Dear fellow Chalice Members,
The Board of Trustees met on Saturday August 28 in our annual retreat, to set goals for the upcoming year. We are in a state of flux. We have two new staff members – Kelly and Ana Krista – uncertainty about when we will be able to worship in person again, and (on a positive note) a new sense of financial stability with the retirement of our mortgage.
Here are the three goals the Board formulated for the 2021-22 church year:
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Minister to people within and beyond our congregation during transitional times. We offer a sanctuary of love and community during this time. Ministering to you all and beyond our walls is our core function, as we gradually transition from Zoom worship to a multi-platform approach.
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Deepen our racial justice and climate action commitments. Along with our racial justice focus we have added climate action. These justice efforts are intimately connected and a living embodiment of our faith.
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Sustain and increase our long-term financial stability. Hooray! With your help, we paid off the mortgage! Now we need to build our financial reserves and continue prudent budgeting.
We look forward to joining with you, our Beloved Community, in working together towards these goals for our Fellowship.
Meanwhile, the reopening has involved extra work from both volunteers and staff, particularly as the Delta variant requires us to be flexible again regarding our re-opening date. Sam Dickerson and Anthony Conception continue to valiantly adapt the RE and Music programs through all the challenges of Covid. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Rev. Nica, who constantly adapts her leadership to our ever changing landscape. Indeed, she worked 70 hours in the first week back from study/vacation leave and continues to give everything she can to help our congregation flourish.
Huge gratitude also goes to the legion of volunteers, led by Annie Barker, Claudia Barton, Penny Smith and Chuck Fernald, who have given countless hours sprucing up our worship spaces, Fellowship Hall, and the kitchen, and preparing for multi-platform worship and meetings (Zoom plus in person). The worship experience as we reopen will be new for all of us, and we will likely have kinks to work out over the coming weeks and months. We invite your sacred flexibility, patience and a willingness to let go of perfection as we figure out new ways of operating.
The Board meets monthly on the third Tuesday. Input from Chalice members is always welcome.
In faith,
Jason Hall Board President
Don Cooper Board Vice President