News from the Board

As our church year comes to an end, your board of trustees brings you news of what we have been doing and our plans for how we hope to serve in the future. We look forward to coming together on Sunday June 7 th, after our worship service, for our first ever virtual Annual Congregational meeting. It is also a time to look at some of the things we have accomplished since last summer. At last year’s retreat, we tasked ourselves with goals to create intentional conversation with the congregation, review our governance policies and identify ways the trustees could be more involved with the stewardship of our church.

We posed two “Open Ended Questions”: What makes MLUC unique that both draws people in and transforms lives? And how does MLUC foster growth and spiritual fulfillment? Devoting time at each meeting and socializing these questions to the congregation in various ways has hopefully kindled an ongoing conversation about what nurtures our spirits and how to reach new members. While the coronavirus interrupted our plans to speak further with you, we will find ways to continue these conversations in the coming year.

Working with input from trustees past and present, the Board identified governance policies for review and revision. Working with the Executive Team, we took a fresh look at the Safe Congregation Policy, executive team priorities, the job descriptions policy, and the personnel and reporting policies. The updated Safe Congregation Policy has been posted on the website. The staff has already begun the newly mandated sexual harassment prevention and awareness training. We will continue our policy work by addressing the need for updates, gathering information from other resources and drafting changes.

The trustees devoted time at each meeting to focus on the financial wellness of the church, and how to best support the annual stewardship campaign. Every month we examined an aspect of the financial reporting to better understand what MLUC needs to thrive and enrich its congregants. Due to the pandemic, plans for this year’s campaign had to be adapted; the fact that we already received over 70% of our pledges by mid-May, demonstrates that we are a community that cares about protecting and sustaining our church against all odds.

As we look to the future, details are being finalized for our annual Board retreat, this summer or early fall, to possibly include an outside governance policy consultant as mediator and advisor. When and how we will meet in this new environment of sheltering and distancing has yet to be determined – but we will keep you posted!

As we live with the many changes COVID-19 has brought, the Board is looking ahead to a new church year with opportunity for learning and growth. Never has it been clearer – MLUC is a loving, supportive and resilient community in service to a world longing for transformation.