Motions Passed Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
The Board of Trustees met via Zoom on Wednesday, January 19, 2022. Kirk Striebich and Peggy Parsons joined as guests.

1. Revise current Personnel Manual language on page 6, “The Board has sole authority to hire Church staff members,” to “The Minister takes the lead in the selection, hiring, supervision, and discharge of all paid staff,” in order to bring it in line with the Governance Manual Section 2, page 6. Motion by Kate Snow, second by Kyle Gracey. Motion carried unanimously.

2. Appointment of new members to Marketing and Communications Committee (Mark Whittaker, Nancy Latimer, Michael Safran, and Maria Lauro) and Stewardship Committee (Ebe Emmons, Jean Schmidt, Jennifer Layman, Scott Smith, Lynn Porterfield, Ward Kelsey, Al Schwartz, Maria Lauro, Eleanor Mayfield). This fills out these committees. Motion by Heather Masterson, second by Sam Hens-Greco. Motion carried unanimously.

3. Approve the “Solar Installation Agreement” provided by Envinity, using the “Cash Purchase with Envinity internal Financing” option; authorize up to $100,000 for the project; and authorize the Treasurer, in consultation with the Finance and Investment Committees, to select the most appropriate sources of funding for the project. The Stewardship Committee will be asked to create a capital campaign to defray the cost of the project. Motion by Kyle Gracey, second by Sam Hens-Greco. Motion carried unanimously.

4. Minor change to bylaws to Bylaws to address members who return to the church after losing membership. Article 3 Section 4, add to end of paragraph 2: “If a Member is taken to have voluntarily resigned for failure to provide a financial contribution of record during a previous year, but then makes a financial contribution of record during a subsequent year, the Member is not required to re-sign the Membership Register to regain membership.” Motion by Kyle Gracey, second by Kate Snow. Motion carried unanimously. (This Bylaw change will need to be approved by the congregation at the annual meeting.)

5. Revised language for church activities:

All church activities that do not involve congregational singing or serving food are authorized, at the Minister's discretion, provided all of the following safety precautions are followed:

1. All attendees must:

· Provide proof of full vaccination, including booster shots or 3rd doses as soon as eligible, either upon each entry to the church or by electing to have their vaccination status stored by the church;

· Provide information for contact tracing, either verified by name through Breeze or upon entry into the church; and Wear masks that fully cover both mouth and nose.

2. Seating at all events must support social distancing. During church services, the front pews are reserved for participants in the service.

3. The church’s HVAC/ventilation system must be on during church services in the sanctuary.

The following activities are not permitted until explicitly approved by the Board of Trustees:

· Any congregational singing, and

· The presence or serving of food or beverages at any gatherings held in the church.

This policy supersedes any and all conflicting prior Board-approved policies relating to church activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Motion by Kyle Gracey, second by Rob Schwartz. Eight approved, one absent.

Rev. Kate is out of town Jan. 28-Feb. 7 .
She will be attending a Unitarian Unitarian Ministers conference on line, and doing some skiing in Tahoe, California. 

Tuesday February 1st Meeting 7:00 pm 

PROMISES AND PERILS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Presented by Illah Nourbakhsh

K&L Gates Professor of Ethics and Computational Techniques School of Computer Science, CMU and Dr. Jennifer Keating
Senior Lecturer Department of English & Writing in the Disciplines Specialist

On Zoom, Send an email to sph@pitt.edu for the link

Our presenters are the authors of “AI and Humanity,” MIT Press 2021, an examination of the implications for society of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence systems, combining a humanities perspective with technical analysis. For some associated video interviews, see the Oral Archive tab of http://aiandhumanity.org. Of particular interest for this

This week UUJusticePA together with other advocates is taking action to raise the minimum wage in PA!  From January 24th to 28th, we are contacting Republican State Senators to demand that they VOTE YES to #RaiseTheWage to $15/hr.  Enter your email at SenatorHaywood.com/RaiseTheWage to sign up and share this message widely on Social Media!  Find your Senator Here