Adult RE 

Animal Ministry Committee

In March, the Animal Ministry had its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 2 at 5:00, on the CYRE wing.

– The main topics covered were the upcoming events that are currently being planned.

– The focus was on Movie Night (that was to be held on Friday March 10). We discussed table arrangement and requesting assistance from IT with the showing of the movie, “Plant-Based Nation.”  Members volunteered to bring in food and other supplies as well as to helping during the event.

– The movie was a great success, with approximately 35-40 people attending, both from the congregation and from the community as well. After viewing, everyone stayed for a worthwhile, lively discussion. (And the vegan food that attendees brought for snacks was delicious!).

P.S. The real “star” of the evening was Donald Griggs who came early, and when the DVD was not a “go,” worked with a couple of players and remotes, finally  going out and buying a universal remote so that we could show subtitles that were important for the hearing impaired. Thank you, Donald, from the bottom of our collective hearts!

– Bark to the Park was also discussed, even though it was weeks away at the time (April 8). Everyone agreed to recruit for the “Animal Ministry” team to walk or to donate, but raising money went slowly. After an announcement in last Sunday’s services an additional $400 was raised, pushing our total amount to date to approximately $890.

– Our next meeting is planned for Thursday, April, 6 at 5:00 p.m. on the CYRE wing in room #5. All who are interested in animals are invited to come!

Anita Grossman, Chair

Building & Grounds Committee

The Building and Grounds Committee met on Wednesday, March 1, 2017.  We handled the following issues:

Signs – Shannon  Edwards reviewed the prices and designs of signage for the UUCC building.  Prices ranged from $3000-$7000. He also presented possible signage for street display and directions to UUCC on Rosewood and Devine with prices in the $100-$250 range. Building signage would be made of aluminum on a bronze background and in the highest case would include lighting for the letters.

Ramp to Library – We will put in a request with this years’ budget for someone to design a ramp improvement for the library.  Wheelchair access is not facilitated by the current ramp.  Design specs are estimated at about $750.

Work Day – A congregation work day was scheduled for March 18, 2017.  Following the meeting the date had to be changed because of a funeral at UUCC on that day.  The date was changed by suggestion to April 1, 2017.

The question has arisen as to where the current contents of the custodian closet will be moved once construction of the new bathrooms begins.  The current closet will be cleaned out the month before construction is to begin.

Heavy Door on Back of Display Case – The committee suggests that the locked door on the display case be replaced by lighter materials because of the weight of the current door.  The door may also be reoriented so that the door would be replaced by two doors which would open vertically rather than the current horizontal orientation.

Following the meeting the ventilation system for the library was replaced by bids from Southern Heating and Cooling and Stoudemier Heating and Cooling.  Stoudemier received the contract and the unit in the library was replaced for less than $1,583.00.

Phil Turner and John Logue worked for most of the afternoon of March 22, 2017 removing vines and trees from the north side of the building.  We appreciate their work considering the strenuous nature of the tasks.

The Congregation Work Day was held on April 1, 2017 with emphasis on window washing, cleaning and waxing doors and cleaning door handles, cleaning windows in doors of CE wing, dusting baseboards in some parts of the building, removal of vines and tree limbs from the north side of the building, power washing sidewalks and columns of buildings, washing walls of sound room to remove mold, cleaning and dusting window sills. Special thanks goes to Joan Watterson, Lis Turner, Gadson, Geoff and Julieanne Turner and their three children (Cora, Hazel and Ruby), Andrea Dudick and Heaton Dudick, Jean Lomasto, Shannon Edwards, Marleen Trader, Buzzie Kelly, John Logue, Kathy Farnsworth, Janet Swigler, Regina Moody, Jean Capalbo and Craig Chattin and Carolyn West.

The next meeting of Building and Grounds Committee will be held April 5, 2017.

