UUFR’s 2021 Annual Meeting will be held virtually

on Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 11:00 am.


Join the Annual Meeting online here. You will be asked for a password, which has been provided via email and via a letter mailed to members. Contact UUFR’s Congregational Administrator by email or phone (919-781-7635 x 5) if you need assistance.


May 21, 2021

Dear UUFR Members,

The following message serves as official notice of the UUFR Annual Election and Budget Meeting, scheduled for June 6, 2021. Please review this information carefully, since our meeting this year is a departure from our normal tradition.

The annual meeting will be held via Zoom and may be accessed on Sunday, June 6. The meeting will begin at 11:00 a.m. but the Zoom room will be open prior to that.

This is the link to the Zoom room for the Annual Meeting. Participation, limited to UUFR members, will require a password. That password has been provided via email and via a letter mailed to members.

The 2021 UUFR Annual Report is available here.

We look forward to your joining us for this important gathering.

On behalf of your Board,
Jim VanKirk, President


Annual Meeting

Notice of Annual Elections and Budget Meeting June 6, 2021

Article III of our bylaws state “A congregational meeting shall be held in the second calendar quarter and shall be designated the Annual Elections and Budget Meeting.” Agenda items include approval of minutes from the 2020 Annual meeting, volunteer recognition, election of Board officers, election of nominating committee members, approval of a statement of conscience, and approval of the 2021-2022 budget.

Time and Place
Our annual meeting this year will be held virtually due to COVID19-related concerns regarding large in-person gatherings. The meeting is scheduled for Sunday, June 6, 2021.

  • “Zoom doors” will open by 10:45 a.m., or sooner. (There is an entry process that will take a few moments for each participant, so please join as early as you can.)
  • We will begin at 11:00 a.m. with a brief, reflective opening in lieu of our usual service. Business aspects of the meeting will begin soon thereafter.
  • We expect to adjourn by 12:30 p.m. depending on the length of discussion

Procedural Accommodations
We will be meeting virtually via Zoom. We have identified procedures for this virtual meeting that support our normal processes for discussion and vote taking.

We will also hold information sessions to explain how this virtual meeting will work and will provide opportunities for those who are interested to practice the sign-in and voting processes. Time and links for these trainings will be displayed at the top of this page.

We intend to record this meeting and make viewing available to members unable to attend and to UUFR friends who are interested.

Meeting Participation
This meeting is an opportunity for us to live our 5th principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. All members of the congregation are encouraged to attend.

In the interest of safeguarding security and the integrity of voting only members of UUFR will be able to attend this meeting. We define members as those who have signed the UUFR membership book or online membership form and have made a pledge of record for the current fiscal year (July 2020 through June 2021).

Meeting access and password information will be sent to each member household by paper mail and by email, along with instructions to support the login process. Members who do not receive this second notification should please contact UURF Administrator Lewis Copulsky (lewis@uufr.org, 919-781-7635 x5).

Determining Quorum
Our by-laws state that at least 20% of our membership must be present to establish the necessary quorum for us to conduct business. Quorum for this meeting will be determined using the UUFR membership roll updated as of Friday, June 4. We will determine whether we have a quorum using a count of the login connections and, if necessary, an online poll of members using each connection. In accordance with laws governing non-profit organizations in North Carolina, the presence of a quorum determined at the beginning of the meeting endures for the duration of the meeting even if members leave the meeting early. Once a quorum is established, the meeting will proceed until business is completed.

Voting
Voting on each motion will be managed through the use of an online poll. The poll will be designed to allow for response from every participant, including those sharing a connection. We trust the integrity of our members who sign in individually to vote only once.

If you are unable to attend the virtual meeting, you may vote by absentee ballot, but please be aware that these ballots do not count towards meeting the quorum. Contact UUFR Administrator Lewis Copulsky (lewis@uufr.org, 919-781-7635 x5) to receive a link.

Additional Information
Your Board will host opportunities for discussion of the proposed budget and the proposed Statement of Conscience on following the service Sunday, May 30 (click here to join) and Wednesday evening June 2 at 7:00 (click here to join).

Zoom coordinates for each meeting will be displayed on the annual meeting website and in the weekly Chalice. Members are also welcome to submit questions directly by sending an email to board@uufr.org. The budget presentation at the annual meeting will include a summary of these discussions and will also address any questions that may be submitted.

Proposed Motions for the Annual Meeting:
Motion 1: RESOLVED: The congregation approves of the proposed Agenda for this meeting as presented in the 2021 Annual Report

Motion 2: RESOLVED: The congregation accepts and approves the minutes from the 2020 Annual meeting.

Motion 3: RESOLVED: The following members are elected to serve on the Board of Directors:

  • At Large Board Member: Paul Buescher
  • Secretary: Rebecca Marmaduke
  • President Elect: Jim Yocom

Motion 4: RESOLVED: The following members are elected to serve on the Nominating Committee:

  • Maggy Inman and Linda Watson

Motion 5: RESOLVED: The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh approves this congregational Statement of Conscience.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh affirms the inherent worth and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people of all ages and is committed to actively working for the full inclusion, rights, and self-determination of those individuals in our own congregation, in Unitarian Universalism, and in society at large.

Therefore, we resolve to actively promote the enactment of laws, constitutional amendments, policies, and practices at all levels of government, in our institutions, and in society as a whole which provide for said inclusion, rights, and self-determination, and to take specific actions to defeat all attempts at any infringement of them.

Motion 6: RESOLVED: The congregation approves adoption of the proposed budget for FY2022.