NAVIGATE

2016 Annual Meeting Reports

 

Sunday Services Committee Report

Dennis Higdon (Chair), Harvey Johnson, Renee Kauffman, Rev. Jim McConnell and Julie Williams
The Sunday Services Committee met several times in the last twelve months to plan and schedule future services, line up guest speakers and work with our minister to review upcoming service topics. The committee members were also directly responsible for performing many of the services given in the last year.
The committee’s goal is to maintain a high level of Sunday service quality in subject matter and content, while providing, meaningful topics that reflect UU values, a humanist-based spirituality and a loving environment that openly welcomes diversity from the community in which we share.
A BUUF Services Schedule is maintained by our members on the Drop Box, and is available to all members for additions and revisions. It was recently posted on our kiosk for member review and contribution, and an announcement will soon be made to welcome our members to contribute service topics to the upcoming summer schedule.
We have worked closely with our minister, and a plan was developed last year so that each month our fellowship services would include one directly UU-related topic sermon, one social activism sermon and one sermon on environmentalism. All sermons and talks were to be related to one or more of the seven UU Principals, and these principals would be noted at the time of each service.
In the last season we have brought in new speakers such as Emma Kinnard (Children’s Garden) who share our principals, brought back old favorites and allies who share our beliefs (the Feldmans and Mary Jo Schnell), and continue to inclusively involve our members and the Berrien County community in future services.
We welcome member participation, and will continue to provide a loving, meaningful and richly rewarding Sunday services environment for BUUF in the year to come.
Respectfully submitted,
Dennis Higdon
Chairman, Sunday Services Committee
May 17, 2016

President’s Report

Does Berrien UU Matter?
If Berrien UU Fellowship provides a welcoming and caring religious community dedicated to diversity of thought, social and environmental justice, and peace for all but no one knows we’re here, do we still exist? If no individual searching for spiritual meaning in Berrien county knows there is a UU option, does our mission matter?
What is our Vision?
This year members and friends of the Fellowship met in January and May to examine the State of the Fellowship and create a vision for our next 5 years. The goal of our vision is not just subsistence, but energizing growth.
• Sunday Service attendance will increase by 50%
• Membership will increase by 50%
• BUUF will achieve Green Sanctuary certification.
• BUUF will re-new our status as a Welcoming Congregation.
• RE will provide support for Green Sanctuary and Welcoming Congregation requirements.

Achieving our Goals
How are we going to achieve these worthy goals? Action items are proposed. Champions are needed in each area. Where do you see yourself helping Berrien UU achieve our goals? Email Office@BerrienUU.org with your interest.
Sunday Service/Religious Education
5-year plan: Sunday Service attendance will increase by 50% from a weekly average of 20 to a weekly average of 30; children’s Religious Education participation will increase by 100% from a weekly average of 3 to a weekly average of 6 children. 2016-2017 Action Items
1.Sunday Service and Religious Education will be assessed and revised to engage young people and families.
2. Safe, reliable childcare will be provided during Sunday Service.
3. The Sunday Service leader will record Sunday Service attendance each week.
4. The Director of Religious Education (or designee) will record RE participation.
5. Sunday Service homilies will be audio-recorded, posted on the BUUF website and shared in the
weekly announcement.
6. UU principles will be displayed in the sanctuary and fellowship hall.

Membership
5-year plan: Membership will increase by 50% from 28 to 42 members.
2016-2017 Action Items
1.The BUUF end of summer picnic will be a community event with games, food, music, dancing.
2. A regimented pathway to membership will be developed.
3. BUUF youth will be invited to become members and be recognized at a new
member service.
4. Members will be active on the BUUF facebook page. Sharing BUUF posts on personal facebook pages is an easy and effective way of communicating the BUUF message to a wider, often like-minded, audience.
5.BUUF logo wear will be developed and used to represent BUUF in the community, even at non-BUUF events.
6.Community Outreach / Social Action (CO/SA) partner events will be featured on our website, calendar and weekly announcements.
7. CO/SA partners will be invited to use the BUUF building for events and meetings.