Carolyn West, Chair

Building Renovations Committee 

Caring & Hospitality Committee

The Caring Committee has two distinct roles, to provide coffee and refreshments for the Sunday Social Hour and to care for members who need help, those who are  ill, following surgery or a hospitalization, or are bereaved as well as members who  need rides, household items and assistance to doctor’s appointments and so forth.

There were two deaths among our member families and the Caring Committee provided the refreshments for one memorial service.  We are also providing support to the other family.  In addition we have taken meals to a family following a hospitalization, taken members to doctor appointments and provided grocery shopping and rides.

We will continue to follow up with these members as needed.  We continue to meet monthly with Rev. Jennie for supervision and collaboration.

Ann Johnson for Sandy Chubon

CYRE (Children & Youth Religious Education) Committee

Denominational Connections

Endowment Committee

Finance Committee

The Finance committee has been spending its time encouraging members and friends to make generous pledges.  As of this morning, about $171k has been pledged, which is not enough to support our programs.  The number of pledging units which have pledged is about 60 short of the number who pledged last year.  An early objective is to corral all the members who have not yet pledged, and the friends who pledged last year and have not done so this year.

Meanwhile, we have begun accumulating the expense side of the budget.  We also need to track down the committees who have not submitted budget requests; those who have not can avoid being targets by submitting their requests promptly.

Joe Long, Chair 

Governance and Structure Ad Hoc Committee

Green Sanctuary Committee 

Leadership Development Committee

Membership Committee

The membership committee met after the pot luck dinner on March 1st 2017. All members were present.

1. Discussion of what food to bring to the New Member Dinner
2. Who would be available to set up and clean up
3. Ginny Verne spoke to the group about her ideas for set up, and kitchen, and food set up.
4. Lis agreed to contact board and committee chairs to donate food.
5. We have a total of 39 new members that were invited
6. Discussion on service for New Members for March 26th with flower communion.
7. The NewMember dinner and service was well attended and deemed a success.
8. Next membership meeting on April 5th after pot luck on Committee night.
   Patty Drews, Chair

Personnel Committee

The Personnel Committee is still working with the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) to fill one position to serve a three-year term from July 1, 2017-June 30, 2020. Since the Personnel Committee is responsible for filling staff vacancies, a background in human resources and hiring practices is recommended, but not necessary. Interested members are encouraged to contact any member of the LDC: Regina Moody, Andrea Derrick, Terrance Sullivan, Cheryl Soehl, Patty Drews, or Marc Drews.

Marc Drews, Chair

Publicity Committee 

Shared Ministry Committee

Discontinued during interim period.

Social Action Committee

NAMI Walk chaired by Jeanette Walton and Cheryl Soehl again this year and assisted by Laura Hartwig. The walk was on April 1^st at 9am at Finlay Park. The entire walk was in the park this year and nothing on the streets. We carried our UUCC banner with many wearing Standing on the Side of Love Shirts. Though we set a goal of $1700 which was a little out of reach we did still not attain the financial heights that we have in the past only achieving donations of $­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­540. It is my belief that our donors focus is in other directions this year due to the political scene. The attendance at the walk was equally disappointing in that we only had 6 people representing UUCC. We thank those who did take time to be there.

MLK’s “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” Movie & Discussion was held Sunday, April 2, 3 to 5 pm. This was in collaboration with Carolina Peace Resource Center. Panelist were Dr. David Crockett of USC, Ty dePass of Simple Justice, the official Black Lives Matter chapter for Columbia and the Midlands, Meeghan Kane, Professor of history at Benedict College and Editor in Chief of Auntie Bellum online Magazine, and David Matos, President of Carolina Peace Resource Center. Dr. Richard McLeod of UUCC was the moderator. This was a very well publicized event thanks to Laura Hartwig and Sej Harman however he attendance was low. The program was excellent with this well produced film followed by a panel of experts on the subject. The questions from the audience were given by the moderator and the panel was very knowledgeable at answering them.  We provided a sign-in to allow us to capture the names and email addresses of the attendees for future mailings for our events. Refreshments were served after the event providing an opportunity for interaction and further discussion.

