Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Los Gatos

Board Report May 2005

It's been an encouraging year. The budget of things done by the board, in terms of official actions, are recorded in the board minutes, available in the Fellowship's lobby and on the web site. Find them there; I'll talk about things not recorded in those minutes.

We have encouraged more communication, through the newsletter, web site, and email groups. The newsletter has a greater variety of contributors, the board minutes (and a lot of other things) are on the web site, and there's a steady stream of traffic -- sometimes a flood -- on our email lists. The board didn't "do" any of those.

The board has avoided work, wherever possible. That is, we have encouraged individuals and committees to take whatever actions they found appropriate within their domains, without getting board clearance or management. The board had nothing to do with bringing you our first picture directory, or with cleaning the arms of the seats in the sanctuary, or building the fence and gates so the pre-schoolers can play outside safely. The time, talent, and treasure for these projects came from the congregation, not the board.

It's indicative of people's willingness to pitch in and help the Fellowship succeed that we have nine board members. You'll remember that at the Spring Meeting in 2004, the Nominating Committee had only been able to enlist two of the nine the bylaws ask for. We finished that meeting with seven, and found the other two during the year.

It's been a year of decisions, decisions resulting in our launching three search committees. The first one found Ben, who has been a big success as our Sunday minister. The second one is busy carefully evaluating what we need in a DRE. The third one has found our first interim minister, Nancy, who will be starting in August. None of this staff comes really cheap, and there were serious, well-founded, doubts whether our canvas could support the increased expense. Would we have to forgo either a DRE or a full-time minister?

The canvas was a roaring success, exceeding its goal. The (balanced!) budget for next year proposes increasing our total expense by fifty percent, from one hundred thousand to one hundred fifty thousand dollars. That tremendous increase demonstrates the enthusiasm this congregation has for moving forward toward a full-time settled minister.

UUFLG Finance Committee Report April 24, 2005

This 2004-2005 fiscal year has seen much progress in the financial status of the Fellowship. Most outstanding is the achievement of a projected surplus of more than $6,000 by the end of this year, June 30, 2005 after being left with a $24,000 deficit from last fiscal year, June 30, 2004. In addition, our reserve funds have been replenished to a level of $20,000 after having been depleted to $14,000 at the end of last fiscal year.

This was achieved by setting a realistic and balanced budget consistent with the results of the previous year’s pledge drive, providing the board and committee chairs timely financial information on their own expenditures, and putting in place procedures to control those expenditures.

The other outstanding achievement is a well-run pledge campaign chaired by Ann Campbell and supported by a dedicated team. An initial goal was set at $98,000, up from $80,000 raised last fiscal year. This goal was based on a very minimal budget to obtain a full time Interim Minister and a part time DRE. In order to achieve this it was necessary to do without our Administrative Assistant, the expense of producing our Order of Service and other support functions we have been used to. It also provided benefits to the Interim Minister to be hired at a level below the Fair Compensation Guidelines set by the UUA. The pledge drive came in with $114,000, aided by matching funds from a generous member. This increased amount will provide most of our normal support services as well as a benefits package for the Interim Minister at the top of the range recommended by the UUA. This good benefits package has helped the Interim Minister Search Committee attract a highly experienced candidate which has been hired to be our full time minister for next fiscal year.

A word of caution before we try to rest on our laurels. This coming year is unlikely to provide a surplus and will take discipline to keep within our budget. Without a surplus, the pledge drive for 2006-2007 is going to have to achieve $120,000, or better. On the plus side, our active Membership Committee is working effectively to increase our membership which will increase our pledges as the new members become integrated into the activities of the Fellowship. That takes time, however. So we still have major financial hurdles to look forward to.

May the joy of working collaboratively with our new minister and with each other fuel the enthusiasm and generosity required to achieve our financial goals.

Your Finance Committee consists of Bob Bixler, Cal Clauer, Tim Connelly, Russell Malley, and Irving Yabroff

This report was prepared by Irving Yabroff

Administration Committee Report April 26, 2005

The Administration Committee is one of two committees which are the responsibility of the First Trustee on the Board, Bill Crawford, according to the Bylaws. The second is the Building Committee, which has been represented in part by a Landscape Committee headed by Ruth Webb. The indoors part of the Building Committee has not been formed during this fiscal year.

