August's Pru Comm meeting

Last night, members of the Prudential Committee gathered to welcome our new ministerial Intern Kim Hampton, and to discuss the final report of the RE Futures Task Force.

Ken Mandile presented the work of the task force on behalf of Chair Cindy Cordova. He explained the rationales and the data that supported six specific recommendations:
1) that a search to replace Sierra-Marie Gerfao be launched this fall
2) that the replacement be a full-time staff person
3) that the model for religious education at First U be understood to be Lifespan Faith Development (and not merely "Sunday school" for children)
4) that the part-time youth coordinator be hired as budgeted (as soon as possible)
5) that the other paid RE Assistant's responsibilities be reconfigured to better serve the needs of the program, and
6) that the RE committee be re-energized and repopulated both to support and to contribute to the decision-making processes within an innovative RE program.

Discussion revolved mainly around the tension between the perceived opportunity to impose some fiscal austerity during a transition period in church staffing and the resources and skills desired to meet the programmatic demands of the strategic vision that our congregation has adopted. A strong case was made for hiring a new full-time Director of (we may need a new name, because the term "RE" carries a set of assumptions; perhaps Lifelong Learning? Lifespan Faith Development?). To advance this case effectively, the congregation needs over the coming months to be made aware that religious education at First U would continue to grow and evolve in the direction of multi-generational involvement and programming. Under this new model and leadership, extending along but perhaps also inventing beyond the lines of change already instigated during Sierra-Marie's tenure, every member would be supported in their unique spiritual quest. Creating a religious education program that addresses everyone's spiritual development needs (and not just those of our children) is strategically appropriate and vital.

PruComm agreed to act on Recommendation 1 immediately. We will launch the search process this fall, with the aim of hiring a person to start working sometime next summer. A search committee composed of from 5-7 interested members of the congregation will be appointed at the October 18 PruComm meeting. At that time, the Search Committee will also be given some general guidance regarding the desired attributes, the job expectations of, and the resources available to hire the successful candidate for the new position. Persons interested in serving on this important Search Committee should contact David Spanagel (davidspanagel@comcast.net) before October 13, and be prepared to learn as much as they can about how religious education in UU churches is currently shifting towards some exciting, even yet-unexplored possibilities.

Decisions on Recommendations 2 and 3 (whether to commit to hiring a full-time or part-time Director; and what exactly is our desired future direction/model for religious education) were deferred for the next month (or two, at most) while a clearer leadership consensus can be established around the best way to balance fiscal and strategic concerns.

PruComm did not explicitly respond to Recommendation 4. [Explanatory aside from the Moderator -- For the time being, PruComm has implicitly taken the pragmatic approach recommended by the Finance Committee: that the hiring date for the Youth Coordinator be delayed until January 2011 (the new budget year). Had we met the pledge campaign goal for 2010, and if we were caught up on operating budget expectations for fundraising for the current year, this delay would not be needed. Despite the generous responses of about 40 members of the congregation to the mid-year fundraising appeal, we remain more than $10,000 shy of our current year pledge goal, and we are still approximately another $10,000 behind where we wanted to be by this time with respect to fundraising income for 2010. All of that money is absolutely needed to meet our budgeted expenses (current staff salaries, materials, heat, etc.), keeping in mind that the 2010 budget was approved as a $30,000 deficit budget (anticipating future reduction in staffing costs to catch up with us in coming years when we are supporting only one Minister rather than two). We are prepared to carry $30,000 of this year's expenditures into next year; but we do not want to carry forward a deficit of more than $50,000! Therefore, we have been putting off paying the yet-unhired Youth Coordinator, who is the person that suffers the least by what amounts to a $2,713 "salary cut" for 2010. This holding action, however, is not what we would like to be doing in terms of realizing our vision, and it makes but a small dent in the overall operating deficit.]

Recommendations 5 and 6 can and should be implemented by church members and staff. They do not require PruComm permission in any case.