Universalist National Memorial Church

Congregational Meeting Results

At a congregational meeting January 20, 2008, UNMC members took the following actions:

• Elected Lisa Harris and Marti Martinson as deacons
• Gave final approval to the revised Declaration of Faith that has been in use since September 2006
• Voted to become a “teaching congregation” that mentors seminarians and, accordingly, to charter an internship committee
• Removed 12 inactive members from the roll

Finance, Budget, and Stewardship Committee Formed

At its December 2007 meeting, the UNMC Board of Trustees approved a new committee charter for a Finance, Budget, and Stewardship Committee, to be chaired by Jeff Jacobs.

Board Passes 10% Resolution

At its October meeting, the Board of Trustees passed a resolution to give 10% of the Sunday worship service plate offering to a neighborhood, non-profit organization. Each month the Board will designate a local charity to be the recipient.

Hymnal Committee Meeting

The first meeting of the task force on hymnals took place on July 16. The purpose of this group is to agree on a proposal for hymnals for our congregation for the long term. Our current practice is to use the red "Hymns of the Spirit" supplemented by the grey "Singing The Living Tradition."

We discussed some general guidelines for hymnals followed by a brainstorming session on some possible options. There was a general consensus on the following suggested guidelines:

From the Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees met on July 10, 2006, for a regular monthly meeting.

Treasurer Brian Pepper indicated that the value of the endowment increased by approximately $8,000 due to receipt of dividends and an increase in the net value of holdings.

The Board discussed a proposal by “Spooky Action Theatre” to fund improvements to Perkins Hall and other areas of the building in conjunction with related UNMC-funded improvements. Moderator Greg Wigle indicated that a meeting between the parties and UNMC’s architects would be scheduled to ensure that the proposal fits within the Church’s plan for future improvements. Potential upgrades include replacement of the current boiler system with a new HVAC system. The Board unanimously agreed that the parties must enter an agreement regarding the scope of work, responsibilities of the parties, and estimated costs before any renovation work takes place.

Contact Rev. Henley

Our Minister - The Reverend Lillie Mae Henley

Phone: (301) 655-3798
Email:
pastorlillie@universalist.org

Annual Election Results

The congregation at the annual meeting held May 21 elected officers and board members for the 2006-7 church year:

Officers who also sit on the Board of Trustees, each serving a one-year term:
Greg Wigle, Moderator
Mark McNabb, Secretary
Brian Pepper, Treasurer
Catherine Bocskor, Assistant Treasurer

Trustees at large:
Robert Bertram (term expires May 2007)
David Burton (term expires May 2007)
Liz Crawford (term expires May 2008)
Lisa Harris (term expires May 2008)
Jennifer Sandberg (term expires May 2007)
Al Templeton (term expires May 2008)

Not on the board:
Sue Mosher, Registrar (one-year term)

Rev. Lillie Henley to Be Our Next Settled Minister

Members of Universalist National Memorial Church have called the Rev. Lillie Henley to become the church's eighth settled minister. The Ministerial Search Committee was thanked for their many months of effort with a standing ovation.

Our Ministerial Candidate: Rev. Lillie Henley

From Greg Wigle, moderator: A special congregational meeting will be held immediately following the church service on Sunday, April 2, 2006. The purpose of this meeting is to vote to call a new settled minister to our pulpit. Don't forget that time jumps forward an hour this weekend!

From Elizabeth Crawford, chair: On behalf of the Ministerial Search Committee, it is my great pleasure to recommend Reverend Lillie Henley as candidate for settled minister of UNMC. We believe Rev. Henley wil bring to our church the vision, warmth and grace to lead our congregation forward towards a lively and sustainable ministry.

Although she felt called to the ministry beginning at a young age, Rev. Henley worked in the corporate sector for many years prior to obtaining her Master of Divinity at Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1998. Since that time, she has served 3 UU congregations in interim and settled ministries, most recently Westside Unitarian Church in Ft. Worth, Texas. As Rev. Henley's experience and service as a minister deepened, she found increasingly that she wished to serve a Christian congregation.

