Greetings Dear Colleagues in UU Ministry from
Rev. Wendy Bartel, At-Large Governance Trustee

We know so many of us have SO much on our plates, so I’ll be brief. 

• Please open the email from the UUMA and read the Annual Meeting packet before June 4. 

• Please register to attend the UUMA Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 4 and Thursday, June 6 at 4pm ET/ 3pm CT/ 2pm MT/ 1pm PT. If you can not attend in real-time, a video will be available later that night for your review so you can be informed in casting your vote before the deadline.

WHY THIS CHANGE?

• Democracy matters and so does your participation and it will be helpful if you are familiar with the Annual Meeting Rules beforehand.

• Your Nominating Committee is proposing a slate for the Board of Trustees. 

• Your Board and Executive Team have offered several updates and reports so that you can be informed members and because we value integrity, accountability, justice, faithfulness, leadership, and transparency.

• Your Board is proposing some changes to Bylaw Article X that we would love your support on as we continue to contemplate the recommendations from the Widening the Circle of Concern report from the Commission on Institutional Change.  

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGES:

CURRENT LANGUAGE:

Article X Standing Committees

Standing Committees of the UUMA include Guidelines; and Ethics and Collegiality. The Board of Trustees shall appoint Standing Committees. The Board of Trustees may set up or abolish such temporary committees as may be necessary from time to time except for those specified in these bylaws.

WHY NOW:

We want to put into our UUMA structure an explicit committee that will support the Board’s work and the UUMA’s mission:

The UUMA exists to call forth courageous and transformative ministries, empowered by love, committed to collective liberation. Because we need one another.

And we all did some excellent work together last year in naming a new purpose for the UUMA. We want to demonstrate and foster practices that will fulfill our UUMA purpose to develop, support, and strengthen the professional ministry of Unitarian Universalism, which includes recognizing the complexity of power, as we commit to ethical ministry, our relationality with and responsibility to one another, and our shared work dismantling systems and structures of racism and oppression. 

Several years ago, the Committee on Anti-racism, Anti-oppression, and Multiculturalism (CARAOM) was moved from the Bylaws to the Executive Team. Important work has happened there and it was the right thing to do at the time. And the world has changed and our UUMA professional organization has changed since that wise move. The Committee on Widening the Circle will be given a clear charge connected with our mission and purpose towards a liberatory Unitarian Universalism. 

See all the details in the Annual Report!

If you have questions about these recommended changes, please plan to attend one of tje dialogue sessions or contact Wendy Bartel at atlargegovernance@uuma.org before the Annual Meeting.

I believe in you and I believe in the UUMA,

Rev. Wendy Bartel, (name.not.pronouns.please)
At-large Governance Trustee, UUMA

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: 

AGENDA PROPOSALS:
If you wish to propose something to the Board to consider placing on the agenda, including an amendment to any motion already on the agenda, please email Board Secretary Connie Simon before 5pm ET/4pm CT/ 3pm MT/ 2pm PT on Monday, May 13. 

OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE BEFORE THE MEETING:
The board is offering sessions for dialogue before the meeting. If you wish to submit anything to the agenda (by May 13), including an amendment to the above bylaw motion, you are encouraged to attend the May 9 session. Click on the date to register and receive a link:

• Thursday, May 9, 2024 
  (5:30-6:30pm ET / 4:30-5:30pm CT / 3:30-4:30pm MT / 2:30-3:30pm PT) 
• Monday, May 20, 2024
  (8-9pm ET / 7-8pm CT / 6-7pm MT / 5-6pm PT).