The Administration Committee, headed by Irving Yabroff, has responsibility for:

• Communications - Our website, Announcement List, Discussion List, Fellowship email and telephone communication
• Publicity - Newspaper and yellow pages advertisements
• Supervision of Administrative Staff – Administrative Assistant and Custodian

Progress during this year has been most noticeable in the Communications area. Our website has undergone a series of improvements aimed at making it more attractive, continuously up to date, and provide more useful and complete information about our Fellowship and its activities. Specific accomplishments include:

• Addition of a calendar on which all current and future a ctivities which use the Fellowship Building are posted. The use of this calendar has resulted in increased use of the building for both Fellowship activities and outside rentals. It also has provided a central reference to inform members and friends of the occurrence of activities they may be interested in.
• A summary of regularly scheduled activities and meetings as well as special activities planned for the current month.
• Addition of pictures which make the Home page and other pages which have them more attractive and meaningful. Harry Campbell takes credit for the excellent quality of those pictures.
• Monthly posting of our current Profit and Loss vs Budget Statement as well as the current Balance Sheet to show our Assets and Liabilities.
• Posting of some of the sermons of our Sunday Minister, Ben Kochs-Meyers, as well as those of our own lay leaders, Bill Scarvie.
• Posting of special reports such as the description of what Interim Ministry is about and the proposed budget for next fiscal year.
• Information about our rental facilities and the forms and information to make application for their use will be added before the end of this fiscal year.

Through the efforts of Adrienne Gormley, our Administrative Assistant, our rental income has increased this year to well above the amount budgeted. Adrienne has also maintained her high standards of performance in producing the Order of Service and Announcements throughout the year in a timely manner.

Edgar Cruz, our Custodian, also deserves recognition for the good job he does cleaning the building every Wednesday morning.

This report prepared by Irving Yabroff

Annual Report, Landscape/Garden Committee, May 2005

Committee members: Ruth Webb, Lida Kluzek, Jo Cooley, Hudson & Chris Washburn, Phyllis Reid, Ann Campbell.

The Garden around the Fellowship has improved greatly in the last year. The hiring of Noe Professional Landscape Service to maintain, weed, trim and blow has been a tremendous help, freeing up the gardeners to be creative. Donations of plants and labor from members has been extensive - Phyllis Reid’s building of the butterfly garden has added interest for the children as well as adults.

Several problems were solved concerning the drip system: leaks, pressure imbalance, and new lines were laid and properly maintained. Many thanks to Bob Bixler. A map of the drip system was drawn by Connie Springer, and now hangs on the wall of the office. Outside the valves are identified and labeled. This maintenance resumes now that the rains have stopped.

Several gardener/ members have taken over responsibility for planting and maintaining specific areas. When you admire the garden be sure to thank them for their work Lida Kluzek is responsible for the west side of the building, including the lovely plantings outside the west room door. Jo Cooley cares for the north and east sides of the building. Ann Campbell looks after the deck area including the roses and the peace pole. Hudson & Chris Washburn planted the berm and the strips along Blossom Hill Rd. Ruth Webb is responsible for the east edge of the property where the Euryops are, and for the top of the hill above the butterfly garden on Old Blossom Hill Rd. Phyllis Reid created and built the Butterfly garden.

It has been a glorious spring around our building. May we take the spirit of the garden into our hearts as we welome our new interim minister.

Ruth Webb, Unofficial chairperson.

The Caring Committee Annual Report

The caring committee consists of caring, loving, and kind members of the Fellowship. Our mission is to encourage the active participation of the congregation in caring for each other. We support services which enable UU members and friends to maintain health and safety in our home and shape a sustainable, compassionate, enjoyable, fellowship of interdependence.

We note the “joys and concerns” given each week at the Sunday Service and in the Newsletter and we follow thru with cards and phone calls. We try to offer temporary, short term services during a time when family help is not available. We assist needy members to access community services when long term assistance is needed and no family member is available to help.

