Notice of Upcoming Congregational Meeting, May 17, 11:45 am

Dear Members:

Our church bylaws call for an annual “Celebration and Planning” meeting of the congregation on the third Sunday in May. Now we know that we should make a provision in the bylaws for times when we are unable to meet in person. In the meantime, given the COVID-19 public health emergency, we are following guidance from the UUA and California nonprofit law. We will hold the meeting on Zoom and will take minor votes by Zoom poll and more major votes (e.g. on the budget for next year) with Survey Monkey. Decisions made at the meeting will be affirmed during the next in-person congregational meeting.

Details for logging in to the meeting have been sent to all members.

We have a wonderful tech support crew lined up to help with the logistics: Dayana Claghorn, David Rosales, Paul Worhach Hudson, and Greg Lemieux. To avoid zoombombing, you will need to be admitted to the meeting. So please try to assure that you are logging in with your actual name.  To avoid cacophony, all participants will be muted until a co-host unmutes them. To avoid distractions, there won’t be concurrent “chat.” You will have opportunities to digitally “raise your hand” with questions or comments. David Rosales will brief you on protocol at the beginning of the meeting. The Survey Monkey will start near the end of the meeting and will continue until 8 pm, Monday, May 18.

This May meeting traditionally includes presentation of Schweitzer awards and annual reports, both written and oral, but this time will be different.  Included in this agenda packet is a summary annual report of major accomplishments and activities for our church year to date. Staff will continue to work with lay leaders to produce a more polished and detailed annual report later.

The crux of the meeting will be deciding on the budget for the coming fiscal year, July 1, 2020–June 30, 2021. Forecasting income and expenses is always a challenge, and this year perhaps more than ever. We just don’t know how much impact the pandemic will have, but we know we can’t count on our revenues staying at the level where they were. The proposed budget has been worked on in some detail by the staff and the Board of Trustees. Tess O’Riva and Larry Nagel will explain more during the meeting.

We hope you will be able to attend.

Kerry Simpson, President
Ann Harlow, Secretary

Please click hereto review the entire agenda packet for the Congregational Meeting taking place on Sunday May 17, 2020. Or, review each document separately: