Annual Meeting 2023
The Annual Meeting of First Parish will be held immediately following worship services on Sunday May 21, 2023. The meeting will be hybrid from the sanctuary and on Zoom. Voting will be tallied using Mentimeter, so it is helpful for all individual voting members to have a separate internet-connected device.
Business this year includes considering the 8th UU Principle, a covenant to engage in antiracist work which has not been adopted by the UUA at large, but which has informed the work of the Article 2 Commission which is proposing replacement of the Principles across the denomination. We have the opportunity to push the UUA toward these critical changes over the next year and a half by considering the 8th principle for ourselves. We will also be approving a budget for next year and electing officers for the next terms. In order to conduct business, we do need a quorum of 25% of all active members. So, please make every effort to come!
Agenda for May 21, 2023
Call to Order, Welcome, and Blessing
Moderator’s Introduction
Approval of minutes of the prior meetings
Draft Minutes of May 15, 2022 (Annual Meeting 2022)
Draft Minutes of December 18, 2022 (Special Meeting for Roof Expenditure)
Amendment to the By-Laws
The Board moves the adoption of the attached by-laws amendment:
Proposal to hold only the May Annual Meeting.
Please note that by-laws amendments cannot be voted on by proxy, do not spend time considering them on your proxy instructions.
The full by-laws can be accessed here.
Election of Officers
The Nominating Committee moves the election of the following slate of officers:
- Board member for 3 years: Aisha Cruse (second term)
- Board member for 3 years: Jim Tozza (first term)
- Parish Treasurer for 1 year: Erik Fearing (fourth year)
- Parish Clerk for 1 year: Beth Zerega (third year)
- Parish Moderator for 1 year: Alex Pratt (fourth year)
- Nominating Committee for 2 years: Caitlin Peale-Sloan (second term)
Adoption of the 8th Principle
The Board moves that we join the many member congregations of the UUA individually committing to the proposed 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism:
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.
Approval of 2023-2024 Parish Budget
The Board moves adoption of the distributed budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Please direct questions about the budget to Parish Treasurer Erik Fearing in advance of the meeting if possible.
New Business
Please contact Parish Moderator Alex Pratt with any new business you wish to bring before the congregation, so that we can be prepared to handle the challenges related to a hybrid meeting.