Green Sanctuary
5-year plan: BUUF will achieve Green Sanctuary certification.
2016-2017 Action Items
1. Low maintenance ground cover or natural plantings will be added to the
front lawn to decrease
mowing requirements.
2. BUUF members will support Emma Kinnard’s Fresh Start or another community garden.
Welcoming Congregation

5-year plan: BUUF will renew our status as a Welcoming Congregation.
2016-2017 Action Items
1. Welcoming Congregation re-certification activities will be identified. Where do we go from here? It’s time for us to reach beyond our ring of friendship to ensure the community knows a liberal religious option is here in Berrien County. It is time to advance our CO/SA efforts beyond check-writing to really becoming partners with the agencies doing the social and environmental justice work we agree is important. It is time to really make service our law, not just our affirmation; service to our Fellowship, service to each other, and service to the community.
Email Office@BerrienUU.org with your area of interest. Where will you serve?
For every individual searching for spiritual meaning, Berrien UU provides a welcoming and caring religious community dedicated to diversity of thought, social and environmental justice, and peace for all. Let it be so. Blessed Be.

Respectfully submitted,
Lisa M. Fuller
President, 2015-2016

 

Religious Leader’s Report 2015-2016

Services:
In the past 12 months I have preached 27 times. Eight of those sermons were earth based, two were on indigenous peoples (“Cowboys and Indian” and “What Can a Buffalo Say.”) Six of the earth based sermons were on different aspects of ecology. They had titles like “The Earth Speaks,” “The Wisdom of Water,” and “Ethical Eating.”
I also preached four sermons on the history of UUism. In those sermons I discussed the contributions of people like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Jefferson, Clara Barton, Michael Servetus, and Hosea Ballou. With the exception of Martin Luther King Day, Thanks Giving, and Christmas Eve which were special occasions, the rest of the sermons were General topics like, “Faith is a Fire in The Heart”, “What Would Yoda Do,” “What’s Up Doc,” “Why Give,” “Cupid’s Arrow,” “The Joy of Tax,” and “Waging Peace.”

Lectures:

In the past twelve months I have attended several Lectures at Notre Dame or IUSB. The topics have included Muslim extremism, Income Gap and Fair Taxation, Organized Labor Concerns, Environmental Sustainability, Vertical Farming, Smart City Streets and Sewers, Predatory Lending, Dissecting the Great Recession, Talks by Gerard Baker, Chief Editor of the Wall Street Journal, Steve Forbes Of “Fortune 500,” Sonia Sotomayar, Justice of the Supreme Court, and Reza Aslan, Muslim Scholar.
General Activities: I remain active in the Berrien County Association of Churches, where I am the Vice President of the board of directors and chair of the Fund Raising Committee. Our primary mission is to support the somewhat troubled Benton Harbor Street Ministry. Additionally, I have served with BUUF at the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen.

Outlook:

I feel very positive about BUUF. We have done some big things this year. I really like our new chairs and the statement the solar panels make about our commitment to environmental sustainability. I think the most important thing we have done is holding the “State of the Fellowship” sessions lead by Lisa and Renee. As a result, our focus has sharpened and we seem to be attracting more visitors, some of which are staying. I am grateful for the leadership displayed by so many in the congregation. We continue to be an open and friendly people with a very important message: The “Spirit of Life” still speaks. UUism is about learning how to listen.
It is good to be UU.
Peace,
Jim

 

Adult DRE Report 2015-2016

The focus of adding a separate Adult DRE to BUUF was to increase the amount of programs offered to provide a full calendar of diverse programs. The goal was to appeal to potential new members by offering a variety of programs.

DRE Renee began in the fall of 2015 through the end of the year offering: Sharing Circles, Creative Conversations, Spiritual Memoir Writing, and Cakes for the Queen of Heaven. Cakes for the Queen of Heaven and Creative Conversations were successful with consistent attendance. Sharing Circles and Spiritual Memoir Writing was discontinued due to low participation. Cakes for the Queen of Heaven Part 2 was offered in the Spring and discontinued due to low participation. By request, DRE began a four month Womyn’s Movie Series that varied in attendance.

DRE Renee also developed and facilitated 4 Workshops: 2 Leadership Retreat/Workshops in the Fall for the Board and 2 State of the Fellowship Workshops in 2016 (co-facilitated/assisted in planning with Lisa Fuller, Board President).

