By Bob Alt and Chris Marietti
This article is brought to you by the new co-presidents of our Board, Bob Alt and Chris Marietti. Our goal is to introduce ourselves more thoroughly to you and establish a pathway for future communication between the Board and the broader congregation.
Tell us about your background and experience with Unitarian Universalism.
Bob: I had been exploring different options for spiritual enrichment and learned of UUCWC through the phone book, back in 2000! I wasn’t familiar with Unitarian Universalism and so my wife, Marianne, and I decided to attend a few services. We quickly learned that the community’s inclusiveness and diversity in approaches to spirituality met many of our goals. We became members of UUCWC in 2001. I have two adult children, Ellen and Charlie, who went through the Children & Youth Family Ministry program at UUCWC. I have served in multiple roles over the years, including chair of the Finance Committee, co-chair of Right Relations, Stewardship Committee member, Youth Group teacher, Mortgage Refinance Committee member, and Boy Scout Eagle Project advisor. UUCWC continues to be a cornerstone of community, inspiration, and growth for me.
Chris: After being raised Catholic, including nine formative years in a combined Catholic elementary and middle school, I dropped out of organized religion when I was in college. I returned briefly to Catholicism to marry Nathalie Edmond in 2000. But after that, I thought I was out of religion altogether, happy to be floating somewhere in the haze between atheism and agnosticism. However, Nathalie began exploring different religious faith traditions, particularly as we approached having kids. After visiting multiple UU churches, she brought me to both Princeton and UUCWC. And after hearing, now minister emeritus, Rev. Charles Stevens in 2005, I was hooked. Nat and I became members in 2006. We are pleased to have raised our two teenage children, Jakob and Daphne, in this faith tradition, both generally and within this congregation. The connections I’ve made here and the learning journey I’ve embarked upon through this community over almost 20 years have been nothing short of transformative.
What motivated you to become a Board co-president?
Bob: I’ve received a lot from UUCWC over the years, in terms of spiritual growth, personal enrichment, learning, and friendships. I’m also grateful for the educational program that my children went through, and I believe that it helped them become the individuals they are today, with a deep caring for others and the broader community. Because of this, I’m always looking for ways to give back to UUCWC, and becoming a co-president of the Board was a new opportunity for me to do this.
I aspire for my time as co-president to help advance our congregation meaningfully towards our vision of being an inclusive faith community, focusing our energy and resources on spiritual deepening and thereby challenging us to become a dynamic and recognized force in our communities. Lastly, it was an opportunity to try out a new co-leadership approach to Board president with Chris, someone I respect deeply from our time together on the Right Relations Committee. I hope we can learn together and share our insights with future co-presidents on how to make this leadership model successful.
Chris: My time so far in this congregation could be described as a tale of two decades. In the first decade, my fledgling family began to take root here, and I found myself learning to contribute in what I thought were small and quiet ways, volunteering to assist and sometimes teach in classrooms both with and without my kids. Nat and I joined Journey Toward Wholeness, where I took my early steps in my anti-racism journey, and would help run the JTW Library at coffee hour. About ten years ago, though, I began to engage more fully with programming and ministries. Engaging in the Beloved Conversations curriculum allowed me to begin really exploring my privilege as a white, cis, heterosexual man. It brought me into community with many within the congregation on similar journeys. I also found my way into committee membership and leadership, eventually co-chairing the Right Relations Committee and the Racial Justice Ministry.
Leadership is not something that comes naturally to me. I find myself plagued with self-doubt, which often breaks containment and bursts into the open in the form of self-deprecating humor. And while leading is challenging, leading in a congregation full of amazing leaders is even more so. I am glad to have had the practice to do this work. And I am even more glad to have the opportunity to do it in shared leadership positions. Through my co-chair experiences and now as co-president, I have been gifted to grow my leadership style surrounded by amazing people along the way. I have tremendous respect for everyone I’ve served with on the Board and any other committee. Knowing that I can work closely with such dynamic and introspective minds is a significant reason why I say yes when asked to serve anywhere in this congregation. And to be able to work so closely with Bob and Rev. Kim, both of whom I admire immensely, was a specific advantage to becoming co-president.
There are so many great minds in this congregation. So many I’ve met and so many I haven’t. I hope that leading and growing through my own discomfort will inspire others who may not have considered doing this work, but whose talents could help transform our congregation in incredible ways. While we await these future leaders, however, my primary motivations for co-leading this Board remain to use my privileges to advocate for those who may not have a voice in the room and to do so alongside amazing people on a team dedicated to celebrating life, fostering community, and making a positive impact on the world.
What does it mean to be co-president, and how is it working so far?
Bob & Chris: We view co-presidency as an opportunity to leverage each other’s strengths, collaborate as thought partners on various topics, and share the workload to support one another during busy periods. So far, we’ve focused on ensuring clear communication and collaboration, and on clearly defining responsibilities as topics come up. We’ve taken turns leading Board meetings, which has worked well. But, since we’re only three months into our term, we’re still learning about each other’s strengths, leadership styles, and how to make co-presidency as effective and efficient as possible. Over time, we hope to strengthen this partnership for the benefit of both ourselves and the Board, and we look forward to sharing more insights with you.