What's going on with the "BHAG thing"?

12/28/2017

Jon Hassinger, Trustee

A number of teams are working diligently toward fulfilling our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal!) of having a viable plan submitted to the Congregation by May 1 to free JUC from the limits of our campus in order to live more fully into our mission.

The Board recently entered into a contract with a commercial real estate agency to begin the process of analyzing potential properties and facilities. A team consisting of Rev. Wendy, Kathy Covert, David Fleck, Tom Goodreid,Jim Matera, Mark Baker, Carol Wilsey, and Dave DiGiacomo has been formed to evaluate various options. Rev. Wendy, in consultation with the Board, is interviewing fundraising consultants that would help us eventually run a capital campaign.

Also, the Shared Mission Team (formerly the Committee on Ministry) chaired by Paige LeBlanc with team members Jim Matera, Sarah Reeves, and Mary Ann Blumenthal has been working hard on planning a series of forums that will be open to the Congregation to attend in January through March. These forums are designed to provide an opportunity for participants to talk about their dreams that make the JUC vision come alive for them and how a new facility could make those dreams a reality.

Finally, look for a new part of our JUC website that will be a central place to get information about the BHAG and provide real time feedback to a blog that will be started. It is an exciting time of growth for JUC and an opportunity for us to fully lean into our mission... "to nurture our spiritual community, grow Unitarian Universalism, and transform the world outside our church walls."

2 Comments

Mike Kramer

1/17/2018 10:03:38 am

Hi Jon,
Thanks for writing this article, I'm learning about the BHAG.
A question for you and the Board---the communication strategy implicitly suggests that the decision to go to another location has already been taken. I've talked with several members of JUC who have that impression. Is it a 'done deal' with the Board and Church office, with room left maybe to talk about "how" but no longer "if"? Will the member's meeting in May really matter at that point?
sign me "just wondering..."
Mike

Jon Hassinger

1/18/2018 07:21:13 am

Mike, thanks so much for your question. Others are “wondering” too as the question also come up in the forums that we have been holding. Of course, the decision to move ultimately rests with the Congregation as our bylaws state that: " The Board of Trustees has the power to purchase, assign, sell, transfer, convey, lease, or mortgage real property when authorized by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members of the congregation voting in person and through absentee ballots at any congregational meeting.” That said, the Board consistently receives feedback that our current beloved campus has an increasing number of constraints that prevent us from more fully living into our aspirations and mission. JUC’ers have always dreamed “big” and we are finding more and more frequently that we just don’t have the facility that we need to realize those dreams. Right now we’re focused on assessing what is out there in terms of possible sites and we’ll need to assess our potential to fundraise as well so that we can bring the best possible solution to the Congregation for consideration. The Board is aware of both the appeal of modifying our current property, as well as some significant hurdles in attempting to do so. As soon as we have clarity on those issues we will report back. As a Board, we are hopeful that ultimately a plan can be developed that will not only serve the JUC of now, but also ushers us into the church we can become by living fully into our mission.

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What's going on with the "BHAG thing"?

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