DRE Renee was the Service Leader/Religious Leader for several Sunday Services. These Sunday Services included Inter-generational Autumn and Spring Equinox and Winter Solstice Services (with co- leaders Gretchen Ohmann, Gloria Weberg and Amy Eklund). Additional Inter-generational Sunday Services included: Ancient Mother (co-leader Gretchen Ohmann based/inspired by Cakes for the Queen of Heaven RE program) and a Membership Sunday Service (including a New Member Ceremony). Other non-intergenerational services included: Sacred Stories, A Seat at the Welcome Table, Our Living Faith is worth  the Risk and a Mother’s Day Service (co-leader Gretchen Ohmann).

DRE Renee assisted in a Fall and Spring All- Comers Night with Board President, Lisa Fuller and Religious Leader, Jim McConnell. DRE Renee developed/conducted an RE Survey. The results indicated that members are less interested in ongoing programs and are more interested in onetime events or workshops. This
would support the low participation results seen over this past year.

DRE Renee additional duties included attending several meetings such as Board Meetings, Sunday Services Meetings, Green Sanctuary Meetings and two Marketing Meetings as a representative of RE. DRE also attended Web training workshop.

DRE Renee spent time researching resources for potential programs which may or may not ever come to fruition such as Hunger Banquet, Guest at Your Table,
Gender Knot, Healthy Communications, Green Sanctuary Workshops/RE programs, Welcoming Congregation Re-Certification, Croning Celebration, Coming of Age RE program, Pathway to Membership. DRE Renee is working on a one Day Red Tent Women’s Workshop for end of Summer 2016.

Recommendations for 2016-2017:
It is my recommendation to the Board and BUU Fellowship that instead of funding a ½ DRE position, you drop back to a ¼ DRE position with the emphasis on young children and families. I recommend that there be a ¼ Programs Director position be created, which could include the facilitation of some Adult RE programs (Creative Conversations for example) but would also include the development and facilitation of one-time events, Workshops/Retreats, Public Forums, etc. especially as they pertain to Becoming a Green Sanctuary and Re-certified Welcoming Congregation. These types of programs are time consuming and the few volunteers BUUF has are already doing so much. A Programs Director would be a Leader in organizing and facilitating programs considered a priority by the Board/Fellowship. The Programs Director could also assist with programs focused on Membership (new members as well as current members). I believe that the future of BUUF is at a pivotal place that with a Strong Board, Strong Religious Leader, Children’s DRE, Office Manager AND a Program Director working together towards a common Mission and Vision could create a bright future for BUUF. I believe that if any one of these 5 areas are compromised, BUUF will not see the growth it wants or needs. This may be a financial setback for 1-5 years of visioning, but it takes time to build a strong program. There were some failures due to low participation, but they were also learning opportunities in understanding what BUUF can sustain and where our energies need to be directed. Therefore, I see mostly successes this year! Those are my recommendations.

Respectfully Submitted by,

Renee Kauffman,
BUUF Adult DRE
May 22, 2016

Committee on Ministry

BUUF Year of 2015-2016.

ANNUAL REPORT

The Committee on Ministry role at BUUF is to “function as a Liaison between the Religious Leader, the Congregation and the Board.” This report will cover the ways we have attempted to do that.

Liaison with Congregation, Religious Leader and Board

The Committee on Ministry met on 5 different occasions throughout this year: 9/16/15, 10/21/15, 01/20/16, 4/13/16, 5/18/16. Holidays and Winter trips were not conducive for the CoM to meet on a monthly basis, but we agreed to be accessible through email and phone contact as needed. Minutes/report from each meeting were submitted to the Board. Jim also provided CoM members with a copy of his monthly report to the Board.

Following the recommended practices of Health Communications: Besides being available to communicate directly with CoM members and Jim, the Healthy Communications Box was setup last September for members and guests. The box did not draw any written correspondence from attendees of services over the year. Also, The BUUF website under “ Get Involved ” has a “ Healthy Communications” form online that gives another alternative for expressing and submitting opinions. This did not elicit any opinions. No one personally approached our CoM members with any suggestions or concerns about Jim. Jim reports that feedback on his sermons has been positive. One person whose opinion was directly solicited, said that they had not changed their negative opinion about Jim’s pulpit presence, chose not to listen to his sermons, but chose to stay as a member of the community, and do other meaningful work at BUUF.