Rev. Henley brings many strengths to ministry at UNMC. She has a strong record of building growth in the communities she has served, including in center-city urgan settings. She is committed to ministry for children and families and will bring energy, experience and backing to our religious education programs. Pastoral care is another area of special ability -- the committee believes that her caring for and warmth towards individuals and families will make her an exceptional resource in this important area.

On behalf of our entire committee, I would like to thank all of you for your participation, advice and prayers throughout the long and important process that has led us to propose Rev. Henley to you as candidate for minister of UNMC.

An Important Message for Members and Friends of UNMC

The Ministerial Search Committee would like to bring to your attention important information about our congregation’s efforts to call a settled minister who will serve us with devotion and distinction. Your participation in this process has been vital throughout, but it will be critically important in the coming weeks.

Ministerial Search Culmination: One of the most important decisions facing our church is in making the call to a new settled minister. The search process, which has been under way for over a year, is nearing its final stages. Next week, the Ministerial Search Committee will provide the name and qualifications of a proposed candidate for minister to the Board of Trustees. The Board will review background information on the individual we recommend and, satisfied that she or he is worthy of consideration for the position of settled minister, will invite the candidate to UNMC.

Candidating Week – March 26-April 2: There will be several occasions during this eight-day period when you will have the opportunity to listen to, meet, and talk with the candidate. The candidate will preach at UNMC on two successive Sundays – March 26 and April 2. Please plan to attend on both dates if you can, but attendance on April 2 is critically important. On that day, we will meet after church to make a decision on whether or not to call the candidate.

Update from the Ministerial Search Committee

The search for a settled minister for UNMC is in high gear. The Search Committee has received more than 25 applications or expressions of interest from a diverse group of applicants, both through the UUA settlement process and via direct contacts. From this group, the committee has identified roughly eight individuals who look particularly promising. Each of them has been sent a packet describing our church and community; we drew on many of the points that emerged from the surveys and other consultations in describing our congregation and its hopes for the future.

Test

Interim Minister Announcement

The Board of Trustees is very pleased to announce to the congregation that we have decided to hire the Reverend James R. (“Jim”) Morgan to be UNMC's Interim Minister for the next year while our search for a settled minister continues. Details of the ministerial agreement are being finalized, but Rev. Morgan is a retired ordained Methodist with a Universalist bent who has just finished up a successful six-month Interim Ministry with Grace United Methodist Church in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Interim Ministerial Search

The work of your Interim Search Committee, comprised of Vicki Pepper, David Skidmore, and Mary Templeton, described in last month's Anchor, continues diligently. In its efforts to secure an Interim Minister for the second year of UNMC's purposeful Interim Ministry, the Committee thus far has identified a dozen potential candidates for whom it has reviewed information and/or with whom it has discussed UNMC's Interim Ministry. The Committee has interviewed four of those candidates and is in concerted dialogue with two of them. As of the Anchor's publication deadline, the Committee is in the process of running promising leads on a few remaining candidates to ground and hopes to complete all personal interviews very soon.

Interim Ministerial Search

As first announced in February and confirmed last month by her call to become minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Fairfax, Reverend Morn will be unavailable for the optional second year of her contract for UNMC’s Interim Ministry. In March our Board of Trustees voted to ask Chair Vicki Pepper and member David Skidmore to reprise their roles on UNMC’s Interim Search Committee, asking them to round out this reconstituting Committee with a third member to help them undertake a renewed search for another Minister to complete UNMC's Interim Ministry. At Vicki and David's request, Mary Templeton also agreed to reprise her role, and at its May meeting the Board formally approved the membership of this reconstituted Committee and its updated Charter.

The Committee has applied for and has received several candidates for Interim Minister through the UUA's Ministerial Settlement Office; the Committee is in active dialogue with one candidate. The Committee also has used other means to identify additional candidates, including renewing contact with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches' equivalent of the UUA Settlement Office. (Note: UNMC has been an "honorary member" of the NACCC since the 1980s.)

