Before the June 14th Board meeting began, we joined together with new Board members Anne Reidy and Robert Nichols for a potluck dinner to welcome them and to celebrate our last meeting of the church year. We were also fortunate to have several visitors at our meeting. We welcomed Larry Sherwood, whom we approved as the new co-chair (along with Diana Forrest) of the Capital Campaign Committee, and Therese Cooper and Larry Laverdure from the Leadership Development Committee. Together we discussed the process of filling positions on the new Capital Campaign Committee as well as positions left vacant on the three elected leadership committees. We are confident that in this time of exciting changes at BVUUF people will want to step into these important service roles.

We also met with our Office Manager Carol Pranschke, who came to discuss changes in the office staff. Carol offered an impressive vision for transforming her position into one focused more on external and internal communications strategies, which would allow all of us at the Fellowship to benefit from her relationship-building skills. The Board approved the job descriptions for the Office Manager, Office Assistant and Youth Coordinator positions.

We concluded our June meeting by reviewing what we accomplished over the past 12 months. From bringing in Rev. Ruth as our new Assistant Minister, to approving and charging the Building Committee, to designing a more open process for creating the annual budget, we felt that the year was successful. Serving as the Board Vice President and then President has been a very fulfilling experience, which I will always treasure as an important part of my life’s journey. I will miss working together with a group of committed individuals all striving for the best interests of our congregation. But I look forward to being a Worship Associate and serving on the Leadership Development Committee. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve our BVUUF community.

~~ Christiane Olivo