Provided Consultation:

The RL’s Report with number and scope of the Sermons are attached. Jim’s contract is for 18 sermons a year and he preached 27 times in the last 12 months. He would like to preach 30 per year. He has also published at least one article in the Herald Palladium since January. Jim is very positive about BUUF and states that the financial arrangements are satisfactory. The CoM believes that his sermons have greatly improved over the past year: They are more organized, cohesive, stay on topic, reflect his own spiritual struggles, and draw more on a diversity of religious thought than just Christianity. The committee has not received any complaints and Jim reports that he personally receives positive feedback after the services. Jim’s Religious Leaders Report to CoM and the Annual Report on the lectures he has attended indicate the breadth of his interest in personal and professional improvement. Jim has consistently represented BUUF as an active member in the Berrien County Association of Churches and the BH Street Ministry. He is the chief pizza chef for BUUF’s turn in the BH Soup Kitchen six times per year. Jim is enhancing the Sunday morning experience by integrating our members into the services, such as having them select and present readings or tell the stories for all ages. Videos are often included to enhance the talks. More members and guests are participating in Circle talks. There are a number of new people, with repeat visits (approximately 1012). There are two current concerns that Jim and the CoM share: There has been no Preschool Child Care which is important to keeping new families. The second concern expressed by Jim is that when the pianist, Candace is on leave, the music program suffers. An accomplished pianist or musician to provide opening and offertory music and lead hymns, greatly enhances the Sunday experience. It is also the opinion of the CoM that articles published in Herald Palladium and certain popular sermons such as the MLK Sermon, and with the approval of the Board should be placed on the web site under Jim’s link. to give seekers a better understanding of the religious philosophy of this Fellowship.

This Committee has enjoyed working together and members plan to serve another year.

Respectively submitted (May 24, 2016)

Emily Bettencourt

Ellen Higdon

Jim Fuller

Religious Education Annual Report from Dave Sarra, DRE

Including:

Safe Congregation Committee Report

Report to the Endowment Committee on results from last year’s grant:

At last year’s Annual Meeting (2015), the Endowment Committee awarded funding for specific grants that had also met with Board and Fellowship approval.The Religious Education program was awarded $19,600 to fund a 12-month half-time Director of Religious Education position ($15,600) and additional funding ($4,000) for materials and educational experiences for families participating in the program.

In my grant proposal I wrote:

By increasing the position of DRE to half-time, BUUF can provide more of a product to the community that would be worthy of the Marketing Task Force’s recommendation of spending $15,000 [subsequently reduced by the Board to $10,000] on advertising.

At the end of my proposal I hoped for the following Expected Results:

The goal of this request is to make BUUF more attractive to the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of the members of our community who might then want to become members of BUUF. If successful, this request along with the other requests to the Endowment Committee and the anticipated advertising campaign will hopefully attract 10-20 new families to BUUF within the first year.

BUUF was fortunate that Renee Kauffman, our first DRE, returned to Berrien County and was willing to split the half-time DRE position with me, allowing us to provide programs specific to women’s issues that would best be led by a woman (please read her separate Adult DRE Report). Renee and I worked through the summer developing a host of RE programs for children and adults that would meet the needs of both current BUUFers and the newcomers we anticipated.

We met with the Sunday Service Committee to plan inter-generational services and services we would be providing ourselves. For our children’s RE program I prepared Chalice Children for preschoolers, Circle of Trees for grades K-4, Riddle and Mystery for grades 5-8, and Building Bridges – A World Religions Program for our high school students. I ran four Safe Congregation I-CHAT background checks for BUUFers who were willing to work with children.

In addition to RE classes I hosted one Family Fun Night and hoped to add more as well as hosting a holiday movie night, spring BUUF-Olympics, a trip to the Morris Civic Center to see The Book of Mormon, and providing reduced rates for families attending this summer’s Chalice Sparx Summer Camp.

