Many people, both leadership and committee members, have been in high-energy mode recently, as we are engaged in planning for the future as well as realizing changes begun several years ago. In chronological order I’ll report on three events that will highlight a process to move us into a stronger body: a future-visioning session, our annual pledge drive, and work on revising our bylaws.
On Monday April 7 at 6 pm we’ll gather for a potluck and congregational workshop/ meeting in which we’ll be exploring our visions for the future, with the intent of clarifying some goals. Nancy Bowen, our MDD exec, will be here to facilitate our process of exploring ministerial succession after Wanda leaves. So we’ll enjoy dinner together, meet for awhile, have dessert, and finish up.
We on the Board are looking forward to this, as she made a significant impact when she met with us in 2006. The recommendations she made became a template for the work we’ve done in the last two years. She was the one who advised that there is a difference between leadership and management… the Board is expected to lead while staff and committees manage. From that moment our thinking began to change. Our committee restructuring resulted from her recommendations, as did the idea for the Chat with the Board.
On April 13 Jerry Weitz will be serving a breakfast of Eggs Benedict at 9 am for the kick-off of our annual pledge drive. BOLD – COURAGEOUS – UNITED – COMMITTED, this year’s theme, captures the sense of vision that the nine members of the Pledge Committee see for our Fellowship. This fund drive promises to be visionary, bold and fun!
The third event will be a Chat with the Board on April 27 regarding our proposed bylaws revisions. That will be followed a month later with a congregational meeting to approve those changes. We’ve known for several years that we needed to reconsider the document that defines how we choose to be in community with one another. With our own evolution and the impact of technology there were several areas to reconsider. So we’ve clarified statements about membership, tweaked wording related to the Board, added the possibility for a Youth member of our governing body, and aligned the process for calling a minister with our current committee thinking. Then there’s the matter of keeping records: our current bylaws speak of keeping a “journal” of all meetings, and that there be a “Book of Bylaws and Minutes.” Since everything we do is now computerized, it was time for us to enter the 21st century.
With the opportunity for a Chat to discuss our thinking related to these changes, it is hoped that if members have suggestions for improvement, we might accomplish them as a result of the meeting. Then the congregational meeting can be held to approve proposed bylaws.