Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.
~Aldous Huxley
Archives
Members of the church Archives Team work to preserve and organize the historical data of the church. This includes collecting, preserving, and organizing church documents, photographs, and other items of historical interest, spanning two centuries worth of congregational life and worship. This team has also developed and maintained a topical index to make research materials easier to access, including the much-coveted Rev. David Eaton papers, other ministers’ files, and church documents related to the lives of our congregants, including marriages, deaths, and child dedications. We respond to a variety of internal and external queries, have helped disprove folk stories related to the church, and helped provide various entities with documentation.
Board of Trustees
The congregation of All Souls Church Unitarian is, like all UU congregations, self-governing. We elect representatives to our Board of Trustees and officers to perform specific duties, vote to approve our budget and call our ministers, decide the content of our bylaws and other governing documents, etc.
Eleven trustees serve represent the congregation, including a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and seven trustees. Four officers are elected each year to fill functions necessary to smooth operation of the church: a moderator, assistant treasurer, assistant secretary, and membership secretary.
Church Council
The Council is comprised of the church’s lay leadership from all ministries and activities and includes board trustees, officers, and staff. Using the church’s mission, vision, and goals set by the Board and congregation, we implement those aspects into the work and ministry of the church. We share information, support and coordinate programs and events, help develop new and existing leadership, and support the congregation to fully live into our core principles.
Finance Committee
As a committee for the Board of Trustees, this committee works to evaluate, monitor, adjust, and implement the financial practices of the church. This is done through
careful planning and strategic goal setting, providing recommendations to the board concerning the professional investment accounts and endowment funds, and
accountability of audits of the church’s finances. This committee also provides guidance on the financial policies of the church and financing for capital improvements.
Committee on Right Relations
This committee exists to help process conflicts between congregants and conflicts between congregants and the church’s staff, its executive team, and its board of trustees. The CRR has designed a conflict resolution process for disagreements between congregants, or congregants and staff, or committees/groups.
Interested in learning more? Complete this form.
Denominational Connections
We seek to tie All Souls to that larger Unitarian Universalist world. We do this by informing the congregation about UU news and events, recruiting delegates to the UUA’s annual General Assembly, and implementing specific recommendations and programs that come from the denomination.
Interested in learning more? Complete this form.
Leadership Development and Nominating
The Leadership Development and Nominating Committee (LDNC)is composed of All Souls members who are nominated and elected by the congregation each year at the annual meeting. The committee is charged with two core goals:
Identify and develop a diverse group of leaders in the congregation to strengthen shared ministry and lay leadership at All Souls.
Nominate candidates for the All Souls trustee and officer positions who reflect the values of our community.
Stewardship and Fundraising
We are hoping for committee members who will be willing to reach out to others within our community, renew old friendships and make new ones. We hope to have committee members who will be willing/or willing to learn to talk openly about money with their church friends.
And we are hoping for committee members who have a wide variety of interests/background and a commitment to the health and well-being of All Souls. No prior experience in fundraising or finances required. Will you help us make a difference?
Ministerial Search
Under our bylaws, the Congregation itself calls ministers, and the vote to call the next settled ministry at All Souls will happen in the spring of 2023. We have many steps to take before we get to that call.
To find our next settled ministry, the Board decided to follow the process recommended by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). Under this process, the Board creates a Ministerial Search Committee, which includes seven voting members of the church, and is independent of and accountable to the Board. The Committee was approved by congregational vote.
This team is not currently active.
