2019 ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE
Dear Church Members,
The 150th Annual Congregational Meeting of First Unitarian Church of Omaha will take place at the church on Sunday, May 19 at 10:30am. (The meeting will take the place of the service that Sunday.)
Eligible voting members* of the church will adopt an operating budget for the 2019-2020 church year; elect a President-elect, members of the Board of Trustees, a Trustee of the Trust Fund, Right Relations Committee members, and Nominating Committee members; hear select reports from church leaders; and vote on important items on the agenda including a vote on the proposed Right Relations Covenant. We will vote on the proposed Slate from the Nominating Committee. Selections for the Search Committee will be determined at the meeting. Also, we will reveal our Unitarian of the Year!
Your Board of Trustees will host coffee hour following the 10:30 a.m. meeting and provide snacks and drinks. Childcare will be provided. We encourage all members to attend this important church event.
If you are not able to attend this meeting in person and would like to view it online, please contact the church office (admin@firstuuomaha.org) by Tuesday, May 7th to let us know. We will attempt to stream the annual meeting online for those who cannot attend in person. Please note: our streaming process still faces some technical challenges, and we cannot guarantee that it will work perfectly. We will not stream the meeting unless we have church members who have notified the church office that they need the meeting streamed online.
*Individuals are eligible to vote who have been members of the church for at least three months and have made a financial contribution in their name to the church between April 19, 2018 and April 19, 2019.
Sincerely,
Board of Trustees
First Unitarian Church of Omaha
Note: This letter was sent to all church members on April 12th. Enclosed with the letter was the Slate of Nominees, the Ministerial Search Committee ballot information, and the Right Relations Covenant. See those items below.
PROPOSED SLATE FOR THE 2019 ANNUAL MEETING
Board of Trustees:
Sarah Copeland (2 years)
Harold Cruz (3 years)
Peg Pidgeon (2 years)
Bill Tull (3 years)
President Elect:
Sharon Piehler
Right Relations:
Della Bynum (1 year)
Carol Cronin (2 years)
Mark Loscutoff (1 year)
Sarah Voss (2 years)
Nominating Committee:
Nellie Chenoweth (3 years)
Mike McAtee (3 years)
Carolyn McNamara (2 years)
Capital Trust:
Christopher Schmidt
Nominating Committee:
Alan Vovolka - convener, Kate Godfrey, Kathi Oliver, Carol Ramsey, Marie Sedlacek, and Ben Wallace
Search Committee Ballot Information
In January, the Board participated in a Preparing for Ministerial Search Process Workshop with Rev. Oscar Sinclair, from the Lincoln Unitarian Church. In March, Board members called all church members and asked them to share names of respected church members they would like to see appointed to the Ministerial Search Team. Below, listed alphabetically, is the final list of names as they will appear on the ballot at the Annual Meeting. The names listed represent those that had the highest number of nominations, as per the recommended process
Process: The voting will happen at the congregational meeting on Sunday, May 19. Neither self- nominations nor nominations from the floor will be considered at that meeting. At the end of the Annual Meeting the Board will meet in executive session and count the ballots. The top four will be automatically selected. The Board will then appoint three others from the remaining names on the ballot. The appointments are important. The Search Committee should not be composed of just the seven beloved elders of the congregation. The broader the demographic the better, especially in regards to age, gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation.
Later this month, the people listed below will have their photos and information up in the art gallery space in the Common Room for you to review.
The List of Nominees
Eddith Buis
Diana Byrd
Kim Dunovan
Jessica Eman
Kate Godfrey
Mark Loscutoff
Lita Magisana
Michael McAtee
Sarah Monaghan
Linda Parker
Mary Kay Peters
David Richardson
Jack Round
Klyde Warren
The Board of Trustees wants to thank church members who took the time to discuss nominees for the Search Committee on the phone and in person. Please see the article about the ministerial search process in the February 2019 issue of The Flame for more information about the process. Link to the February Flame is here: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/6ac81d_e8006d9cb6e54d10bc76ca10da5e4476.pdf (pages 8-11).
Proposed Covenant of Right Relations (revised)
We, the congregation of First Unitarian Church of Omaha, covenant together:
To create a religious community where we can freely explore our values and foster diversity as a source of communal strength.
To build healthy relationships, seeking to understand each other and respect our differences.
To listen deeply and endeavor to communicate directly, honestly, and compassionately, particularly when we are in conflict.
To do our best to make amends when we have hurt each other, even unintentionally, to learn from our mistakes, to forgive, and to reconnect in a spirit of understanding and commitment.