Throughout last summer I asked the Marketing Task Force to spend its funding on an advertising campaign over Labor Day weekend to describe and promote our RE programs so new students could register for our classes and start attending at the beginning of the school year. Two months after the start of the year (end of October) just over 1,000 postcards ($928.17) were sent locally, which only stated that BUUF had Children’s Religious Education and a High School Youth Group. Only one visitor attended a service because of this mailing. There’s no point in spending time, energy, and money preparing programs which might entice people to become members of BUUF if we’re not going to market those programs throughout the wider community. As such, the RE program fell way short of its goal, wasting the opportunity provided by having a half-time DRE position for one full year. Funding for the DRE position ends May 31, 2016. According to my calculations, only $534.15 of the $4,000 was spent to cover costs for repainting the RE room, providing food for Family Fun Night and high school events, and contributing to the OutCenter for its Teen Halloween Party and Prom Fundraiser. Since the remaining $3,465.85 has not been used for its intended purpose, I recommend it be returned to the endowment fund from which it came. Our high school students were unable to meet frequently enough to finish the Building Bridges curriculum. In fact, we fell over 2,000 years short — not even making it to Christianity (hence, no funding was used for experiencing The Book of Mormon). We finished painting the RE room, hosted both the OutCenter Teen Halloween Party and Prom Fundraiser, and had three students provide the May RE service on the importance of one’s personality over one’s appearance. The teens chose not to do a service project this year (though there were six opportunities to serve lunch at the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen). More often than not we had 2-5 children under the age of eight in our K-4 program. We began with the Circle of Trees curriculum in line with our quest to become a Green Sanctuary, then covered other topics. Four BUUFers led the classes for our young students. This is the age group we need to focus our energies on for the near future. In general, I concur with DRE Renee’s recommendations for next year. Regarding BUUF’s RE program, I feel BUUFers need to reach a consensus on its value and role in the future then move from visioning to the hard work of turning those visions into reality. As Renee said, we’ve already taken quite a few strides in that direction. I don’t want to become BUUF’s resident curmudgeon, a word we learned from one of our Stories for All Ages, but…while it’s easy to spend money on things, such as solar panels, chairs, and websites (and they are wonderful, valuable, and useful things which have contributed much to BUUF this year), I feel we need to focus on our being (who we are) and our doing (what we do with or without all of our things) in order to be content ourselves and to attract new members.

Respectfully Submitted,

Dave Sarra, DRE

 

Green Sanctuary

Annual Report June 5, 2016

Team Members who have attended meetings –Jim Fuller, Lisa Thorne, Julie Williams, Harvey

Johnson, Dave Sarra, Jim McConnell, Tom Hackley, and Roger Brewin.

Thank you. All BUUF members or friends are encouraged to attend meetings, work sessions and otherwise provide ideas for becoming and sustaining a Green Sanctuary.

History – At the 2015 annual meeting it was decided to begin the quest to become a Green Sanctuary. The kickoff project was a 6 KV Solar Electric system to generate the majority of our electricity. Meetings were held before Sunday Service on November 15, January 17, and March 20, 2016. The next GS meeting will be June 19 at 9 am. Organic refreshments will be provided.

Sustainable Living

A Building Energy Audit was performed on January 10, 2016 by Tom Hackley, Jim Fuller and

Harvey Johnson. The results will be shared ASAP. Still compiling data. The Energy audit will be

part of our application and used as a baseline to compare to the future.

The Solar Electric system has generated 4,200 kWh since October 2015 installation. Weaveraged 350 kWh generated/month during the darkest 4 months of the year (Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb).We averaged 700 kWh generated/month during the next 3 months of the year (March, April, May). The BUUF Average Monthly Usage is 550 KWH for the past 12 months. Since the solar system was installed in October, we have roughly cut our electric bill in half compared to the same period last year. We are looking forward to a net $0bill with the sunny weather for the next 6 months. Hopefully even credit towards future bills,

An Electric lawn mower was donated and has been used to cut the BUUF grass this growing season.The 56 volt battery is charged with the electricity that we are generating. The idea is to reduce the Carbon foot print of BUUF.Volunteers are neededto operate the mower. HJ will provide 1 hour/wk. We willneed 1 other hour volunteered per week to mow. Also a goal is to reduce the area of lawn by converting it into garden or wild area. Suggestions are requested. Please bring them to the meeting.

