With this offering, appearing every month, the Board tries to convey to the whole Fellowship what issues the Board is thinking about and what all that thinking and discussing adds up to so far.

• blip   blip blip •  blip  •          blip!  •

Unlike the radar in an airport control tower, the Board’s radar is magic! Air traffic controllers know that every blip on their screen is an actual airplane, carrying actual people, which must be brought safely to Earth without delay. So, too, the Board’s radar shows blips that demand immediate action: nearby blips. But unlike the air traffic controller’s radar, the Board’s radar also has distant blips for planes that might never land, or maybe might land next year, or the year after that. Sometimes the Board, in a paroxysm of visionary thought, thinks up a blip that it feels ought to be on the radar and just hauls off and puts it there. Then the Board must eventually decide either, alas, it’s a plane with no wings and removes it from the screen, or it’s a plane capable of a smooth landing and the Board keeps it on an approach path.

 

 

What blips stand out this time?

 

Distant blips

• Fellowship retreat at The Mountain

This distant blip weakened considerably. It seems apparent now that having an AUUF retreat at The Mountain this year is impossible. This now tiny blip will continue pulsating feebly, and the Board might take it up for next year. Or the year after that.

• Covenant

What is a covenant, exactly? The service on Sunday March 12 focused on covenant as “promises we make to one another.” The Board will lead the effort in coming months to get those promises written down on paper. It may help members and friends who are “covenant newbies” (which may be most of us) to see one or two real-live covenants. Here are two from congregations in Alabama; the first from UU Church of Birmingham, the second from UU Church of Huntsville.

Inspired by the seven Unitarian Universalist Principles, we promise to:

   • Nurture a diverse and welcoming congregation by being respectful, friendly, and welcoming to all members, friends, visitors, and staff.
   • Engage and contribute to the life of the congregation by connecting with its programs and governance, and by caring for our shared spaces.
   • Trust that others’ behavior is driven by good intentions.
   • Practice direct communication by actively listening to and speaking with individuals, not about them, in an honest and compassionate way.
   • Seek to resolve conflicts and make amends through intentional compromise and when necessary, request facilitation and mediation.

By intentionally encouraging and growing healthy relationships within the congregation, we are empowered to live our values in the broader community.
This covenant is a living document that will evolve as we evolve. We will do our best to abide by this covenant.

 

We, as members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Huntsville, covenant to work together to create a supportive, affirming, sustaining community that inspires and challenges each of us to become our best selves. To further our goal of creating such an intentional community, we promise each other to:
   • Affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every member of our community, valuing our differences and supporting each other in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning
   • Listen to one another with the intent of understanding, and speak to one another with respect and kindness, so that all may be heard
   • Recognize that forming an intentional community may at times require us to place the need of the community above our own needs
   • Foster caring relationships by assuming the best intent in others, disagreeing in love, and empowering one another to speak for ourselves
   • Affirm the work of the church to the best of our abilities, valuing the work of others, and supporting those who voluntarily accept leadership roles in the church
   • Promote an environment where all people feel safe, both physically and emotionally
   • Use the energy and support we thus create to bring our vision of justice, equity, and compassion in human relations into our wider community, our nation, and our world

 

We are all imperfect beings. Therefore, it is to be expected that there will be instances in which someone “falls out of covenant.” I think a good covenant should include a method or methods of getting back into covenant.

 

Nearby blips

• Official policies

Every UU congregation should have its official policies collected in one place for all to see, according to the UUA. The Board is working on a Child Safety policy. We tried at the March meeting to move that particular policy ball downfield, but we were stopped at the line of scrimmage. Luckily, we get as many downs as we need to move the policy across the goal line. But I have to be careful not to get a 5-yard penalty for over-use of football metaphors.

• Canvass

The Board worked on the Proposed FY2023-24 budget. I’ve heard that some congregations don’t call their budget a budget; they call it a “financial statement of mission.” Interesting. The Canvass kick-off was March 5.

• Chili Cook-off

The Chili cook-off has become a tradition. With that in mind, we mind our traditions and we’re planning the 2023 manifestation of the Chili Cook-off. Would you like to help? Would you like to enter your chili? Please do tell us! In this case “us” is Jim Newton, Kristen Starr, and Peter Livant.

• Filling vacancies on the Committee on Ministry

The Committee on Ministry (CoM) is the most important AUUF committee you may never have heard of. If you know of the CoM, it’s probably because work on developing a better AUUF mission statement over the past year or so has been led by the CoM. AUUF has had a CoM for a long, but not unbroken, time, during which time the theory of CoM’s as promulgated by the UUA has undergone big changes. Here at AUUF we have a thoroughly modern CoM that doesn’t wonder about its theoretical underpinnings.

At the March Board meeting, we began discussions about how members of the CoM are chosen, and how long they serve. This sort of thing must be discussed, decided, and written down. It’s what Boards do.

• Chairpersons for lots of other committees

Most committee chairs at AUUF are not elected by the congregation, but rather are appointed by the Board. The term of these appointed chairs is one year beginning on April 1, ending the following March 31. At the March Board meeting we were pleased to find that our behind-the-scenes conversations with current and potential chairpersons left us with only one chair position unfilled. In the time elapsed between the meeting and the writing of this column, a potential chair has been found who has indicated a large degree of willingness to serve. So the functioning of our committees, which is crucial to the functioning of our Fellowship, seems to be on firm footing.

• Into the world…

AUUF will have a table at City Fest on April 29 at Kiesel Park. Woo hoo!!! The hours are 9 am to 4 pm. Please help us tend the table! There will be opportunities to sign up for a slot, but if you can’t wait for that, tell Emily Livant or Jim Newton that you want to help. Thanks, in advance.

 

Here’s blipping at you, kid.

~Over and out

~Peter