Each Unitarian Universalist congregation is a self-governing group, charting our own course, choosing our own ministers, and setting our own policies.

The Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees sets policy for the congregation and is elected by the members, in accordance with the congregational bylaws. The Board works with the congregation to create a Mission statement, along with policies and procedures to make our purpose and mission a reality. The Governance Task Force, including Margy Young and Alan Moore, has finished work on a new draft Governance Manual that we will review and complete in consultation with rev. Michael. The Board plans to appoint a follow-on task force to review our existing policies and procedures.

The Board aims to meet on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm in the Blue Room and on Zoom. Minutes are posted on the Fellowship Hall bulletin board and the Board 2025-26 Google drive.

Last Fall the Board reviewed a list of five proposed Board goals, including creating a draft of a new Governance Manual, revising and extending CVUUS’s five-year plan, and establishing a Stewardship Committee. However, a few questions might require additional goals, like: How do we build a workable five-year plan with a new minister? How will we plan to adapt to a growing congregation? What goals do we need to set to support our new minister?

The Congregation Calls Rev. Michael DeSantis

The Ministerial Search Committee, consisting of Priscilla Bremser, Elio Farley, Ben Long, Dorothy Mammen, Andrea Sambrook, Hannah Sessions, and Becky Strum, brought a candidate for settled minister to the congregation. On May 3, 2026 the congregation voted to call our Ministerial Candidate the Rev. Michael DeSantis as our settled minister who will begin Aug 1, 2026. We thank the Search Committee for their tireless work over the last year!

Annual Congregational Meeting

The 2026 CVUUS ANNUAL MEETING took place on Sunday June 7, 2026 after the worship service 11:30 am in our sanctuary and on Zoom. The Annual Meeting is where our democratic principles come to life. Non-members were welcome to attend and ask questions but cannot vote. We approved our Board officers and leaders for FY 26-27, the FY 26-27 Budget, and acknowledged our interim ministers, staff & efforts. Thanks to our President Brett Millier for her opening remarks of our accomplishments and challenges, our Search Team, our Treasurer for her finance highlights and Council of Ministries for the beautiful CVUUS Annual Report.

At the meeting, we followed our version of Robert’s Rules of Order. Ideally, the rules maintain a good balance between robust discussion and reaching decisions in a timely fashion. Here’s a flow chart that illustrates how a proposal (“motion”) makes its way to a vote. If you have never used Zoom, watch the “Join a Meeting” tutorial here.

Rev. Tricia & Rev. Christina seated with Hannah & Kerri

Interim Ministers Winding Down

The Board approved Rev. Tricia Hart (tricia.hart@cvuus.org) and Rev. Christina Sillari (christina.sillari@cvuus.org) as interim ministers starting August 2024 and continuing through 2025-26 while the congregation searched for a new settled minister to replace Rev. Barnaby Feder who retired in June 2024.

2026 CVUUS Annual Report

Please see the CVUUS Annual Report 2025-26 compiled by Michelle Spohnheimer on behalf of Council of Ministries. It shows how far we’ve come as shown in our CVUUS Annual Report 2023-24 compiled by Brett Millier.

Council of Ministries

Ministries (also known as committees or teams or councils) run specific areas of congregation life, including Facilities, Finance, Worship, Music, RE and Membership. The Council of Ministries, including representatives of all the ministry committees, meets once a month to coordinate the work of CVUUS. To contact any CVUUS staff, board member, committee, or team leader, please phone the office, 802-388-8080 during office hours or email office@cvuus.org. See this list of minsitries, teams, and committees.

Taking Wing Campaign

Stewardship Team organized an annual pledge campaign, Taking Wing, while laying the groundwork for a more comprehensive and sustainable approach to fundraising. The annual pledge drive kicked off March 1, 2026, and ran for four weeks with a thank you celebration on March 22, 20206. The target pledge goal was set at $340,000. As of the date of this report, there was a 3% increase in pledges & additional gifts over FY26 budget. Thanks to those who made pledges and could still do so here.