Environmental Justice

The BUUF Green Sanctuary Team has agreed to partner with the Fresh Start Children’s Garden led by Emma Kinnard. Harvey Johnson has meet with Emma several times including a work session to prepare the garden at the corner of May and Pearl Streets in Benton Harbor. All volunteers are welcome to go help with planting, weeding and child mentoring. Notifications will be made on work times.

Worship Services

Approximately 15 of our 40 Sunday services since September 2015 (38%) were focused on Green Sanctuary topics of Sustainability, Earth based wisdom or Environmental Justice. This will continue in the coming year.

Religious Education

Green Sanctuary topics of Sustainability, Earth based wisdom or Environmental Justice were

incorporated into the children RE programs. This will continue in the coming year.

Application for Candidate status

A Green Sanctuary application has not yet been completed.We are in process of performing the required Assessments of the 4 focus areas.

-Sustainable Living –Harvey will write Assessment

-Worship and Celebration –need volunteer to write 2 page assessment

-Religious Education –Dave Sarra has begun to write RE assessment

-Environmental Justice –need volunteer to write 2 page assessment

Future GS projects

A Web of Life Film Series will be presented starting in fall 2016. A film (open and promoted to the public via FB, newspaper, radio) will be shown with discussion to follow on the Stewardship of the our planet. Input is requested on what night of the week is best. Please write or call Harvey Johnson 269-470-1470 johnsonh4@michigan.gov

 

Endowment Committee Report

Endowment Funds Total Value change
General Whitlow Restricted All Funds in value
5/1/14 $125,284 $78,159 $96,055 $299,498
5/1/15 $125,876 $77,528 $100,503 $303,907 $4,409
5/1/16 $125,424 $18,200 $98,109 $241,733 ($62,174)
UU Common Endowment Fund 5th/3rd Bank
date General Whitlow Restricted General Restricted totals
5/1/16 balances through 4/30 $23,508 $18,200 $46,791 $101,916 $51,318 $241,733
12/31/15 balances $24,344 $20,155 $46,877 $99,561 $48,544 $239,481
2015 Special Project withdrawals (52,500) (1,176) (53,676)
2015 1/4erly withdrawals ($809) ($2,231) $0 $0 $0 ($3,041)
withdrawal January ($398) ($992) $0 $0 $0 ($1,390)
withdrawal April ($394) ($928) $0 ($4,307) $0 ($5,629)
special project withdrawal May $0 ($5,100) $0 $0 $0 $0
estimated Whitlow balance 5/31 n/a $13,100 n/a n/a n/a n/a
Restricted Fund earnings 2015 n/a n/a $2,813 n/a $2,319 $5,131
available for CO/SA FY 2016-7 (40%) n/a n/a $1,125 n/a $927 $2,052
\
estimated available to BUUF in 2016-17 based on 2015 performance of the Endowment Funds
     General & Whitlow $1,601 $786 $4,500 $6,887
         Restricted $1,123 $927 $2,050
UUCEF quarterly payments $400 $197 $597
Last year:
     The Endowment Committee established automatic quarterly withdrawals from the UUCEF General and Whitlow Funds at a 6% annual rate
     The Endowment Committee continued to transfer funds to UUCEF as they matured at 5th/3rd Bank
     The Fellowship approved special project funds in the amount of $65,700. Of that, $58,776 has been requested and distributed to BUUF
     Funds available and distributed from the General and Whitlow Funds decreased from $10,455 in 2014-15 to $10,059 in 2015-16.
     Funds available to CO/SA from the Restricted Funds increased from $1,919 in 2015-16 to $2052 in 2016-17.
This Year:
     The funds available from the unrestricted funds will drop to $6800 to $6900 because of the reduced capital after the special projects spending this year
     The Fellowship needs to approve, by 2/3 vote, distribution of the 40% portion of the Restricted Fund earnings to CO/SA.
The Endowment Committee must then unanimously approve the use and disbursement of those funds.
     The Fellowship needs to elect, by 2/3 vote, a new member of the Endowment Committee to replace Tom Hackley
Dennis Higdon has been nominated by the Nominating Committee.
The Endowment Committee:
Tom Hackley – Chair
Dorothy Long
Jim Fuller