Sign/Banner Progress “No matter where you are from we are glad you are our neighbors” is proudly displayed in front of the church since early February with no problems about making a statement on our stand on immigration. We want to move forward with a banner to display on our grounds and have agreed that due to the cost of the larger banners as well as the zoning restrictions on size we will get a 5’x 3.5’ size. The zoning restricts size of the sign to no larger than 48 sq. ft. The quotes we are getting on that size are running around $200 however Sej Harman is finding other sources with print shops that are believed to cost less. We are also considering the possibilities of Peace Poles made by the CYRE to attach the banner to. This is still in the talking stage. The preference seems to be to attach it to our building for best visibility.

Sign-Making Party will be held on April 9 at 12:30 – 2:00. This is for making generic signs for rallies and protests so that we have them ready in advance. This project is the result of Karen Brown’s and Sej Harman’s suggestion as well as Jeanette Walton’s time and energy. The attendees will find out about different sign-making techniques and suggestions. They will bring their own materials and a list of items to bring has been published. Laura Hartwig has done an excellent job of organizing this event and there seems to be a good deal of interest in it. The ultimate goal of this event is about social gathering, exchanging ideas, and bonding, as much as it is about the actual sign-making. We expect it will stimulate interest in the various occasions in which we may be carrying these signs.

Standing on the Side of Love T-shirts were purchased by the Social Action Committee from UUA/InSpirit on March 22 and received on March 24 and were ready to sell on Sunday, March 26. We ordered 35 shirts of various sizes selling them at the standard price of $22. We sold 18 of the 35 shirts in the first day of sales. We were very pleased at the success of the sales of these shirts and expect the rest to go fast. We will have another sales day on April 16 and then make them available as needed. It is our intention to keep a supply in stock as there is a discount for a volume purchase. There has been a continual request for these shirts for our various rallies and events and we are known in the Columbia area for our bright yellow shirts with such a positive slogan on them.  The profit from the shirts will go to the purchase of our banner.

March for Science will be held on April 22 and we will be participating in this event. This is a nationwide event to coincide with Earth Day. This is a rally and will begin at the Statehouse and we hope to have a big attendance. Laura Hartwig is chairing this event and we already have a big interest in it. New member Michelle Edgar is very involved in the planning of this event.

Transition of Chairs Over the next three months Laura Hartwig will continue to transition as the chair for the Social Action Committee. She has already managed several activities and we look for a very smooth transition. I will continue as the chair of the Share the Plate.

Linda McLeod, Chair 

Technology Services Committee 

Transition Team

The Transition Team met with Rev. Jennie on March 9 to discuss various matters, including the impending end of her time with us.

We have scheduled our next meeting for April 27.

Kevin Meredith, Chair

Worship Committee

. . . Rev Jennie will be in the pulpit 4/2, 4/16, 4/23, 4/30, 5/28, 6/4, 6/11, and 6/25. Jane Lawther will speak on April 9, but during April and May guest speaker slots will remain flexible to allow scheduling of new minister candidates. Recommended speakers for future slots are Tammy Besherse (Appleseed law expert on immigration), Hugh Hammond (from Charlotte, always a favorite), and Stephen Robinson (local minister).

. . . We discussed the current political climate and the fact that we can’t take a stand for a political party, but can discuss ideas, especially as they relate to our beliefs and principles.

. . . The proposed Worship Committee budget was discussed and understood, with the major change being the request the church’s desperate need for a part-time music director.

. . . Changes in the order of service mostly include doing a better job getting the youth out to their classes as early as possible.

. . . In other business, 1) Rev. Jennie encouraged us to watch the Unigram for upcoming sermon topics, 2) we agreed the sanctuary should be organized so that every row has several chairs with hymnal storage under them and pockets in the back so that there’s easy access to hymnals and pledge envelopes, and 3) we recognized the need to provide ample space for handicapped seating so an exit aisle is not blocked with assistive equipment.

Richard McLeod, Committee Chair

Ivy Coleman, Vice-chair