President’s Message — April 2024

“Receiving feedback. does not mean that I am the worst person that ever lived. It only means that someone cares enough to tell me how to improve.” ~ Joseph Folkman

The Board of Directors of the UUFP asked members and friends to complete a brief survey to help us think about what areas to focus on as we continue to strategize about how keep our fellowship thriving. I want to thank everyone (all 27 of you) who filled out a survey. The written feedback was especially helpful in determining what action steps to take. I want to share the top line results. Please keep in mind that the Board used this to assess the feelings of the entire congregation. While the congregation is made up individuals, each with unique perspectives and points of view, the board needed to step back and look at the overall input and trends. That does not mean that any negative feedback is disregarded. We will use this feedback as a filter to ask ourselves how to be more improve on a specific topic.

As a reminder, people we asked to score the following statements with Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither Agree or Disagree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree:

  • I feel a sense of belonging at UUFP
  • I feel like I have a voice at UUFP
  • I feel that I can be my true self at UUFP
  • I feel appreciated at UUFP
  • I have confidence in the governing structure of UUFP

Approximately 80-85 percent of respondents scored Strongly Agree or Agree for all statements. However, there were individuals who responded with Strongly Disagree or Disagree for all statements. These scores, along with the written feedback, enabled the board to identity the following areas to focus on:

  • Create more opportunities to express and demonstrate appreciation.
  • “Building Bridges” across the gaps that are created by each of us being our own unique person. Often our differences create strong divides. We as a fellowship can learn to bridge those gaps while remaining unique ourselves.
  • Strong desire to have more alignment with the UUA and UU principles (including hosting/participating more community and social action events).
  • Continue with the evolution of the UUFP as it relates to adding new members, strengthening our CYRE and doing more Adult RE programming.
  • Add new members to the Board (please let us know if you have interest).

Thank you to all who responded. Thank you for caring enough about UUFP to provide the feedback. Please keep the input coming–don’t wait for a formal survey. If you have any suggestions, please discuss them with a member of the Board.

“Be the change you want to see.”

With Gratitude, Linda

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