Ministerial Search Committee Focus Groups

On Sunday, June 12th, following the Youth-led service, everyone is invited to join an informal focus group-type discussion of UNMC's search for its settled Minister. We hope as many members and friends of UNMC as possible can join us for a light lunch and conversation with each other and members of the Search Committee in Perkins Hall. By that time, the Committee will have had a chance to review completed surveys and hence be able to share some of the results. They will also respond to any questions you may have concerning the process and timetable for the search. The discussion will begin immediately following the service, and we will plan to meet for no longer than an hour. Please plan to join us.

From the Board of Trustees

The UNMC Board of Trustees at its monthly meeting May 9 worked on the 2005-6 budget, approved the expenditure of $50,000 to renovate the Romaine-Van Schaick Room and kitchenette and to hire an architect to create a master plan for the entire building. The board also approved $2,500 for structural engineering work related to the McKim organ project. The budget of $204,488 for expenses and $162,090 in income, for a deficit of $42,398, included these program changes from the previous fiscal year:

• Restore the choir to appearing every Sunday between September 2005 and April 2006, up from an average of three Sundays a month,

• Fund the activities of the interim and permanent ministerial search committees,

• Fund the services of a consultant, Dan Hotchkiss, hired to assist the board in putting ideas into action and to work with the search committees,

• Increase the church’s contributions to the UUA and Joseph Priestly District so that the church achieves “Fair Share” status,

• Increase spending on activities and publicity (Welcome & Membership Chair Perry King noted that newspaper advertising has not been very effective, so his group is looking at flyers and other means).

Congregational Covenant

At the annual meeting on May 15, 2005, the congregation voted to adopt the congregational covenant that the Committee on Ministry had developed with the support of the deacons and the involvement of the entire church community in formal and informal discussions and feedback opportunities. You can read the full text of this document of commitment in community with one another by clicking here.

Ministerial Search Committee Update

This is the first of many updates on the work of your Ministerial Search Committee. The members are Rob Bertram, Elizabeth Crawford, Clint McCully, and Donna Simonton. The group has had an initial “get to know each other meeting” and a meeting with the Joseph Priestley District Ministerial Settlement Representative, John Hansman.

Mr. Hansman’s visit detailed the content of the ministerial search timeline outlined by the UNMC Board of Trustees. Our initial work is to develop a congregational survey that will tell ministerial candidates about the members and friends of this church. We started with the survey from the last search and looked at the resources available from the UUA and other congregations, and we discussed our own experiences with UNMC and other ministerial search surveys. We expect to complete survey development and distribution within the next few weeks. We hope that each person involved in the life of the church will carefully and thoughtfully complete the survey so we can identify what is important to the congregation in selecting our new minister.

Board Recruitment Under Way

April is the month when the Nominating Committee starts recruiting new Board of Trustees members to fill positions that will be voted on at the annual congregational meeting May 15. Watch the bulletin board in the hallway for descriptions of these and other open positions, including that of Secretary.

If you're interested in exploring these or other potential paths to personal service within the church, please contact any member of the Nominating Committee – Lynn Cook, Richard Hurst, or Sue Mosher.

UNMC’s New Worship Committee

The Board of Trustees has constituted a Worship Committee to assist the Minister in making our worship experience more meaningful, and to reflect the needs and hopes of our congregation on matters pertaining to worship. Our responsibilities include: evaluation of elements of worship; liturgical structure of the worship services; planning for special services; and, working with the minister to fill the pulpit when the minister is away. Several of the liturgists serve on the Committee.

In undertaking these tasks, the Committee is keeping in view the many aspects of our worship that truly do make it “the best hour of the week.” Part of our role is to help provide the opportunity for people to share their thoughts about our worship experience, an important service in a diverse and liberal religious community such as ours. Rev. Morn has already begun to hold open monthly discussions about worship matters after our social hour, where we can exchange ideas, pose questions and make suggestions. One or more members of the Worship Committee usually participate.

We began our work in November, using outcomes from the “Quick Start” process and other suggestions in getting underway. An important focus for us will be how and where to integrate more inclusive language in ways that resonate with the tradition and solemnity characteristic of our worship service.

