Like other churches, the Unitarian Church tends to attract a group of people who are fairly homogeneous in their beliefs and ideals. It might be tempting to believe that all of our members and friends share the same thoughts and ideas.

Making this assumption can be a mistake.  Three examples:

1) Many years ago I was attending one of our dinners and found myself trying to explain our Church to a visitor. I summed it up by saying “all the members are either atheists or agnostics.” A longer-term member than I, now deceased, was sitting across from me. She looked at me sharply and said, “I beg your pardon!” It was a valuable lesson in diversity for me that I have never forgotten.

2) At General Assembly this year, I sat down for lunch with a group of attendees I didn’t know. When I introduced myself and indicated that I was from Los Alamos, one of the women said something to the effect of “well that must be very interesting being a UU in that town.” Another indicated to me that he had attended several protests here. When I tried to explain to them that many of us who worked in the field of nuclear weapons felt we were doing our part to maintain peace, they tuned me out, got up, and walked away. I suspect that there are many within our community who would also disagree with me on this subject.

3) Finally, at a recent activity, I overheard a member make the statement that our Church had only one Republican. Maybe not; I can think of a few more (including myself) who, while possibly not card-carrying Republicans, tend to lean somewhat more to the right than the majority of our members.

As I said, we are not totally homogenous. Thinking we are, and more importantly, deciding that someone who does not believe as we do is beyond the pale, can lead to some of our members or friends not participating in all aspects of our community or worse, leaving it completely. For a couple of months a few years back, I tried other churches in Los Alamos. I finally decided that I could only be a part of this Church, and that our community was too important for me to leave.

I truly believe that all our members and friends try hard, in their own way, to follow our Seven Principles. But what I come up with inside my own personal belief system probably is different from what you do. And that’s OK. In the long run, true diversity, in all aspects, will strengthen our community.

Board Doings

At our meeting on August 18, the Board approved the Charge to the Architect that many of you have been working on. It is a well thought out and well written document that shows where we want to go, philosophically and practically, with our new building. It is also the next important step for this project. I commend all that worked on the document.

In other business we approved the purchase of new computer and phone equipment to replace some that were recently zapped by lightning, and money

to buy some needed cooking equipment for the kitchen. The latter is funded out of part of the funds earned during the “Dinner and a Movie” nights. Thanks goes to all those who made this series possible.

Dean Carstens
2010-2011 Church President

The Unitarian Church of Los Alamos has seen many changes during its life. Beginning in 1953 as a fellowship with 53 members and friends, it became an official church in 1960. Over the years, led by nine (called) interim, or informal ministers, it has grown to a congregation of roughly 150. I estimate that something on the order of 1500-3000 people can be included on the list of members and friends over the years. Obviously, most are no longer here. Our services, culture, and operational methods have, and will in the future, continue to evolve.

But one thing has not changed. Our community continues to consist of people who are committed to the idea of maintaining their relationship with the Church and to keep its doors open as a center for liberal religion in Los Alamos.

This cannot happen without a core of volunteers who help us in many ways. The Church depends on these people—from Board members, to Council chairs, to committee members, to regular volunteers who step up to fill tasks—to keep things running smoothly. I would personally like to thank all of you for helping with these jobs.

Further, I ask each member of our Community to do three things:

1) If you’re not now volunteering, think about taking up an unfilled job or position this year. Talk to some of our leaders about how you can help.

2) Every chance you get, thank one of our volunteers for their continued help.

3) While you are at it, keep telling our staff what a great job they are doing.

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August is the month for returning. Like school children looking towards school after summer vacation, we begin to think once again of Church. On schedule, the elected Church Board has begun its monthly meetings. During our first meeting we approved and signed a Religious Exploration Program’s Children and Youth Safety Policy and Procedures document to help ensure the continuing safety of our children and youth while at Church or at Church-sanctioned events. The people writing and reviewing this document did a very good job and it was important that we got it done before the fall session began. One of our commitments this year is to create a more completely defined set of written policies. Watch the monthly Board reports in the online documents for progress on this.

Dean Carstens
2010-2011 Church President

“Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I begin to write my last column for the Voice I feel a sense of relief and sadness. At the beginning of the church year writing for the Voice was one of my most difficult tasks. I often didn’t know what to say and I would forget that the submission deadline comes as early in the month as it does and end up feeling pressured to get something written by the deadline. But at some point I started to write from my heart and people started to comment to me that they actually READ what I was writing. So now that I am beginning to feel like I have the “hang of it” my obligation is almost over. To those of you who read the Voice, I say thank you. Time is required for the publication of our newsletter and reading it is a way of connecting with one another and what is happening in our congregation.

A few months ago the Committee On Ministry (COM) held a congregational round table meeting to discuss issues pertinent to “volunteerism” in our congregation. The COM has made four suggestions to the Board of possible remedies for volunteer burnout and options to facilitate recruitment of committee members. The Board discussed the recommendations and the consensus is that the recommendations may also be addressed through the Council. We will continue to work together to look at ways to address these issues.

