Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing

And just like that — it is summer and a new church year. We welcome Lynn Hanson to the Board and say thank you to Robin Holmes and Richard Knight for their dedication, service, and commitment to our community. There are two areas about which I wish to update you as concerned members and friends. The first is the church building’s physical well being.

The churchwide survey indicated widespread concern over the condition of our building. The Board shares that concern and, as of this writing, is reviewing three bids (which have been fine tuned at least twice) to fix our leaking roofs. This is a major expense, of course, but one for which we are more prepared for than in the past thanks to the work of previous Boards that saw the wisdom of putting money aside monthly to meet these needs. Our new building team, led by M.J. Hansen and Andrew Kidd, is already prioritizing necessary immediate repairs and is working on a plan to help us move forward. Our thanks to Marty Friedman, who is helping us through the roof bidding process and is ending his term as Building Committee chair.

The second update has to do with the church community’s spiritual and organizational well being. Many informal and formal discussions have taken place in the aftermath of the congregation’s annual and special meetings. The emotional experience of the labyrinth decision-making process and outcome prompted many of us to take stock of what it means to participate in this community and on what level. Such a self-examination process is to be expected after this experience and this can be good for individuals and our church.

Discussions have begun on many levels to address the lessons that are to be learned based on the difficult experiences that culminated in our special meeting. The Board, Committee on Ministry, the Church Council, and the Council on Faith in Action all have begun the work of engaging the whole church community in the process of helping us grow through this experience.

As I see it, the Board strives to address the physical and financial needs of our community— always in the context of who we are as a spiritual community, with an eye on the care we show to each other and for the external community. We need to hear from you when you feel we have fallen short of keeping that balance. It is never our intention to focus on one at the expense of the other.

We have a lot to do. We have a lot to celebrate.