Hello All Souls –

I hope all of you have found moments of rest during an unsettled summer. I’m writing to briefly update you on what the Board of Trustees has been doing.

In June, we welcomed new members—Maya Hermann, Clair Null, and Sophia Fisher (as Secretary) for three-year terms, Gretta Goodwin for a vacant two-year term, and Chuck Wooldridge for a vacant one-year term. We also elected new Board leadership—Cait Clarke and Justis Tuia will serve as Vice Presidents, and I’ll serve another year as President.

We’ve also been preparing for an important transitional year for All Souls. This year, the Ministerial Search Committee will extensively work with the Congregation on the search for our next settled ministry, and the Board will support their work. We’ll also do a full review of our bylaws, which will prompt important questions, such as what it means to be a virtual member and how we develop lay leaders.

And this year brings the launch of our new Church Goals, which the Congregation adopted in April. The Board must now live into its role as the steward of the church’s mission by understanding how those Goals are being implemented and how much progress we’re making. To live into that mission of creating a diverse, spirit-growing, justice-seeking Beloved Community, we need to understand how race and ethnicity impact our lives and church. One important training next month will focus on just that: the Jubilee 3 Anti-Racism Training. I encourage you to sign up for it, and more information is available on this website.

Be well, and I’m looking forward to next year,

Neil Manzullo, nmanzullo@allsouls.ws
Board of Trustees, President