Several of our members have made home or hospital visits to our ill members.

Thru our column in the monthly Newsletter, we try to give information to the congregation about members and friends who need encouragement, kudos, calls, food and whatever is needed by another person. We feel that these bits of information can be the start of conversations during our coffee time after Fellowship. We are hoping it is bringing our members and friends “a bit closer” as we share our interests in each other.

We have a birthday column for the month of members and friends.

We encourage each member and friend to be “caring of each other”.

Committee members are: Barbara Kalmoutis, Joanne and Norm Crane, Lida Kluzek, Coralee Linton, Edy Young and Lou Yabroff.

Sunday Programming Report for 2005

The Sunday Programming Trustee of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Los Gatos is responsible for Sunday Services and Forums. During 2004-5 Nan Bixler served as Sunday Services Chair and did not form a Forum Committee. The main reason for this was irregular scheduling of the time period after Services due to many special informational meetings to which the membership was invited. A secondary reason was lack of volunteers to launch another Forum series.

Nan Bixler serves as Chair of the Sunday Services Committee which is comprised of Julie Doyle, Hollie Dunham, Walt Main, J.J. Martin, Lynn O’Keefe; Katie Rall; Bill Scarvie; and Ruth Webb. Since he began serving as the "Sunday Services minister" in November, Ben Kocs-Meyers has met regularly with the Committee. All of the members have been serving as lay leaders, with the exception of the Chair and Ruth Webb, music liaison. All serve as associates with Ben or guest speakers or create holiday services, some of which are intergenerational.

The musicians in our Fellowship have not been meeting this year, but have been represented by Ruth. Pauline Stonehill and Norm Crane have served with Ruth as music coordinators on scheduled Sundays each month. Ruth has taken the lead role as pianist with Wanda Alexander, Jane Sherman and others also playing. Those offering gifts of music include Norm, Dave Peyton, Fidele Galey and the Recorder group. Rev. Kocs-Meyers has also shared his musical talent on those Sundays when he is in the pulpit.

The Sound System was operated much of the year by Brian Smith, who resigned after three years of volunteer service. Bob Bixler has assumed this role and we thank him and those who substitute for him when needed.

Our Administrative Assistant, Adrienne Gormley, takes all of the Service information each week from the minister or lay leader and produces the Order of Service. The committee appreciates her efficient and cooperative service.

By Nan Bixler, Trustee, UUFLG Board

UUFLG Annual Membership Committee Report – May 2005

Membership Committee (MC) members are: Jim Beebe (chair), Harry Campbell, Ann Katherine Walton and Lou Yabroff.

The MC has been very active this year starting with an organization and planning meeting in September. Meetings were held each month on the First Tuesday of each Month in the West Room and all members were invited to attend (and some actually did!). In September, October and November we ran a series of Fellowship portrait sessions after our Sunday service in order to have photos of our members for the UUFLG’s first photo directory. The directory was produced and printed and subsequently distributed to all members in December and January.

In September the MC kicked off a year long Fellowship Friday Film Festival with the showing of an interesting and provocative film Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s Secret War on Journalism. The big screen and a fun social hour prior to the film and interesting discussion after the film ensured a successful series.

December 17th was the all-Fellowship Turkey Holiday dinner sponsored by the MC and it was a sold out affair. The turnout was great, the food was good and everyone had a wonderful time.

Game nights were sponsored by the MC in November, February and April. The April Texas Hold ‘Em night was especially fun and interesting.

The MC did a self evaluation in January and set new goals for itself for the rest of the year. The decision to concentrate more on improving our greeting and membership recruiting activates lead to a very productive planning session with Ben in February. At this meeting it was decided to put more emphasis on activities that directly relate to membership growth and to not spread ourselves too thin on other activities. The specific membership goals that the MC took on are 4 new members by the end of June 2005, a target of 12 net new members for our next fiscal year of 2005-06, and a membership of 140 to 150 members by June of 2008. Ambitious, eh?

In April the MC took over the membership database and installed it in a new, very secure multi-access Internet membership management tool. The tool has the capability to support many other membership functions such as RE enrollment, group management, member communications and volunteer coordination.

