Board of Trustees

In a Unitarian Universalist congregation, the congregation itself holds all the decision-making power of the organization. There is no higher authority to tell us how to conduct our affairs, what minister to hire, or even which people should be ordained although much advice and counsel is available through the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Through its bylaws, UU Asheville’s Members delegate authority and responsibility to the Board of Trustees to act on behalf of the congregation between congregational meetings. We have 9 board members.

The Board meets every month, normally on the 1st Tuesday of the month, at 6:30pm in the Board Room of 23 Edwin Place. Board meetings are open for observation but permission to speak at a meeting can only be granted by the Board president prior to the meeting.

Elections are held at our Annual Meeting in early June.  To contact a member of the Board of Trustees email information@uuasheville.org.

Governance

UU Asheville’s Board of Trustees has chosen to organize the work of the congregation using policy governance. In this form of governance, the mission and future vision of the congregation is defined by the Board of Trustees in “conversation” with the congregation. The Board’s primary jobs are to use whatever methods it deems fit to discern the will of the Members of the congregation regarding its goals and mission and to monitor that the work of the congregation is leading to the fulfillment of the goals and mission.

The Board of Trustees maintains a Governance Document that lists the mission and goals (the goals are written in the form of “Ends Statements” that provide a description of what things would look like if the goal was accomplished) and how and when they will monitor the work of the congregation.

The work or ministries of the congregation are organized to achieve the goals and mission. Using the model of policy governance, the “Executive” is the role of the person or team that leads the work/ministries. At UU Asheville, the Executive role is filled by the Lead Minister. All of the staff and all of the committees of the congregation except the Nominating Committee report to the Executive.