Each year in January, the new Board meets for a retreat. It’s the chance to spend a day together doing a ‘deep dive’ into what makes UUYO the special place it is, and how to make it better and stronger. It is also a day to deepen our connections to one another. Gene Pusateri, Louisa Berger, Carole McWilson, Lanore Jones, Judy DeGenova, Tim Raridon, Lindsay Sinkovich, Rev. Joseph and I devoted that day to our work together. I hope you’ll ask one or more of us what we thought of our retreat.

This year, having navigated the worst of the Covid pandemic, (Finally!)  we were able to focus on the future by starting work on a Strategic Plan.We outlined 6 areas of focus for UUYO in the coming years, and proposed several action steps in each one. Our mission to be a diverse and transformative spiritual community underlies everything we do. The 5 areas are: 

Securing our Finances – laying the groundwork for future viability

Promoting UUYO both within our community and outside supporting

Membership and growing our numbers Leadership – creating a pipeline of strong church leaders

Religious Education – supporting and growing our Religious Education program

Community Engagement – including our commitment to the 8th Principle, dismantling racism in ourselves and our institutions (paraphrased).

The talk was lively and purposeful. We came up with a lot of great ideas for concrete action steps. Maybe some even you will take on!  You have a strong group leading UUYO at this time, and we hope you will join us as we work to make UUYO even better.

Thank you for the honor to serve you.
Respectfully submitted by Lisbet White, Board President