For those of you who attended the Annual Congregational Meeting on May 16, you saw the beautiful stole woven by Ann Shafer to be given by the congregation to Sonya Sukalski in celebration of her ordainment as a UU Minister earlier this year. The stole has been mailed to Sonya along with our continued best wishes.

At the congregational meeting concern was expressed over the fact that there are no line item amounts contributing to our reserve funds. These funds have received contributions through fundraisers during the past few years, but this has not been a yearly occurrence. I agree that it is unwise to not contribute regularly to these funds. The past two years have been difficult financially. Last year the Board was faced with the unpleasant task of reducing many line items to zero. This year we gave no raises to our staff, but decided to refund some of the programs that we drastically cut in last year’s budget. Neither situation is ideal. We do need to look at ways to contribute to our reserve/contingency funds, and as our incoming Vice-President suggested, members are encouraged to take an active part in the budgeting process. The Board wants to plan strategically and practice looking forward. However there are many tasks charged to the Board and input from a finance committee that is actively meeting throughout the year would be helpful. If you have an interest in this process, please speak to me, Dean Carstens, or Larry Schultz. We have an excellent incoming Board taking office on July 1 with Dean Carstens as our president and the Board vice-president, Larry Schultz, will be our new Council chair.

The outgoing and incoming Boards met together at the May Board meeting and we plan to meet together again in June. There is still plenty of work ahead as we continue to look toward and plan for our future.

I wrote in my annual report that I believe we should not put the work of the church on the back burner for the summer. I realize however, that we all need to take a break at times and summer seems to be the traditional season for that to happen.

I hope you all have a chance for some rest and relaxation and that you come back recharged in August with ideas on where you are ready to serve our congregation.

If you have not picked up your copy of the new Membership Directory or 2010 Annual Report, please find them in the church office.

It was a pleasure and an honor to serve as your President. Keeping track of the goings and comings and the pulse of the congregation was made easier with so many dedicated and talented volunteers. Thank you for your contributions in helping to make our church community so vital and interesting. Have a safe and wonderful summer!

Rebecca Howard
2009-2010 Church President

“Everyone can be great because anyone can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t even have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve… You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love…” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A heart full of grace… I love that sentiment. I understand that grace is a word that some UU’s are uncomfortable with, but I cannot think of a better word to describe the feeling that all is right with the decisions I make and the actions I take.

This column is generally one of looking forward, but I want to give you a recap so that I can give you an insight to some of the changes you might see as the board continues to discuss how we function as your leadership. Early in the year we repeatedly discussed whether the makeup of the board could be better. The Religious Education Committee and Building and Grounds Committee are two large parts of the overall health of our congregation.  Being the chair of either of these two committees requires a significant investment of time and attention. The RE chair is also a Council member (translation here, another monthly meeting). Would the church be better served by replacing these two positions with trustees at large whose focus would be solely board business, leaving the RE and B&G chairs more energy to focus on their respective tasks?

Another topic of discussion has been how will we continue to meet our fiduciary responsibility? The manual states a finance committee, consisting of the steward, assistant steward, the treasurer, and may include additional members, exists to prepare the budget, conduct the stewardship campaign and canvass, and monitor pledges. The board is aware that we have not had an official assistant steward for some years, and recently the Finance Committee has consisted only of a few members. Should the assistant steward be an elected position? The board understands that a finance committee functioning most optimally should be populated with people who are detail-oriented, have an interest in finance, and also who have a larger view of the mission of the church and why we do what we do and what is the best way to be stewards of our resources. Would having an assistant steward always in place help us with continuity?

A third repeating theme for the board is the acknowledgement that for several years, the Hospitality Committee has not functioned as described in the church manual and it has been hard to recruit and maintain a chair for this committee. Is hospitality an outdated word? What do we want and need from the Hospitality Committee? Should the description of the Hospitality Committee be changed in the constitution?

It was hoped and expected that some guidance toward the answers to these questions would come from the Searching for the Future workshop and I believe we are still working toward that goal. The answers need to be considered carefully and the decisions should not be made lightly, but the questions should be considered. While it is tempting to put church business on hold for the summer, I don’t believe we should do that. This year has taught me many things and one of them is that being prepared and looking ahead helps us to be proactive rather than reactive to the things that come our way. Certainly sometimes we must react to the things we don’t expect, but being ready helps us react in the best way possible.

The above questions relate to the stewardship of our volunteer resources and to a request I am making. I realize that time is a resource for which there is competition. Just as we do not have unlimited funds, volunteer hours are also finite. Our volunteers are one of our most valuable assets. Please talk to any board member, committee chair, Reverend John, our DRE, or anyone you feel comfortable speaking with and offer your service to the church. From the “Small Ways to Serve” to being a church leader, I find that being an active part of this church community fulfills me in ways I could never have imagined. You all have given me the opportunity to stretch my wings and be a leader. It is a role I am not totally comfortable with, but one I see that I can assume and I thank you for allowing me the opportunity.

Finally, I want to say that we have an excellent, dedicated board of trustees who work hard and care deeply about the well-being of our church.  Thank you for your support of the board and the congregation as we work to fulfill our vision and mission.

With love in my soul, I wish you a heart full of grace,

Rebecca Howard
2009-2010 Church President