From the Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees decided at a special meeting on January 27 to offer the parsonage for sale through a licensed real estate broker. While someone in the same building had offered to buy the parsonage, the Board felt that, if the apartment is to be sold, the only way to find out what it is really worth is to put it on the open market.

From the Board of Trustees

At its regular monthly meeting January 10, the Board of Trustees set February 13 as the date for a congregational meeting to elect the ministerial search committee. The board also discussed a purchase offer to sell the parsonage and the proposed restoration contract for the McKim organ, but took no action on those issues.

Treasurer Brian Pepper reported that the pledge canvass had generated $49,500 from 17 pledges. Donations to the Red Cross for tsunami relief on January 2 and 9 amounted to slightly more than $1100. The Christmas Eve collection for the Pastoral Discretionary Fund drew about $400, and the PDF now contains slightly more than $1000.

From the Board of Trustees

At its regular monthly meeting December 6, the Board of Trustees approved new members of the Committee on Ministry, heard a report on the pledge canvass, learned about a substantial bequest to the church, and discussed the organ rehabilitation, an offer to buy the parsonage, and steps to move the congregation forward. The Board also discussed a proposed by-law amendment to designate how the church’s assets would be distributed if the congregation dissolved, a change requested by the church’s insurance company.
 
The board unanimously approved Clint McCully and Al Templeton as new members of the Committee on Ministry, joining chair Vicki Pepper.

Rev. Morn reported that a childcare provider for Sunday mornings had been located and that a background check would be conducted and a contract drawn up. She also said she is working with various people to ensure a smoother Sunday morning.

Semi-Annual Meeting Held

At the November 14 semi-annual meeting, the congregation elected Perry King as a new deacon and authorized the Board of Trustees to develop a specific plan for church growth, possibly to involve funds from the endowment or the sale of the parsonage, to be in place by March 2005. The congregation also heard about the timetable for calling a new settled minister by April 2006.

Rev. Morn proposed and the congregation approved that Perry King be elected deacon. Moderator Greg Wigle also announced that Perry would be replacing Vicki Pepper on the Board, following her resignation, and presented Vicki with a planter arrangement as a token of appreciation.

Rev. Morn shared her thoughts on the three goals set at the “quick start” meeting in September – increased worship attendance, better building utilization, and a greater sense of peace and joy at church, reminding everyone that the first Friday evening of each month is set aside for healing and breaking of bread together.

Assistant Treasurer Clint McCully gave the financial report for the first half of the fiscal year, which shows income of $56,100 and expenses of $94,900, for a deficit of $38,800, well over the budgeted deficit of $21,400 for the first six months of the fiscal year. (See From the Board of Trustees on page 2 for more details on the church’s finances.) The church sold $30,000 in securities from the endowment to make up the deficit, but the endowment has appreciated, so it is actually worth more now than in April 2004 -- $475,000.

From the Board

At its November 11 meeting, the UNMC Board of Trustees heard a financial report detailing the church’s $39,000 deficit for the first half of the current fiscal year and an update on the next steps to be taken toward the restoration of the McKim organ. The Board also elected Perry King to fill the board seat being vacated by Vicki Pepper and approved the charter and membership of the Nominating Committee.
 
Assistant Treasurer Clint McCully reported that the deficit for the first half of the church’s fiscal year is nearly $39,000, well above the expected deficit of about $21,000. He attributed the shortfall largely to these factors:
 
A shortfall in pledge income of about $4,500, compared to the budgeted amount; Housing allowance payments for Rev. Morn that have not been offset by the expected rental income from the parsonage; Payments into the pension fund for former minister Scott Wells; About $3,000 in fix-up expenses for the parsonage, to make it rentable; Higher insurance costs for the church building and parsonage, which will come down about $4,000 per year in the future, thanks to the effort by Brian Pepper to locate an alternative carrier; Increased custodial expenses directly related to weddings; One-time charges to establish a DSL connection for the church and extend it to the minister’s office.
 