We are now working on a new UUFLG membership brochure which is well underway and will be ready for next year’s recruiting activities.

Some other items accomplished by the MC:

• Wrote guidelines for new Greeters (and a copy kept in the table in the foyer).
• Reorganized and labeled the drawers in the table in the foyer and put up a MC bulletin board.
• Made name tags for new members and replacement name tags.
• Started the tradition of recognizing a Volunteer of the Month with a notice in monthly Fellowship Newsletter.

Ben was the featured person at our April New and Prospective Member Orientation first session and it was a huge success with 13 potential members in attendance. The second session will be held in June and we hope to have several new members sign the book prior to the end of our fiscal year.

While overall membership has remained essentially the same for the past three years, this was a good year for the Membership Committee. It was a time of organization, process refinement and team building, and this should lead to success and membership growth in the coming years.

Respectfully Submitted by Jim, Harry, Ann Katherine and Lou, May 9, 2005

Annual Lifespan Education Report - May 2005

This has been a year of considerable introspection, transition and renewed energy at the Fellowship. The board started the year by taking stock of where we were and securing our moorings so that we could regroup and gain our bearings. As Lifespan Education trustee, I did the same.

There were no structured adult education classes offered this year, mostly due to the need for people to focus on our Fellowship core infrastructure. I believe that with the help of our new minister and renewed congregational energy adult classes and group workshops will be possible.

Our children have always been one of the pillars of this Fellowship. A growing, committed group of adults have made sure that our program for children and youth has been solid. With the leadership of our vibrant, musical and loving DRE, Phyllis Reid, we also regrouped to make sure that our commitment to enriching and fun Sunday classes did not waiver. Though Phyllis has retired and we search for a new DRE, our primary classroom teachers, occasional helpers and preschool care givers have stayed the course and provided stability and assurance to our kids.

We will take a breather this summer by offering multiage activities for the older kids on the deck as well as playdoh and play in the preschool room. We look forward to new ideas and talents in the coming months and a continued commitment to teaching, learning and intergenerational interaction.

This report prepared by Hollie Dunham, Lifespan Education Trustee, UUFLG Board

Social Justice Committee Report, May 2004 - May 2005

In May of 2004, the Social Justice Committee held a Soup Supper. The program featured Amnesty International and prisoner of conscience, Aster Yohannes. Seventy letters were signed. Money was donated to Amnesty International and two-hundred dollars raised in support of Aster Yohannes' children. There were approximately 35 people in attendance.

There was no social justice activity between June and December of 2004 due to lack of a chairperson.

In January of 2005, the Social Justice Committee held a Soup Supper, the purpose of which was to create awareness of environmental problems facing the San Francisco Bay. The program was based on information obtained from Save the Bay environmental group and Audubon. A petition was signed requesting the Navy to clean up the toxicity it created in the wetlands around Moffitt Field. Donations were made to Save the Bay. Approximately 35 people attended.

In March, the Social Justice Committee cooperated with RECCY and The Thursday Women's Group in Sox for Tots. Three hundred pairs of sox were donated for one-hundred children at the San Jose Family Shelter. The other two groups donated, sorted, and packed the sox. The Social Justice Committee was responsible for publicity and the organization and delivery of the sox.

In April the remainder of money in the Social Justice account ($1800.) was sent to the Tsunami Relief Fund.

In May 2005, several events took place or are scheduled to take place:

On May 1, the Social Justice Committee held a Darfur Sunday. Pre-written letters were signed and mailed to the President, The Secretary of State and Congress regarding action to end the genocide in Darfur. Approximately ninety letters were signed and sent.

On the following Monday, the remainder of the letters were taken to a table set up in Los Gatos where the general public was asked to sign and mail ninety more letters. Approximately one-hundred eighty letters were mailed in all. Donations amounting to $108. were collected and sent to Darfur Relief. We learned later that UUFLG was part of a group of 70 congregations that participated in Darfur Sunday and these activities generated over 2500 letters and faxes to American and Canadian elected officials urging then to take action in Darfur.

