2019 Unity Annual Meeting Minutes
February 10, 2019
Attendees: Dale Pettigrew, Chris Caramona, Virginia Febringer, Patrick Murphy, Erin Murphy, Tom VanDuyne, Kimber Hawes, Mike Hawes, Dennis Gibson, Ginny Hout, Jason Dockery, Katie Dockery,Carol Kimbell, Laura K. Stephens, Sue Taylor, Scott Thieman, Debra Stone, Steve Rood,Leslie Towwnsend, Monica Corrado, Franklin Taggart,Dan McGuire, Arleen Kramer, Arleen Brown, Theodore Roess, Marilyn Gaurity,Judy Albright, John Albright, Joellen Fulton, Pat Achinson, Susan Pomeroy, Joane Harrison, Andrea Hooley, Judy G. Hart, Corina Hartzog, Pam Timms, Amy Augenstein, Jordan Augenstein, Sue Augenstein,Bigfoot Goforth, Jody Burrows, Marilyn Weatherspoon, Lois Rellergert, Sandra Pilkington, Mike Purcell, Cath Purcell, Debi Lale, Tom Lale, Chris Russert,Claire Marshel, Robert Marshel, Mira Valencia, Dick Ducic, Jan Ducic, Grace Cooley, Lisa Faust, Steph Thieman, Amy Alexander, Leane Gabel, Brenda Carey, Nancy Peltola, Steve Henke, Will Moore, Robert Hudgens, Anne Hudgens, Gerald Gates, Lil McBrien, Peggy Christiansen.
After the Sunday Service, the Annual Meeting was called to order at 11:06 a.m. and
Gerald read the Opening. A quorum was declared. A head count of 70 was declared, not all got signed in.
The 2018 Annual Meeting Minutes were approved by consensus.
Laura Stephens volunteered to be on the Nominating Committee for the next Council Members.
Consensus was reached to welcome the new council members. Jordan Augenstein, Corina Hartzog and Sue Taylor will begin their new two-year terms.
Staff Reports were presented in a slide show (written reports attached here). .\
The meeting was adjourned with a group singing of the Peace Song.
2018 Highlights from Spiritual Leader
OUR UNITY CENTERS US
Weekly Sunday Services
- 39 talks by Peggy
- 3 talks by Franklin
- 4 talks by congregants (John Z, Randy M, Mike H, Julie L)
- 6 guest speakers – Deb Brandon, Jeff Finlan, Jan & JD, Swami Beyondananda, Mary Dravis-Parrish, Lynn Kendall
- 5-talk series & discussion on Unity Principles
IN LIGHT
Special services
- Burning Bowl
- Earth Day
- “Balloons Belong in Church
- Pet Blessing
- Christmas Eve Candlelight Services
Community Gatherings
- Monthly drum circles
- Monthly movies
- Buckhorn Retreat
- Game nights & variety show
- Sunday lunch bunch
AND PEACE
- 52 Tuesday Heart Talks
averaging 12-20 people every week
- Prayer support
- Helping hands for congregant challenges
ALLOWING US TO RECOGNIZE
Classes
- Deep Listening
- Encountering the Jesus of Matthew
- Monthly book groups
OUR GOD WITHIN
- Individual spiritual counseling
- Responding to crisis calls
- Guided meditation
AND TO RADIATE THAT LOVE
Unity Volunteers
- Fort Collins Rescue Mission
- Christmas caroling at transitional housing
- Driving youth for “Sproutin’ Up” program
Unity Gives
- Giving Tree
- Organic food share for local family
- Monthly donations local organizations
TO THE WORLD
Crop Walk Team raised $ towards eliminating hunger—both locally and around the World.
Guatemala Team sent 2 Unity teams to our village partners in La Bendición
- Provided 100 Days for Girls kits
- Sponsored Honey Processing Workshop
- Funded repair of village water cistern
- Provided $2000 in medical supplies
- Helped build a new community kitchen
- much more!
Preschool/Sunday School 2018 report
Licensing for preschool completed in November with approvals by the State of Colorado Licensing Division, Larimer County Health Dept. and the local Fire Department.
A big THANK YOU to all that helped to get the playground, equipment and building ready.
