President’s Column
I’m so excited to start the new 2021-2022 year as your President with our new and experienced Board -
President-Elect Molly Hagan Ward
Secretary Alice Scott
Treasurer Gaye Webb
At-Large Member Josh Wilkinson
At-Large Member Maya Lazarus
At-Large Member John Ivy
At-Large Member Bobby Presley
Past President Gaye Webb
Minister & Ex-officio Rev. Christian Schmidt
- and expert Staff -
Administrative Assistant Nancy Deer
Bookkeeper Leslie Dempsey
Online Admin/Tech Support John Faber
Key to this year’s success will be to keep the Board’s activities and actions transparent and open to the congregation. After all, the Board serves the congregation AS A WHOLE, not its different constituents. Everyone is invited to the Board meetings (see interactive church calendar brazos-uu.org/calendar).
Also, key to this year’s success is leadership in our ministries. The Board will be working on improving their leadership skills this year, and members of the congregation will also be invited to participate.
Along with our new Board, we have a new Mission & Vision Statement, thanks to last year’s Committee on Ministry (CoM) (John Ivy, Molly Hagan Ward and Joyce Langenneger & Rev. Christian) that we will need to incorporate into our everyday work -
Mission - We create just and loving community.
Vision - Members and friends of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley embody: Love, warmth, respect, and compassion; A welcoming spirit, offering hope and affirmation for all people and providing a sanctuary for members, friends, and all those working for a just and sustainable world; The search for understanding and respect for many paths and sources of religious inspiration and; An abiding commitment to fairness, justice, and equity for all people.
As most of you know, the Ministerial Search Committee (Kathi Appelt, Maya Lazarus, Brian Lockridge & Pam Johnson) have gone through the first round of applicants for new Contract Minister but were unable to find an adequate match; the committee will proceed to the second round of candidates but it is unlikely that they will have a match because, this year, the number of eligible ministers are fewer than the number of ministerial positions available. It is looking more and more that we will have a year of Congregation-Led Ministry and the Worship Committee, lead by Maya Lazarus & John Faber, will need help from the congregation with ideas and volunteers as Worship Assistant, Readers and Greeters. One great advantage of having a congregation-led ministry is the savings in money from not hiring a minister and also the great opportunity to invite a variety of interesting ministers and speaker to lead our All Ages Sunday Worship.
One of the new community events I want to mention is Confronting Our Racism: A Community Conversation, that should be of interest to many in the congregation and community. To get more information and to sign up for
A small reading group for Stamped, Racism, Antiracism, and You, A Remix (2020) please go to:
And, last but certainly NOT least, congratulations to the Sacred Space Committee lead by Kathy Wheeler, for their many years of work with the groundbreaking for our new church building at 1719 East 29th Street, Bryan happening any day now. Don’t miss the Groundbreaking Ceremony, Saturday, June 12th at 10 AM.
So, congratulations to the new leads, committee members and welcome everyone to a exciting new year!
We create just and loving community.