Letter from the Board 11/1/2024
Dear Friends at 2U,
What a wonderful evening we had when we went Over the Rainbow at 2U’s Fall Fest on October 26! Thank you to all who worked on, supported, contributed to, or participated in this celebration of 2U’s work and community. It was a success by so many measures (and you can see more details in the report from Treasurer Tom Denio).
In October, the 2U board heard from Rev. Scott Aaseng, the Executive Director of the Unitarian Universalist Advocacy Network of Illinois (UUANI) about an opportunity for UU congregations to form a covenant to carry our social justice work forward together and to build additional support within and among congregations for doing that work. The opportunity for 2U to join this draft covenant will be discussed among committees over the next month; if you are interested in joining that discussion, please reach out.
The board also voted to continue 2U’s participation in the restated UUA retirement plan for employees for 2025, approved the BIG/SCOPE committee’s recommendation for needed tuckpointing work on the Sanctuary’s east wall and an extension to the mortgage for our building loan. You can read more detail about the latter two points in the Treasurer’s report as well.
We discussed the Values Based Conversation around COVID that took place at the beginning of the month at some length; you can find a statement from the Board responding to that conversation further down in this newsletter.
Our new building maintenance technician, Kevin Lowry, has found that the position was not a fit in his first weeks and has left the church staff. Our administrative team has been working hard to identify contractors who can work with 2U to meet our cleaning and building services needs and keep our building running smoothly.
We’ve also had transitions on the board. Clare Gervasi has stepped down from their position as Secretary. At Large board member Carla Tebbe has agreed to accept the remainder of the term as Secretary; Kristi Anderson has graciously stepped up to fill the remainder of Carla’s At Large position. A huge and heartfelt thank you to Clare for your service on the board and to Carla and Kristi for stepping into new responsibilities!
As we move into the shorter days of November and towards the important election coming up next week, I’m grateful to be a part of this community. If you have not already, please make your plans to vote in this upcoming election and please reach out to your church community for help making those plans if you need to. And don’t forget to turn your clocks back as daylight savings time begins this Sunday!
