The planning team feels very honored and humbled by the openness and participatory spirit the congregation has brought to the year of discernment. The unanimous adoption of the mission and vision statements (printed below) at the December 11th congregational meeting is a huge milestone in this process, and opens the door to the next steps of the process: proposing goals to support the mission and vision and the preparation of our final report to the Board of Trustees.

Mission: UUC is a community that covenants to awaken spirit, nurture hope and inspire action.

Vision:

We will create a more connected multigenerational community where all individuals welcome, value, and support one another and contribute to the common good.

We will risk leaving the safety of known ways in order to open ourselves to experiences of awe and mystery and deepen our sense of gratitude and awareness that we are connected to creation.

We will be responsible stewards of the gifts we hold in trust, endeavoring to leave a generous and sustainable legacy for those who come after us.

We will vocally and actively oppose injustice and stand in prophetic judgment of all that would diminish the equality and dignity of human beings or harm the web of life.

We seek partnership with those who share our goals and creative dialogue with those who challenge us in our search for larger truths.

As you may recall, we started the year by discerning three driving questions we hoped a clarified mission and vision would help us address. These include asking how we would change the lives of people who join with us, how we saw our role in the community and the world, and how to make room for more people. As we craft goals to make manifest our vision, we must ensure these questions are addressed.

The last of these is particularly challenging because it involves money. It's the question of the building. We've heard pretty clearly during our various discernment events that creating new congregations (as has been done in the past) isn't a desirable way to grow. At this point, we don't know if renovation, addition or relocation will turn out to be the best option from a stewards-of-the-future point of view, and the planning team will likely recommend further investigation into several options (including several opportunities for congregational input and feedback). We've just received a thorough report on our building's capacity and condition. We are reviewing it and will share a summary with you all soon. Any options we recommend related to building and space needs will be offered with the overall goal of more effectively serving our mission and vision.

As always, please let us hear your thoughts. You can contact any member of the planning team directly, reach us on the web at uuchurch.org/year-of-discernment, or leave a message with the church office.

On to the summit!