, Allen, dag79@cfl.rr.com, 445-3275 (Palm Coast)
Gruner, Chris, greenhornet45@gmail.com, 882-1075
Patterson, Roger, RPatterson11@cfl.rr.com, 673-4133
Peppers, Dick, dickmarge53@mac.com, 446-4750 (Palm Coast)