Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown

“Imagine the possibilities!”
~Ralph Marston.

The first month of our new fiscal year has brought forth many possibilities not only for us but also for the greater UU. So first, let’s talk about the larger UU community. The UUA General Assembly was held in June and many things were accomplished not the least of which was the election of Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancort as the president of the UUA. She is the first woman of color and first out queer person elected as the Association’s president. The child of immigrants from Panamá and Chile, and the grandchild of a seventh-generation Unitarian, Rev. Dr. Betancourt begins her six-year tenure on July 10. She holds a Ph.D. in Religious Ethics and African American Studies from Yale University and an M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry. It will be exciting to see what she brings forward as our new leader.

In addition to electing a new president, delegates voted to move forward with a process to discuss further proposed changes to Article II of the UUA bylaws, the section that includes the Principles, Purposes, and Sources. Since Unitarian Universalism is a “Living Tradition”, the UUA By-laws call for a review of Article II every 15 years in order to stay relevant with the times. The review started in 2020 and with the positive vote this year at GA, if the changes pass again at next year’s GA, they will be adopted. It is important to understand what is being proposed so rather than go through it in this column, I would like to ask everyone to get back to me on how you would like to learn about these changes. We can certainly do a Sunday Service on them or maybe a Town Hall Meeting to discuss. Please get back to me as to how you would like to proceed. In the interim, you can learn more about this and other things that happened at the General Assembly at UUA.org or UUWorld.org. These changes are important and the possibilities on how we bring them to life are endless for our little UUFP community.

And speaking of our UUFP community, opportunities continue to present themselves that offer further possibilities of becoming involved in our community. There is an increase in people interested in renting our facility. Thank you to all of you who have shared our information with friends and family members who are looking for a location to host an event. Remember, not only is our social hall and sanctuary available for rent, but so is our kitchen. Thank you to Kay for working with the Chester County Health Department to ensure that our kitchen remains certified and a very special shout out to Cliff S. for cleaning out and organizing our kitchen. That was no small task. The kitchen looks so good that maybe we need to look for someone to teach cooking classes (or maybe we already have someone…stay tuned for further details).

The final bit of news that I will share is that we did hire a new cleaner who will clean our fellowship every Friday. Thank you to Mary R. for serving as interim cleaner. While it is certainly not a glamourous job, it is a very necessary one. Your work is appreciated.

With Gratitude,

–Linda K.

The Road to Success is Always Under Construction. ~ Lily Tomlin

As we start the new fiscal year, let’s talk about how the UUFP will continue to construct towards success, which for us is defined as creating a viable and sustainable religious community. During the 2022 Annual Congregational Meeting, I stood before you and pointed out the greatest success we had was that we were still standing, albeit a little wobbly. I pointed out that while many religious institutions–including UU congregations across the country–had closed, our doors were still open. This was a huge success for our little fellowship; however, I pointed out that we needed to do things and invest in things that would help to create a sustainable community. And we did. And we had a very successful year, both fiscally and spiritually.

At this past Congregational Meeting, I said that I had “cautious optimism.” We are moving for- ward and we need to keep that momentum up. The Board of Directors cannot do it alone. We need your help. Many of you know that I spent my career in sales and sales related fields. So, I have no problem asking for things.

Here is my ask for you:

• Do your part to spread the word about UUFP. When someone asks “How was your weekend?”, if appropriate, share about the interesting service you heard on Sunday. If this only resonates with one person, that’s a win.
• Spread the word about renting our facility. If anyone you know is looking to hold a party–kids, adult, graduation, a wedding, celebration, or even a book club, let them know about our facilities.
• Think of creative ideas for fundraising and share them if you have them. Part of the focus of these ideas should be to include the surrounding community.
• If you shop at Giant, please purchase a Giant Card through us. We raised almost $1,000 by just having people do their routine shopping at a store that they are already using. This is easy money for us.
• Spread the word about renting our facility. If anyone you know is looking to hold a party–kids, adult, graduation, a wedding, celebration, or even a book club–let them know about our facilities.
• Think of creative ideas for fundraising and share them if you have them. Part of the focus of these ideas should be to include the surrounding community.
• If you shop at Giant, please purchase a Giant Card through us. We raised almost $1,000 by just having people do their routine shopping at a store that they are already using. This is easy money for us.

Think about being on the Board of Directors. There are term limits set for board members for a good reason. New members and new leadership bring new ideas. If people or a government stays the same for too long, they get stagnant–stuck in a rut. Our term limits help to balance experience with diversity of ideas. To stay viable, all organisms need to evolve and adapt; so does our Board in order to keep our fellowship viable. If you would like to learn about positions on the Board, please reach out to any Board member.

In closing, I want to thank Alan Pallay for the past years that he has served on the Board. He was the sound of reason during Covid-19 and played a key role in helping the Board make decisions around opening and mask wearing, as well as offering insightful points of view on many topics. Thank you, Allan. Also, I would like to welcome Monica Buckley as the latest member of the Board. I look forward to working with her, as well as the other members of the Board over the upcoming year.