Flourishing Together
May was the busiest of months with Spring Fair, budget review and Annual Meeting plus the many activities of our various committees, teams, task forces and ad-hoc groups. We have much to celebrate with a successful stewardship campaign, creative Spring Fair, new members and friends, and tremendous engagement from all.
June looks to be even busier and more celebratory with the installation of Reverend Telos as our beloved settled minister on Saturday, June 13th. Please be in touch with Kathy Squires or Becky Cameron if you can help with the reception or volunteer in other ways. Her installation service is in the middle of a month full of special events. Please pay attention to the E-News and check out our online calendar. You don’t want to miss anything.
I was gratified that this year we have held three congregational meetings, with attendance far exceeding our quorum for each meeting. We have also held congregational conversations about covenant and informational meetings about budget. Clearly we are an active congregation that stays informed and contributes thoughtfully. Thus, we flourish together.
I have opportunities to attend periodic meetings with leaders of other congregations. Often these meetings are a time when leaders share their struggles and worries. In contrast, I usually leave these meetings feeling exceedingly proud of our congregation and all that we do together – through worship, small group gatherings, singing with joy, celebrating birthdays with cards, calls and cakes, crafting, cooking, sharing meals, visiting, researching our history, lifting up our art and creativity, caring for and sharing our building, teaching and cherishing our children, sharing our plate with community organizations, hosting benefit events that inspire and raise needed funds, and building connections beyond our congregation. We thrive on living our faith and values in community.
At our May Board meeting we each offered thoughts on something we are curious about with regards to All Souls Church. We want to learn more about our church history including the presence of the Ballou family in this area, the early relationship with Transcendentalists, the joining of the Unitarians and Universalists, and the connection between our own history and that of the state of Vermont. Our historians and archivists are delving into our history. These may be themes for future services, discussion groups or a local history walk. We are curious about our record keeping, archival storage and records of key documents. We wonder about next steps in landscape design. We appreciate our growing membership and the opportunities, relationships, and engagement that this might foster.
This leads us to initial planning for a Board Retreat. Topics that are on our minds include history, landscape design, position descriptions, policy updates, data management, capital needs and the potential for a future capital campaign. Safety and security were previously identified issues as well as care of our building. I doubt we will be able to cover all these topics at one retreat but they are all on the table and we will prioritize our activities for the coming year. We are excited that Jerry Boutcher will join current Board members for these discussions and planning. There is much to do!
May we flourish together in faith, Leslie