At the beginning of our fiscal year in July, the Board held a day long retreat to determine our goals for the year. One of those goals was to develop a 5-year financial plan. We felt this was critical to address the congregation’s needs and be responsible stewards of a very generous endowment bequest in 2021. As planning began to address this goal, we were referred to Rachel Maxwell at Stewardship for Us. In interviewing Rachel, we arrived at 3 goals for our work together:
- Create a balanced budget that meets the needs of a thriving congregation, end deficit budgets.
- Create a financial plan for the generous bequests residing in the endowment fund.
- Determine next steps the congregation should take to fulfill its mission in the current environment (Post Covid/ economic uncertainty/ divided nation/ political strife/ disturbing world conflict/ environmental issues).
We have provided information to Rachel over the past few months to help her get to know us, at least on paper. Once she is on site March 17th and 18th she will meet with Rod, the Board and our various committees and leaders. We have scheduled a congregational meeting on Sunday, March 19, after the service at 12:00pm. Rachel will make a presentation to the congregation, followed by a question and answer period. Within two weeks of that presentation, she will provide us with a written report with her observations of our strengths, any areas of concern or opportunities to improve, and recommendations for actions to meet our stated goals.
We encourage you to visit www.stewardshipforus.com for more information about the work that Rachel and her colleagues do for congregations, as well as some testimonials from congregations who have experienced the Next Steps Weekend.
Dawn Olsen, President
UUSLO Board of Trustees