Clint reported that the church used its brokerage margin account to meet immediate cash flow needs, especially for a  large insurance payment, and has since sold about $30,000 in securities to pay off the margin loan. The net effect on the endowment is negligible because of appreciation in the church’s holdings during the same time period. Clint agreed to break out custodial expenses for weddings and other rental events separately on future reports so that they can be compared with income from those events.
 

From the Board of Trustees

At its Oct. 4 meeting, the UNMC Board of Trustees approved a proposal to spend $6,500 to repair the roof, considered a timeline for calling a new settled minister, and approved the charter for the new Worship Committee. The Board also heard a consultant’s report on UNMC’s strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities along with recommendations on how to build on its strengths and overcome its weaknesses.

Worship Committee Charter Approved

At its Oct. 4, 2004 meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a charter for the new Worship Committee. Rev. Morn and Rob Bertram will take the next steps in organizing the committee.

Worship Committee Organized

About a dozen people met Sunday, September 26, with Rev. Morn as the first step toward organizing a worship committee. In her opening remarks, Rev. Morn said that UNMC is uniquely positioned to do wonderful things that make a difference and reaffirmed the top priority set by the quick start workshop earlier in the month achieving a regular attendance of 100 people at worship. She noted that she has experienced many challenges in planning our worship for which she'd like the assistance of a worship committee and that the congregation needs to work on issues of structure and process related to how our worship evolves. Part of her job as an interim minister, she said, is to help our community figure out what it really wants in worship and how it wants to interact with the minister with regard to worship issues.

New Interim Minister to be Hired

The Interim Search Committee and Board of Trustees are quite pleased to announce that the Reverend Mary Katherine Morn, who has just completed a successful ministry of seven years as Pastor of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, has agreed to serve as UNMC's Interim Minister for the next year, with an option to extend for an additional year.  Reverend Morn and son Caleb, 9, are joining her husband, John Rakestraw, who accepted a position at Georgetown University earlier this year.

Moderator Greg Wigle and Reverend Morn plan to finalize the Minister's Agreement upon her return to Washington after the UUA's General Assembly being held in Long Beach, California from June 24 to June 28, but the Board anticipates that her ministry will begin formally in August, with some vacation time to be taken during that month. 

by Victoria Pepper,
Vice Moderator & Chair, Interim Search Committee

Updated Bylaws

The updated bylaws -- as amended at the May 16, 2004, annual meeting -- are now available online. The amendments give the board of trustees more flexibility in managing the structure of committees and coordinators, provide for the board size to fluctuate from year to year, and clarify the role of the diaconate with regard to spiritual care of the congregation.

Draft Minutes of the UNMC 2004 Annual Meeting

[Although it is not expected that these minutes will change significantly, the Board was unable to finalize them before the Anchor's publication deadline, due in part to our secretary's marriage May 22nd!]

A total of 33 members attended. UNMC Moderator Greg Wigle called the meeting to order. Richard Hurst led the congregation with an opening prayer.
The Moderator welcomed the congregation and thanked the Board, Jennifer Sandberg, and Esther Fogwell for their contributions to lunch.
The congregation moved, seconded, and voted unanimously to authorize the Board to approve the minutes of this annual meeting.

Welcome & Membership Committee Charter

As approved by the UNMC Board of Trustees on May 3, 2004

Purpose: The overall purpose of the Welcome & Membership Committee of the Universalist National Memorial Church is to help the church be more welcoming and engage in such other activities as will help increase and strengthen the church’s membership.

Ministerial Interim Search

In late-breaking news, the April Anchor reported that, based on the mandate received as a result of discussions at the congregational Open Forum March 14, the Board approved on March 27 an Interim Search Committee (ISC) Charter and appointed Vicki Pepper Committee Chair. On behalf of UNMC the Board also applied to the UUA Settlement Office seeking an Interim Minister. The ISC Charter is posted on the bulletin board near the UNMC library and can be reviewed on this website. 

In accordance with the Committee's charter, in late March and early April the Chair discussed the Committee’s role, responsibilities, and timeline with several interested Church members. After these discussions, the chair recommended, and at the Board's regular April meeting, the Board approved members David Skidmore, Mary Templeton, Tom Curteman, and Georgia McKenna to join Vicki to serve on this Committee. The Committee will need to be flexible in working together to accommodate diverse and busy schedules over the next several weeks, but all members are committed to discharging faithfully ISC’s important assigned task.