2015-2016 Endowment Projects: Final Report for Sanctuary Chairs, Website and Advertising

Sanctuary Chairs

PROJECTED COST:

Chair                    $178 ($223 w/arms) Sauder Vantage #702-8730
Shipping               Included
50 chairs =           $9,350 (40 w/o arms, 10 w/arms)

The above prices include shipping and are based on standard stain and fabric color selections.  Unloading and set up are to be by owner.

August 21, 2015 new sanctuary chairs were received, unloaded, unboxed, and placed in the sanctuary by volunteers of Berrien UU including Emily Johnson, Larkin Johnson, Walter Dalgleish, Ian Dalgleish, Charles & Dorothy Long, Jim McConnell and Lisa Fuller.

FINAL PROJECT COST: $9347 (plus hours of Berrien UU volunteer labor)

new chairs

 

Website

Marc Shade of 2 Acre Studios, Kalamazoo, was contracted to redesign the Berrien UU website.   A website design committee of Charles Long, Rob Hammond, David Sarra, and Lisa & Jim Fuller put in hours and hours of time reviewing other websites for ideas, reviewing the old website for content, rewriting content and selecting photos. After the website was developed Lisa Thorne, the Board, minister and DREs spent hours and hours in training learning to use the new WordPress platform. Gretchen Ohmann provided invaluable technical support, guidance and advice during the transition.
PROJECTED COST:            $3200 (plus hundreds of Berrien UU volunteer hours)

FINAL PROJECT COST:    $3272 (plus hundreds of hours of Berrien UU volunteer labor)

Final project cost included an overrun of $72 ($50 for installation of a home page widget for Solar Stats display, and $22 for issues related to the website domain.)

 

 new website

 

Advertising

2015-2016 Advertising Proposal

Proposed

Direct Mail:                         $700
Facebook promotion:     $450
Weekly newspaper ad:  $3502
RE Ad campaign:               $2330
Other print ads:                $150-400/ad

PROJECTED COST:            $7000-10,000

BUDGETED:                        $10,000

Actual  

Direct Mail:                         $873
Facebook promotion:     Not done
Weekly newspaper ad:  Deferred
RE Ad campaign:               Not done
Other print ads:                $50 (Outcenter)
Business Identity:            $600 (logo)

FINAL PROJECT COST:     $1523

UNSPENT: $8477 (Request roll over to 2016-2017 budget to resume advertising plan)

 

business identity

Business Identity

 

direct mail postcard frontdirect mail postcard back

Direct Mail Postcard

Request to Endowment 

 

Principles and Sources
$500

I propose the Endowment Committee be approached with a request for $500 for removable vinyl decals custom made for BUUF. Blank wall space in the sanctuary and fellowship hall would be used to display our principles and sources.

 

Programs Director
$6,600 (0.25 time, 10 hrs/wk at $15/hr x 44 weeks/yr)

I recommend that there be a ¼ Programs Director position be created.

The Programs Director could facilitate some Adult RE programs (Creative Conversations for example) but would also include the development and facilitation of one-time events, Workshops/Retreats, Public Forums, etc. especially as they pertain to Becoming a Green Sanctuary and Re-certified Welcoming Congregation. These types of programs are time consuming and the few volunteers BUUF has are already doing so much.

A Programs Director would be a Leader in organizing and facilitating programs considered a priority by the Board/Fellowship. The Programs Director could also assist with programs focused on Membership (new members as well as current members).