Our Unity Cooperative Preschool is going well. We have two classes, Pre-Kindergarten (4 & 5 yr. olds) and Primary (3-4 yr. olds). Parents are in the classroom on a regular basis.
Sunday School is growing and going strong. Our Nursery teachers are Julie Legg, Katie Dockery and Jennifer Moore. The 3-4-5 year class is taught by John Hansen and Debby Jump. Claire Marshel and Cini Bow have been teaching the 6-7-8-9 class and Stacy Thompson is leading the Uniteens/Y.O.U. group.
2018 Music Report
We continue to enjoy beautiful music at Unity of Fort Collins through singing together, the
Tunitics choir, the Unitics band, the Unity Mens Singers, special performances by our own
members, and the gifts of guest musicians from near and far. We have also been treated to
music, poetry, stories and more in our quarterly Unity Coffeehouse performances, and in our
second annual Unity Variety Show.
Here are some of our musical highlights for 2018:
Visiting Musicians:
Shawna Hodges from Unity of Jacksonville, Matt Carroll from New York City, Rekha Ohal from Denver,
Jan & JD from Aspen joined by Marcy Baruch from Denver, The Magnie Family Band from Fort Collins and St. Johns USVI, Jeffrey James from Madison Wisconsin, Cary Morin from Fort Collins
Many thanks to the musicians from our own congregation who share their talents so generously.
Peggy and the Tunitics,Unitics band:Terry Meyer, Cory Carroll, Tim Wade
Vocalists:
Kirsten Bolton, Ruth Pendergrast, Amy Augenstein, Jordan Augenstein
Instrumentalist:
Susan Bomar
Thank you all for a wonderful musical year!
Franklin Taggart
Office Manager Report for 2018
Highlights:
- Created a van use policy/contract & checklist
- Created guest speaker agreement/contact & checklist
- Surpassed 400 NL subscribers
- Went to a ½ page bulletin to save money and trees
- Created and posted comprehensive Art Wall guidelines
- Discovered how old our boiler actually is (installed new in Dec. 2003)
- Discovered how long Unity has been in this building (since 1975)
- Got a lot of, very much needed, painting done in the building – the nursery, the art wall, both west bathrooms, and one wall in the Big Room
- Installed a new sanitizing dishwasher in kitchen for preschool
- Took care of our hail/wind damage insurance claim for our roof and some other stuff (fence, gazebo, mini library, down spouts, etc.)
- And did the usual stuff like taking care of: supplies, Facebook account, weekly bulletins, updating contact lists, NL each week, keep website up to date, online calendar, Paypal account (for CCs) management, building use management (by Unity folks and others), field inquiries via phone, in person, email, welcome packets,
Intentions:
To make the transition as smooth and easy and heart-full as possible
Prosperity Report
Highlights:
- Total net income is $22,813.
- We ended the year in the black, mainly due to the year-end matching challenge.
- The matching challenge raised $28,100!
- Final on the Preschool licensing: Expenses were offset by designated donations and King Soopers card income.
- We distributed over $1400 to Families In Need (all was donated by Unity congregants).
- We kept expenses fairly even (comparable to last year).
- Our biggest expenses this year were major repairs due to hail damage, which was covered by insurance except for a $10,000 deductible.
- Note that a $34K check (approx) will need to be cut to Assurance Roofing once we get their final invoice, and, that should be offset by a final payment from Church Mutual Insurance for the claim.
- Proceeds from key fundraisers throughout the year:
- $685 from Book Sale
- $1715 from Yard Sale
- $641 from Swami Beyonananda
- $260 from Soup for the Soul
- $180 from Variety Show
- $896 from Craft Fair/Bake Sale.
Unity has continued to tithe $100/month to community organizations.
January 2018 Realities for Children
February 2018 Days for Girls
March 2018 Animal House
April 2018 The Nappie Project
May 2018 Fort Collins Rescue Mission
June 2018 Trees, Water, People
August 2018 Heifer International
September 2018 Crop Walk
October 2018 Unity Prayer Shawl Group
November 2018 Project Linus
December 2018 Hour for Peace
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT
All is well. Our community and our finances are thriving!