At its regular monthly meeting on September 17, the BVUUF Board of Officers and Trustees continued its discussion of Widening the Circle of Concern, a report by the UUA Commission on Institutional Change.  Board members focused on the section of the report about the theology underpinning UU social justice work.  The Board then appointed former Treasurer Joan Mulcahy Chair of the Finance Committee and agreed to pay retroactive retirement contributions for Director of Music Tad Koriath.

Joan’s appointment as Finance Committee Chair is a departure from tradition.  In the past, the BVUUF Treasurer has also chaired the Finance Committee.  However, last year, the committee raised the idea of having the Treasurer serve as a committee member and appointing someone else to serve as chair.  The Board expressed gratitude for Joan’s 3-year service as Treasurer and unanimously appointed her as this year’s Finance Committee Chair.

The Board then approved a proposal to pay back retirement contributions for the benefit of Tad Koriath, BVUUF’s director of music, to be funded from operating reserves.  BVUUF had incorrectly determined that because Tad was a part-time employee, no retirement benefits were due.  However, after much research, the Personnel Committee recently recognized this error, and the Board unanimously agreed to make retroactive payments back to the date of Tad’s eligibility.

Board members then discussed at length potential Board goals for the 2020-2021 year.  Trustee Jim Highsmith suggested a new format and approach to goals and offered five draft possibilities.  Board members gave initial reactions and will review the draft goals, comment, and make suggestions in preparation for a future vote on the goals.

A second major topic of discussion was a draft policy concerning use of the Fellowship building when the pandemic situation allows. The policy will reflect BVUUF’s values about the kinds of justice-making and other activities that we would like to host in the building.  Work on this policy will continue.

For more details about any of these items, please contact secretary@bvuuf.org.  The next regular Board meeting will be held on October 15, 2020, from 6:30-9:00 PM, via Zoom.