Improving Stewardship: Report from the Treasurer

In keeping with the Church's policy and new practice on more purposely and publicly recognizing contributions to UNMC, and with the explicit approval of the board of Trustees, your Treasurer would like to thank all UNMC members and friends who have made pledges of financial support to the Church listed below. Pledges for 2004 currently total $52,601.00, a significant increase over the amount pledged in support of UNMC for calendar year 2003. 

From the Trustees

April Meetings. The Board of Trustees met on April 12 and April 26.

Copy of UUA Interview Available for Review by Members

On March 1, under the auspices of the UUA Settlement Office, Joseph Priestly District Executive, the Rev. Richard Speck met with the Board of Trustees and the Committee on Ministry (CoM) to conduct a congregational "Transition Interview."  He described this UUA tool as intended to capture UNMC as "a snapshot in time." The Board received for the Church a record copy of the report on this interview, which has been finalized and forwarded to the UUA.
 

Toward Improving Stewardship: Strengthening UNMC's Culture of Appreciation While Embracing Our Community Culture of Generous Donation

In a Christian context, "stewardship" refers to the responsibility we have for the gifts that God has bestowed.  In a Church setting, stewardship has been characterized as sharing our time, talent and treasure.
 
Pledging/financial offering is the primary way in which members and friends of UNMC share their treasure with our community of faith to fulfill stewardship obligations, but it is not the only way. We have a long-standing tradition in this Church of augmenting our budget by individual members quietly stepping forward to meet needs of the Church--whether by underwriting an unanticipated major building expense, in kind donations of unbudgeted-for office equipment, donating professional services that the Church otherwise could not afford, or the like. Newer members of our community may not be aware fully of this fact, and even long-time Church members may at times take for granted the often-unsung generosity that abides in this community.

Similarly, many members of the UNMC family quietly and tirelessly donate countless hours of their personal time and talents for the greater good of our community of faith. Those contributions
similarly risk getting lost in UNMC's often shy culture of quiet reserve.

There is always a risk when you give public thanks of leaving someone off the list, but a fear we might forget someone is no excuse for not publicly thanking anyone. Instead, let us just acknowledge up front this list is far from exhaustive. Consider this a "first installment," a way of getting the ball rolling in a concerted community effort to do a better job of letting each other know that we appreciate each other's many contributions to our community. This time of transition presents a real opportunity for our community of faith to step up ongoing efforts of purposeful self-examination and cultural modification and improvement.
 
The Board of Trustees will get us started this month by offering on behalf of the UNMC community special thanks, in no particular order, to the following individuals and groups:
 
Donna Simonton, for her recent generous donation of much-needed new curtains and drapes
David Skidmore, for his longstanding service as Leland Place coordinator Our Welcome and Membership Committee for its many ongoing efforts toward improving our hospitality, and particularly also to our greeters recruited as an important part of this effort
Al Templeton for reorganizing the Romaine-van Schaick kitchen space
Paul Hannah & Al Templeton for their ground-breaking service as Building Usage Coordinators
Jorn Dakin, for stepping up to chair the Building & Grounds Committee in its time of need
Rob Bertram & Richard Hurst for serving as our Worship Coordinators during this transition time, as well as our liturgists Richard Hurst, Sue Mosher, Jennifer Sandberg, and David Skidmore for continued high quality worship at UNMC
David Fox for representing UNMC at the inauguration of his brother and our minister emeritus Dr. William L. Fox as President of Culver-Stockton College in Missouri
Kimberly Durham Bates, our Administrator, for continued conscientious, good-natured service as the glue that holds UNMC's operations together
Donna Simonton for serving as impromptu "cantor,"leading us in hymns when the choir is not present
Kirk Denton, who somehow continues to make musical magic for us no matter what we or the Gottfried organ manage to throw his way
David Fox, who quietly plays various key roles in keeping things running smoothly for us Sundays 
Sue Mosher and Richard Zierdt for transferring the Church to a new hosting service and updating it with current material as well as a growing sermon library   
Brian Pepper and Clint McCully, who toil for us endlessly dealing with UNMC's many financial issues
Russell Chapman, who continues to share his background knowledge and counsel as "Verger Emeritus Extroardinaire" whenever we need him (despite his personal needs to step back and take a break)  
Mary Simmons for taking over as Chancel Flower Coordinator, thereby easing Russell's burden
David Burton for his "think piece"suggesting a myriad of activities the Church can undertake to help it grow (several of which already have been acted upon)   
 

