The Chalice Board of Trustees are busy completing various projects and preparing for the annual congregational meeting scheduled for Sunday, June 9. This month, I would like to take the opportunity to highlight some of the changes that our Bylaws Task Force has suggested. With the support of the Board, they are requesting the following adjustments to our by-laws. These changes represent our commitment to transparency and shared governance.

1. To become a member of Chalice, a person must be in good standing with the congregation. This is a straightforward measure of accountability and to guarantee that we are all adhering to our shared covenant.
2. New members must be “accepted” by the Board of Trustees. To act as the voice of the congregation, this simple measure would help strengthen our covenant with those of us who have chosen to take an additional step into official membership.
3. Reduce the Chalice Board by 2 Trustee positions.

I know that the third recommendation may come as a surprise to some of you, but I want to speak to the benefits of a reduced size board from my own experience. Going into my 4th straight year of service on the Board, the Board essentially functions through smaller task forces. With the current structure of 5 Trustee positions (Plus 4 Executive positions and Rev. Sharon), the group is too large to streamline decision-making processes; with a smaller group, we would be able to get more done. The UUA standard guidelines for a congregation of our size is for 4 to 7 people, so we would be more closely adhering to the recommendations for our size.

A big thanks to Lara Brown, Victoria Cagle, Dennis Brown, Emily Troxell, Marianna Bacilla, Tom Carlstrom for all their hard work on the Bylaws Task Force.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at katevereb@gmail.com

In love and service,
Kate