Monthly messages and special updates from your Board of Directors.
Our Budget Meeting on Dec. 8 Will Be Much More Than That — Plan to Be There!
This week we received the disappointing news that our application for a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to make the downstairs more accessible was not awarded. Only about one in three grant applications is successful, so we are not unprepared for this news. If you attended the informational meeting on September 15 you heard a bit about ‘Plan B.’
Mark the December 8th budget meeting on your calendar. The meeting will certainly be interesting since it will include discussion of Plan B, progress on redefining our relationship with Beth Israel, progress on our Planned Giving Campaign, and how all this fits together with our Long Range Financial Planning.
If you have questions or comments on these topics you are welcome to talk to me or any of our Board members.
— Guy Hanchet, on behalf of the Board of Directors
Finding Our Way Home — Accessibility, Our Relationship With Beth Israel, and This Building
An Update from our September 15th Special Meeting
On September 15th the Board called a special meeting to report on and explore the accessibility challenges we have faced since the stairlift failed a year ago.
As background — we are waiting for word on a major Trillium grant application we submitted in June (with Beth Israel) for an elevator and other accessibility improvements. In the meantime, we expected to propose a small renovation of the study (off the foyer, at the top of the stairs), to open it up quickly into a mini-kitchen and casual meeting space, so we can host coffee hour and more small gatherings upstairs.
But the quotes for that work came in higher than we and Beth Israel were comfortable with moving on quickly — so we have put that idea on hold. The September 15th meeting became more of an update presentation, with Q&A and small group discussions.
Our work on accessibility is, of course, deeply entwined with our ongoing explorations with Beth Israel about whether this building will be our “forever home,” under a new co-management arrangement. One of the most important things we want to hear is what values and priorities this community wants to keep constantly in mind as we navigate these choices.
Here’s a video of what was said about that in our closing circle. What would you add?
Expect more updates soon! There is a new home for this work on our website, in the “Sharing Our Space” item under the News menu.
— Ben Wolfe, on behalf of the Board
Past Notes From the Board
September 15: A Congregational Information Meeting on Accessibility
This Sunday, following the service Accessibility is an important value for us. The Board has called a meeting to consider possible steps and financial commitments we might make to improve accessibility. We have been exploring a renovation project that would create a more welcoming main floor as we continue to work with Beth Israel toward…
Catch up on our ‘BIG QUESTIONS’ at next week’s AGM
The Fellowship Annual General Meeting is after next Sunday’s service, May 26, with a simple lunch provided. It’s more than a meeting this year. The Board and Co-Visioning Task Force are taking it as an opportunity to connect and catch up in community around some of our “big questions.” You probably know we’ve been working…
Update on the Stairlift
The Board, indeed the whole congregation, continues to be deeply disappointed by the fact that our downstairs hall is not accessible to all. We would like to bring you up to date on progress to correct this issue. As you know we have been trying to limp along with the unreliable stair lift for some time,…
Our 3 Areas of Focus This Year
Members of your Board of Directors would like to bring you up to date on the three main areas of our focus this year: Planning, Policy, and Governance. We are still paying attention to the details but we want you to know that we are putting a higher priority and more time on the long-term…
Building Bridges Between UFP and Beth Israel
As far back as 2004, when UFP first signed a lease arrangement with Beth Israel, people were imagining possibilities between our two communities. The intention was that sharing space created an invitation to get to know one another and swap stories about our religious traditions. Our relationship, it was imagined, could be enriching as much…
Where is Home?
For the first thirty- odd years of our Unitarian existence in Peterborough, we were wanderers. We met weekly in places and spaces all across town, from school libraries to a former billiards hall. The first and only building we owned and was a decommissioned Salvation Army church on Chamberlain Street. We weren’t there long before…
Recognizing Our Choir Director, Welcoming our New RE Assistant
Since January many of us have been at work putting others to work on your behalf. This will not be news to you if you’ve been attending Sunday services, but since March we have officially installed a new choir director and a Religious Exploration Facilitator. Introductions first! Linda Clarke is a professional musician and choir director, among…
CoVisioning With BIS, and Long Range Financial Planning
I’m excited about two recent initiatives at UFP which have the power and promise to shift things within our community. What’s really brilliant is the interconnections between them and that they are happening concurrently, which gives them all the more capacity to affect change. Both endeavours have been on the drawing board for a long…
A Note on Process
Organizationally and culturally, churches can be placed on a continuum somewhere between two extremes. Parish churches, typically less than 100 members, are relationship-based and close, personally. Everyone knows one other. Business gets done word of mouth. While they can be rewarding for the level of personal integration and strong sense of belonging, growth and outreach…
Last Sunday the 2018 Budget Passed Unanimously
Last Sunday, December 10, we met as a congregation to review and endorse a budget document for 2018. It was an ordinary event in that it happens every year and we manage the consequences regardless. But this year felt extraordinary because of the commitment so many of you made to engagement in the process. It…
2018 Budget Summary
Over the past two years our congregation has been experimenting with and implementing new ways of engaging in important dialogue. The Community Conversations group has hosted many programs that supported us using an array of group process tools and workshop types. With this behind us, and budget time approaching, this September felt like an appropriate…
Welcome! A New Year, A New Board
This month’s ministry theme is Welcome, a sentiment I wholeheartedly extend to you. Welcome back! I hope you will bring yourself and cherished ones and find your way back into community. You will find much to explore, many to connect with, and lots to fall in love with. Welcome home for those of you who…