Interim Search Committee Established

In accordance with the mandate received from the congregation at the Open Forum held March 14th, the Board completed the Church's application for a full-time interim minister at the Board of Trustees Retreat held on March 27. The Moderator will forward UNMC's application to the Unitarian Universalist Association immediately. The Board also chartered an Interim Search Committee and appointed Board Member and Committee on Ministry Chair Vicki Pepper as the new committee's chair.

Leadership Roster

UNMC is a self-governing, self-financing member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Officers are elected at the annual meeting each May. The church is currently seeking an interim minister to serve for one or two years while we conduct a nationwide search for our next settled minister. (read more)

Board of Trustees Resolution: American Unitarian Conference

Be it resolved that the UNMC Board of Trustees takes the following actions:

• Affirms that the church desires to be considered an AUC “Open Door” congregation.

• Directs the Moderator and Secretary to take whatever action(s) might be necessary to bring about such an affiliation.

• Directs the Moderator, Secretary, church administrator, and other church officers and members involved in developing materials about UNMC to note that the church is an AUC “Open Door” Congregation in such materials.

Adopted 2 Feb 2004 (read more)

Board of Trustees Resolution: The Center for Progressive Christianity

Be it resolved that the UNMC Board of Trustees takes the following actions:

• Chooses to affiliate UNMC with The Center for Progressive Christianity.

• Directs the Moderator and Secretary to take whatever action(s) might be necessary to bring about such an affiliation.

• Directs the Moderator, Secretary, church administrator, and other church officers and members involved in developing materials about UNMC to note that the church is a TCPC affiliate in such materials.

Adopted 2 Feb 2004 (read more)

Board of Trustees Resolution: Member Count

Be it resolved that the Board of Trustees accepts the Registrar’s recommendation and directs the Registrar to report to the UUA by Feb. 1, 2004, that the UNMC has 78 members and to use that same number in any other reporting context. The Registrar shall revise the figure, as needed, to reflect the addition of new members; the resignation, transfer, or death of any current member; and any action that the congregation may take to remove members from the roll.

Adopted 5 Jan 2004 (read more)

Board of Trustees Resolution: Reception of New Members

Be it resolved that the Board of Trustees of the Universalist National Memorial Church takes the following actions:

1. Interprets the phrase "confirmed in Christian fellowship" in Article II, Section 1, of the by-laws not to require any particular confirmation ceremony. The declaration of a prospective member's intention to join the church and their acceptance of the "right hand of fellowship" offered on behalf of the church are deemed sufficient.

2. In the absence of a settled or interim minister, any UNMC deacon may act as a "minister authorized to act in such matters," per the by-laws, presiding at the new member welcome ceremony and offering the "right hand of fellowship" on behalf of the church to prospective members during such a ceremony.

Adopted 5 Jan 2004 (read more)

Board of Trustees Resolution: Unitarian Universalist Association

Adopted by the Board of Trustees on 7 April 2003: Be it hereby resolved that, remaining true to its liberal Christian, Universalist heritage and consistent with its Bylaws charge, the Universalist National Memorial Church shall embrace and seek additional ways to explore and strengthen its affiliation with the UUA, toward the mutual benefit of the Church and the UUA. (read more)

Church Bylaws

We, the members of the Universalist National Memorial Church, Washington, D.C., hereby unite for the public worship of God, the study and practice of the religion of Jesus, and the maintenance of the ordinances of the Christian Church. We acknowledge the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Unitarian Universalist Association. (read more)