The Board

The Board of Trustees is the elected governing body of the church. As such, it represents the members. The Board works collaboratively with the Minister to establish church policies, create and sustain programs, approve the church calendar, and authorize or approve significant financial transactions. Working with the Ministry Committee and the Finance Committee, the Board evaluates the work of the Minister and determines annual compensation increases. The Board calls congregational meetings and prepares the agendas. It reviews and approves, perhaps with changes, annual budget proposals prepared by the Finance Committee, and presents the same to the members for adoption at the Annual Congregational Meeting. It monitors budget performance throughout the year. The Board approves all committee chairpersons, coordinates but does not direct committee work, and may create new committees.

The By-Laws specify that the Board meet as often as necessary but no fewer than ten times each year. In practice, it generally meets monthly except for July and December.

The By-Laws specify nine members, four officers and five at large. Members are elected to three-year Board terms and one-year terms as officers. An officer may serve three consecutive one-year terms. The Minister and the Church Administrator meet with the Board. Any member can ask to attend a Board meeting, to present proposals or information, or just to observe.

At large members generally spend two hours in each of nine of the monthly meetings, with perhaps two additional hours each month for preparation. The August meeting is a six-hour Saturday retreat, with all committee chairpersons invited. Hours required of the officers vary with the position.

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Finance

This committee’s mission is to do all that is necessary to assure the financial well being of the church, and to communicate important financial information to the Board and the congregation.  This includes:

1. Review the financial policies and practices of the congregation
2. Communicate to the congregation regarding the importance of financial support
3. Plan the Canvass Kickoff as to site, time, date, advertising, program, food, and childcare
4. Conduct the annual pledge drive
5. Prepare a budget for the Board
6. Review and evaluate budget performance throughout the year
7. Plan a capital fund drive when appropriate
8. Look into deferred gift planning (wills, annuities)

Preparation of materials is divided between the members, but jointly planned and reviewed.  The Administrator keeps the financial records.  The Treasurer presents financial reports to the Board.

The committee meets six times a year, with a total time commitment of 15 – 20 hours annually, 12 hours devoted to meetings and the balance working individually.

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Building & Grounds

This committee has general responsibility for church property maintenance, repair, additions and alterations. Church property includes buildings, grounds, equipment, furnishings and appliances. The committee also develops an annual budget for church property needs and submits it for Board and congregational approval. Additionally, the Buildings and Grounds Committee administers our building rental activities and develops policies pertaining to them.

The committee does not generally hold monthly meetings. Business is conducted via e-mail and, less formally, after Sunday services. Meetings are held on an as-needed basis. There are presently 6 members on the committee. As such, they rely on members and friends to help accomplish many of the maintenance and repair activities.

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Children's Religious Education

The mission of this committee is to provide the children and youth of SWUU with a viable, interesting and informative curriculum.  Activities include:

9. Recruit teachers for the year (spring, early summer)
10. Divide classes into manageable age groups
11. Prepare annual calendar with dates for teachers, group activities, and intergenerational services (summer)
12. Select and copy curricula (summer)
13. Hold team meetings with teachers in each age group (late summer)
14. Prepare a flyer describing the year’s program
15. Assist and troubleshoot throughout the year
16. Provide teachers with information, supplies, and support
17. Maintain attendance records for each class
18. Provide the Forum with information on curricula and activities (monthly)
19. Introduce the program to new parents
20. Plan a service to recognize the children and teachers, held each May
21. Encourage attendance for leaders at district educational events

There is no formal meeting schedule, although we usually hold 2 – 3 planning/debriefing meetings during the year.  The chairpersons choose the curricula and establish the teaching schedule for the year.  It is the teachers’ responsibility to follow the chosen curricula or provide an alternate lesson as needed.

The chairpersons annually spend approximately one hour or more recruiting teachers and group activity leaders, choosing curricula, copying materials, setting up the schedule with the teachers and planning for Teacher Appreciation Sunday in the spring.  Each teacher spends approximately two hours (including class time) for each teaching session.

For more information on our religious education program, click here.

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Membership

The mission of this group is to welcome visitors and to ensure that members and visitors find their niche.  We do so by educating the congregation about the meaning of membership, orienting newcomers, and by working to make SWUU a place to bring our friends and family members.  Typically, activities include:

1.   Maintain and staff the visitors’ table

1.      Obtain and create flyers

2.      Train and assist greeters

3.      Have all visitors fill out the “information” form, the original copy for the minister; the second copy to the Administrator; and the third copy to the Membership chair

2. Distribute informational packets to visitors and prospective members:

1.      Packet #1 Basic Information – Distributed by Greeter

2.      Packet #2 – Distributed by Administrator

3.      Packet #3 – Distributed by Minister

3. Invite newcomers to be a part of the “task list”.  Work with task list coordinator
4.  Ask newcomers if they would like to be in the next “phone book”
5. Maintain a list of volunteers, thus knowing who is not involved, and review as to who should be contacted
6. Make a weekly headcount at Sunday Services and note who is missing.  Make contact (phone, letter, etc.) with those who have not been heard from
7. Work with other committees to have newcomers invited to meetings, activities, etc.
8. When any social gathering is planned, ensure that all newcomers and/or those who have not been participating receive a special invitation (preferably verbal)

The monthly time commitment averages 4 – 6 hours, or 8 – 10 hours for the chairperson.

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Adult Programs

This committee arranges for adult programs led by both professional and lay leaders.  Programs typically include Unitarian Universalist history and philosophy, personal spiritual explorations, and other topics of interest to the congregation.  We attempt to offer classes each Tuesday night.  Specific schedules are noted in the newsletter.

