First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg

Now that summer is here, I think it is a good time to stop and reflect on our successes over the past year. I don’t intend for this to be an exhaustive list, as I am sure there are many other accomplishments you are proud of, but these are the ones that came to my mind as I reflected on a very busy but rewarding year:

1. Welcomed our new minister, Rev. Millie Rochester and husband, Roger
2. Held wonderful Installation Service for our new Minister
3. Green Action Committee hosted public forums on the proposed Winnipeg Water and Waste Utility
4. Hosted 20 participants for the UU Our Whole Lives Sexuality training
5. Held a Start-Up Seminar for whole church
6. Held a Board Retreat to identify Board Goals
7. Bromely Basford joined Leuba Franko as Lay Chaplin
8. Celebrated the Financial Stewardship Kick-off with a Wine and Cheese Party
9. Successfully completed Financial Stewardship campaign to finance 2010-11 Budget
10. Held a service for the UU United Nations Office and received a UUUNO Blue Ribbon plaque from the New York office
11. Celebrated success of the Mystery Buddies program
12. Millie and Roger Rochester, DRE Andrea James, Jim Gardiner, Dorian Zaharia, Matt & Cam Gilbert all represented the UU Church of Winnipeg at the CUC conference in Victoria, BC
13. Named Don Ayre, Barb Fuller and Carolyn Hill-Carroll members of the new Shared Ministry Team
14. Nancy Gilbert hosted Communications Cluster brainstorming meetings
15. Board hosted 3 Chairs/Leadership Dinner meetings
16. Clarified the role of the Board Member/Board Liaisons
17. Enjoyed a Choir Concert and a variety of Coffee Houses
18. Raised $20,000 and started building our new deck
19. Welcomed new Committee Chairs for Library, Sunday Services, Volunteer Resource, and Adult Lifespan Learning Committees
20. Developed Policies for Building Use, Adult Lifespan Learning Committee Fees, and Church Directory Maintenance
21. Celebrated the fine work of the Religious Exploration Program with a fabulous service and teacher breakfast
22. Welcomed 15 new members

And as we plan ahead, here are a few of the things to look forward to in the in next year:

1. Celebrating Shared Ministry at the CUC Western Regional Fall Gathering - October 15-17
2. Completing the Committees’ Terms of References Review
3. Creating an all-church Covenant of Right Relations
4. Completing the Governance Committee Bylaw Review
5. Creating new Church Banners for conferences and demonstrations
6. Planning for 5 year Visioning Process
7. Continuing the weekly Harvest Food Bank
8. Continuing to offer great Religious Exploration and Adult Lifespan Learning programs
9. Continuing to create great Sunday Services
10. Welcoming new members

I hope you have a great summer whatever you are doing and hope to see you on the summer deck construction crew

In faith, Craig Edwards