Our Governance: Board and Elected Leaders – Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Society

Each Unitarian Universalist congregation is a self-governing group, charting our own course, choosing our own ministers, and setting our own policies.

The Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees sets policy for the congregation and is elected by the members, in accordance with the congregational bylaws. The Board works with the congregation to create a Mission statement, along with policies and procedures to make our purpose and mission a reality.

The Board aims to meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm in the Blue Room and on Zoom.

The CVUUS ANNUAL MEETING took place on Sunday, June 2, 2024 after the worship service 11:30 am on site in our sanctuary and on Zoom. The Annual Meeting is where our democratic principles come to life. Here are the supporting documents that guided voting by members. Non-members were welcome to attend and ask questions but could not vote. We had a well-attended meeting with lively discussion of our budget, especially as it related to our Religious Exploration program and position.

At the meeting, we followed our version of Robert’s Rules of Order. Ideally, the rules maintain a good balance between robust discussion and reaching decisions in a timely fashion. Here’s a flow chart that illustrates how a proposal (“motion”) makes its way to a vote. If you have never used Zoom, watch the “Join a Meeting” tutorial here.

CVUUS Annual Report 2023-24

In June 2019 we documented the mission and goals of our ministries: 2018-9 CVUUS Annual Report. CVUUS Annual Report 2023-24 shows how far we’ve come since then. Thanks to all for their contributions and to Brett Millier for compiling it.

Raising the Roof Campaign

In April 2024 we convened a special congregational meeting to vote on support for funding a sanctuary roof repair and addition of cold climate heat pumps to offset our propane system toward becoming more carbon neutral. See background here: Special Congregational Meeting Warning 4.21.24 We offset some of our electric with a gifted solar credit. We began a Raise the Roof campaign in May 2024 to solicit help from congregants and guests to our site for supporting our ongoing work in providing a safe and comfortable sanctuary for so many.

To contact any CVUUS staff, board member, committee, or team leader, please phone the office, 802-388-8080 during office hours or email office@cvuus.org.

Ministries (also known as committees) run specific areas of congregation life, including Facilities, Finance, Worship, and Membership.

The Council of Ministries, including representatives of all the ministry committees, meets once a month to coordinate the work of CVUUS.