The committee meets once a month for 1-1/2 hours, and time commitment is about four hours or more per month.

Groups are formed or events planned based on the wishes of the congregation, with voluntary leadership of each group or event.

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Social Justice

The Social Justice Committee mission is to plan a variety of civic, environmental and social justice oriented activities each year and to select organizations for which the congregation will make special financial collections.  We try to increase awareness of and encourage discussions of social justice issues in our congregation through our Life Sharing programs.  The congregation supports our committee by donations to our monthly focus collections for community organizations as well as participating in Life Sharing events and social justice projects.

We try to focus on a few community organizations that put into practice the principles we affirm.  Many of our projects have been with Transitional Housing (THI), a residence for formerly homeless women which provides counseling, job search assistance and life skills classes to enable these women to move on to their own permanent home.  Each summer our church remodels and refurnishes a room at THI into a warm and welcoming place for the formerly homeless woman who will live in it. We provide the furnishings, supplies, and labor necessary for this transformation. The Social Justice Committee couldn’t do this alone, and we are very pleased by the financial and labor commitment of the congregation to this effort.  With the assistance of the congregation, and the young people in Religious Education and the youth group, we provide Halloween and Valentine candy in decorated gift bags for all 65 residents of THI. We also provide welcome baskets of toiletries which are given to new residents of THI.   We use some of our focus collection donations to provide feminine hygiene products to THI since we have learned this is an unmet need of homeless women.

Our church supports the Berea Community Dinner.  This community effort was started by the Berea Ministers Association of which our minister is an active member. Several churches and organizations in Berea have committed to providing a monthly meal for anyone in need.  When it is our turn to provide the meal, our church is responsible for providing desserts, cash to pay for the food, and volunteers to serve the meals. 

The Life Sharing program is an important facet of the Social Justice Committee.  Life Sharing programs explore different perspectives of life with people whose experiences come from their diversities in culture, race, religion, health, and socio-economic background. Our committee sponsors several programs a year for the congregation.  Some of our past programs have been a special tour of the Maltz Jewish Heritage Museum, a visit to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for the “Race: Are We So Different”exhibit,  a  program entitled “A Conversation with a Solider”  where three members of our congregation  shared their experiences in war,  a program entitled “A Spiritual Journey through Depression,” presented by a member of our congregation, a  showing of the Michael Moore movie Sicko,  a gathering to watch a documentary entitled “Sick Around the World” about health care in other countries and a Zen Buddhist priest who spoke to us about his religion. 

Meetings are held the second Thursday of the month from 7 to 9 p.m.  New members are always welcome.

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Welcoming Congregation

This committee seeks to assure that SWUU Church is truly a “Welcoming Congregation” as described by the UUA.  This means that the members include lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons at all levels of congregational life – worship, program, and social events.  It also means that an understanding of the experiences and concerns of LGBT people is part of the fabric of our church life, and so is the appreciation for their contributions to our society and culture.  As a committee, we:

1. Plan and perform a Sunday Service once a year
2. Plan and teach an RE activity once a year
3. Participate in Pride, usually by having a booth at the festival and marching in the parade (includes reserving a booth, arranging for give-away items, scheduling committee members and others to staff the booth, etc.)
4. Plan and host movie nights, forums, or other events
5. Individual members work with various organizations, such as PFLAG and the Cleveland Lesbian/Gay Center

Meetings are usually held once a month during the church year.  An estimate of time required is:

6. Teaching RE: 2 – 4 hours in the month or weeks before our teaching day, plus the time actually spent teaching (about 45 minutes)
7. Service: 1 – 3 hours in the month or weeks before the service (assuming an outside speaker)
8. Pride: 2 – 4 hours in the month or weeks before the day of the festival.  On Pride day itself, generally a minimum of 3 – 4 hours, although several committee members spend significantly more time than that.

Read about SWUU’s support of same sex marriage (click here)

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Sunday Services

The mission of this committee is to provide, through a shared ministry, the most meaningful, spiritual, and creative Sunday Services that we can throughout the regular church year.  Activities include:

1. Review the Order of Service jacket annually, and have it reprinted as necessary
2. Schedule alternative programs when the minister is not leading a Sunday Service:

1.      Recruit and make arrangements with other ministers, guest speakers/musicians, and/or church members or committees

2.      Ensure that the Worship Associate has prepared introductions, music, readings, children’s focus, etc., as needed

3.      Organize and provide Order of Service information to the Administrator

4.      Provide information for the newsletter and to the publicity coordinator for special events

5.      Ensure that guest speakers are paid by the Bookkeeper

3. Maintain a pre-arranged program for last minute no-shows
4. Review services to ensure quality
5. Arrange Children’s Focus
6. Prepare information for the weekly Flame of Universal Kinship
7. Lead the post-service discussion

Meetings are held once a month except during the summer.  Total time commitment is estimated at 4 – 8 hours per month.

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Fundraising

The mission of this committee is to seek or create, organize, and implement creative new means for increasing general operating funds for SWUU, beyond those from annual pledges of members and friends, or those from the collection plate.  In doing so, we strive not only to build funds, but also to build community in and outside of SWUU.  To this end we need to organize or secure an organizer for regular or annual fundraising events such as:

1. Service and Social Auction
2. Garage Sale
3. Entertainment Book Sales

The committee can choose other ideas as they seem appropriate.

The time commitment required is estimated at 4 – 8 hours per month, probably in concentrated periods centering on the various events.

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