On May 7 there was bird walk for Audubon at Charleston Slough. this was a follow-up activity for the Soup Supper presentation in January regarding saving the wetlands. Thirteen people attended and a donation of approximnately $130. was donated to Audubon.

On May 15, a survey will be passed out to the Fellowship members to find out what our congregation would like to see happen with the Social Justice Committee.

On May 22, the Social Justice Committee will host a Coffee Tasting featuring UUSC/Equal Exchange Fair-traded coffee. Through the UUSC Coffee Project, our Fellowship would enjoy great coffee while helping growers earn a fair price for their product. With this support, farmers would be able to invest in education, health care, and ecologically sound agricultural practices.

On May 29, there will be a meeting after the Sunday Service. All interested Fellowship members are invited to attend. The purpose of this meeting is to create a larger pool of interested Social Justice Committee members and to determine what our priorities are.

Edy Young, Chairperson, Pam Rhodes English- Co-chairperson

Annual Report for the Committee on Ministry for 2004-2005

The Committee on Ministry held a series of potluck suppers at the Fellowship to discuss the characteristics desired of a minister, the desired role of a minister in the congregation, and what the requirements are for the congregation to obtain such a minister. The suppers and discussions were well attended. Those discussions stimulated peoples thinking, but few documented results were produced.

April and May have been devoted to another approach in the form of a questionnaire, designed by Bill Scarvie, to give us a measure of where the Fellowship community stands with respect to defining and achieving our goals. The questions elicit what we feel is important and how well our behavior reflects that feeling. I have collected these questionnaires, analyzed them, and produced a report on the results. This report will be posted on our website.

While no overall conclusions have been drawn, some interesting observations regarding the results are reported. It is the COM’s intention to reissue this questionnaire a year from now, and see what changes have occurred in the Fellowship’s priorities and in our perceived behavior with respect to those priorities.

Annual Small Group Ministry Report - May 2005

The idea of having Small Group Ministry came to our Fellowship originally from Bob Lindsay after attending GA. He had a lot of enthusiasm for the program, but it never materialized at UUFLG. In the fall of 2003, the CoM formally introduced the concept to our Fellowship. Several members attended a workshop in Berkeley on SGM and read Robert Hill’s book on Small Group Ministry. A planning committee was formed; original members included Doug Doughty, Julie Doyle, Lida Kluzek, Walt Main, Susan Parks, Katie Rall, and Bill Scarvie. The committee had a very ambitious timeline and worked hard to plan a well-rounded program and educate the membership about SGM. A Sunday Service gave an overview of the program and several trial sessions were held for members to come and “check it out”.

The SGM program is currently coordinated by the SGM Steering committee whose members are Coralee Linton, Susan Parks, Katie Rall (chair), & Bill Scarvie. The duties of the Steering Committee include coordinating group formation, facilitator training, session content development, and program evaluation.

The SGM program started at the end of May in 2004 with 3 groups; 2 groups with 2 facilitators and 1 group with 1 facilitator. We started with a total of 28 participants and currently have 22 participants. The groups meet about twice a month for 2 hours each session. The facilitators, Doug Doughty, Julie Doyle, Lynn O’Keefe, Susan Parks, and Katie Rall, meet once a month for their own Small Group experience.

The first four sessions were "getting to know you" sessions, followed by covenant writing sessions, where each group was guided through a process of writing their own unique group covenant. Other content topics have been Change, Fear, Our Gifts, Living Through Loss, Advent, Acting Courageously, Caring Community, What We Love, Time Flies, Year’s End, New Year’s Resolution, Life Purposes and Events, Bending Toward Justice, Death and Dying, Hotel Earth, and A Sacred Place.

As part of their covenant, each group has committed to doing two service projects inside the Fellowship and one service project outside the Fellowship. Some of those service projects include making the Sunday Services more handicapped friendly, tending and watering the inside plants, hosting the Holiday Boutique, hosting a Jim Scott concert, planning the Annual Auction, planning the Yard Sale, holding a sanctuary clean-up day, collecting socks and underwear for those in need, and collecting food for St. Luke’s Pantry.

Our hope for the future is to train more facilitators and start new groups so that more people are able to participate in and reap the benefits of this wonderful program.