Lisa Fuller
6/5/2016

 

CO/SA 2016-2017 Proposal
Berrien Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Community Outreach/Social Action Committee (CO/SA)
2016-2017 Proposal

The Berrien Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Community Outreach/Social Action Committee fulfilled the projects approved for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Francie Porter Snyder (Chair) resigned from the committee due to moving away from the area. Harvey Johnson joined the committee in May 2016. The funds available from the BUUF Restricted Endowment accounts for the upcoming FY 2016-2017 CO/SA projects are $2,052. The Committee recommends the following:
• Renewal of membership in the Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network. The network informs BUUF of important issues and events in Michigan via newslettter — $100
• Donation to the CARES Program in Benton Harbor. CARES provides links and services to HIV positive individuals who are currently out of the medical care network in Berrien County. The mission of CARES is to maximize the quality of life for those affected with HIV/AIDS and to minimize the spread of the disease. CARES provides testing, comprehensive care plans and routine medical services for the 330 plus Berrien County residents who are living with HIV — $250.
• Purchase of food and supplies to be used at the Benton Harbor Street Ministry‘s after school program. If any funds remain by June 30, 2017, those funds are to be donated directly to the Street Ministry — $100.
• Continued support of the Out Center’s Alive Program that serves youth 14–20 years of age. The funds will be used for refreshments and supplies for weekly meetings and programs — $350.
• Continued support of the All God’s Children Youth Choir to assist with transportation and meals to facilitate the choir’s participation in concerts and events — $200.
• Contribution to the Safe Shelter for Domestic Violence in Benton Harbor. The shelter provides a secure, violence-free environment for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and their dependent children. Survivors are offered a protective, warm and violence-free place to stay, support groups and other resources to develop safe, healthy and meaningful lives for themselves and their children — $300.
• Purchase of food to be prepared at the Benton Harbor Soup Kitchen during BUUF’s assigned dates. If any funds are not spent by June 30, 2017, those funds will be directly donated to the Soup Kitchen — $269.
• Contribution to Saint Augustine’s Episcopal Church’s Neighborhood Food Pantry, located in Benton Harbor, to provide turkeys, hams, or other entrees for Christmas, Kwanza, or other holiday meals. We’ll work with the Food Pantry Committee to determine what is suitable for them to purchase. The funds allocated are intended to be seed money for this project. The Fellowship will be asked to donate as they are willing or able. This program replaces the “Adopt a Family” project from previous years — $150.
• Contribution of time and money to the Fresh Start Children’s Garden in Benton Harbor. The volunteer community garden is at the corner of May and Pearl Streets and seeks to educate and involve the children of Benton Harbor through gardening as food production. The garden project is directed by Emma Kinnard. The BUUF Green Sanctuary team has decided to partner with the 10 year old project as a demonstration of environmental justice in action – $100. New for 2016
• Contribution to Calling All Colors program in Benton Harbor. The program aims to bring together children for educational and multicultural experiences – $200. New for 2016

Thank you for your consideration of this proposal.

Respectfully submitted,

BUUF CO/SA Committee
Harvey Johnson
Gloria Weberg
Charles Long

 

Nominating Committee Report 2016

BUUF Elected Position Nominees for June 5, 2016, Annual Meeting

Nominating Comm: Lisa Marie Fuller, Walter Pascal, Harvey Johnson
All nominees must be voting members of BUUF.

Board of Trustees (2 open seats) 5 positions, No term limits

Board NOMINEES:
1. Harvey Johnson (2016-2018)
2. OPEN (2016-2018)

Trustee terms ENDING June, 2016:
Harvey Johnson (2014-2016)

CONTINUING Trustees:
1. Ellen Higdon (2015-2017)
2. Lisa M. Fuller (2015-2017)
3. Rob Hammond (2015-2017)

Endowment Committee (1 open seat) 3 positions, Limit 2 terms

Endowment Committee NOMINEE:
1. Dennis Higdon (2016-2019)

Endowment Comm Member terms ENDING June 2016:
Tom Hackley (2013-2016, 2nd term)

CONTINUING Endowment Comm Members:
Dorothy Long (2014-2017, 1st term)
James A. Fuller (2015-2018, 1st term)

Nominating Committee (2 open seats) 3 positions, No term limit

Nominating Comm NOMINEES:
1. Lisa Marie Fuller (2016-2018)
2. OPEN (2016-2018)

Nominating Comm terms ENDING June 2015:
Lisa Marie Fuller (2014-2016)
Walter Pascal (2014-2016)

CONTINUING Nominating Comm Members:
Harvey Johnson (2015-2017)