Committees and Contacts

UUSD has two types of committees: Board Committees that are created by the Board of Trustees and Standing Committees that are authorized by the Board of Trustees and whose members are elected at the Annual Meeting. For more information, see the Committee Charges.

Each committee coordinates various aspects of congregation life according to its Charge. Members may join any Board committee in which they have an interest.

  • Board committees elect their own chairs with Board approval.
  • The Leadership Development Committee is a Standing Committee composed of three to five members elected by congregation members at the Annual Meeting each June.

The dates and times of committee meetings are listed on the UUSD Calendar.

If you are interested in joining or learning more about a committee, contact emails are provided below, or the Leadership Development Committee will connect you with the appropriate person.

Church Council: Provides cross-committee communication, coordination, and collaboration on issues impacting the congregation. The Council is made up of committee chairs or their designees. Responsibilities include promoting effective committees through sharing best practices, providing feedback to the Board of Trustees on important matters, sharing information about new activities and programs being planned, coordinating initiatives involving more than one committee, and sharing any concerns about the church and the congregation. Contact Carol Huckabee, Chair, at c.huckabee@uussd.org.

Communications: Promotes Unitarian Universalism and the vision, mission, and activities of UUSD in Sussex County, DE and neighboring areas. Responsibilities include: Beacon at the Beach newsletter; the UUSD website; social media; and advertising UUSD and its activities in local newspapers and media. Contact Aela Mass, Chair, at communications@uussd.org for general inquiries. Several teams operate within Communications; please see the below contact information for specific teams. Donna Davis is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

  • Beacon at the Beach Newsletter/Publications: Aela Mass, publications@uussd.org
  • Copy Editors: Kay Creech, k.creech@uussd.org, and David DeWitt, d.dewitt@uussd.org
  • Graphic Design: Aela Mass, graphics@uussd.org
  • Photo Team: Sue Brown, phototeam@uussd.org
  • Publicity: Alice Casey, publicity@uussd.org
  • Social Media: Ronnie Smith and MaryDiane Hausman, socialmedia@uussd.org
  • Website: Aela Mass and Anita Gossett, websiteadmin@uussd.org

Congregational Life: Advises the Board of Trustees on the overall congregational health of UUSD, provides support for conflict prevention and mediation, and practices a healthy mediation process. Deanna Duby, Chair, congregationallife@uussd.org. Carol Huckabee is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

Covenant Council and Affinity Groups: Contact Ruth Lamothe, Coordinator, at covenantgroup@uussd.org

Denominational Affairs: Informs the congregation about important decisions and activities of the UUA, CER, and other UU organizations and encourages active participation of UUSD members in them. Mac Goekler, Chair, at denomaffairs@uussd.org. Paul Barnette is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

Executive Team: Implements the responsibilities listed in their charge. Contact Rev. Heather Rion Starr at execteam@uussd.org.

Expansion Planning: Inactive

Faith Exploration: Supports and leads our community in their spiritual and religious lives. Jane Miller is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

  • Lifespan Faith Exploration, lifespanfaithexp@uussd.org
  • Adult Lifespan Faith Exploration, adultfaithexp@uussd.org
  • Children’s Faith Exploration, Michele Warch, Chair, at childrensfaithexp@uussd.org

Finance: Monitors the overall financial health of the congregation, and coordinates the development of the annual budget. Responsible for long-range financial planning, including the update of the strategic financial plan and The Cloud Society (planned legacy giving). Contact Dara Schumaier, Chair, at finance@uussd.org. Richard Wheeler is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

  • Cloud Society: Peg Hughes, cloudsociety@uussd.org

FUNdraising: Plans and sponsors church-wide fundraising events including the Annual UUSD Auction. Develops and coordinates other social activities. Contact Peg Hughes, Chairs, at fundraising@uussd.org. Linda Marsden is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

Governance Review Team: The Governance Review Team undertakes a systematic, comprehensive review of UUSD’s governance documents, with an eye to bringing them into conformance with current practice, desired future practice, and one another. Contact Mac Goekler and Rand Lytton, Co-Chairs, at govrevteam@uussd.org

Human Resources: Oversees evaluation and counsels with paid staff of UUSD. Contact Pat Murdock, Chair, at humanresources@uussd.org. Richard Wheeler is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

Leadership Development: Recruits members year-round for potential leadership positions, including service on the Board of Trustees, the Leadership Development Committee, and as committee chairs and members. It supports leaders through leadership education, mentoring, and coaching. Contact Co-Chairs, Rand Lytton and Lori Rocheleau, at leadershipdevelopment@uussd.org.

Librarian: Contact Millie Donnell, Chair, at librarian@uussd.org.

Membership: Welcomes all who are searching for a progressive religious home; greets visitors at Sunday services, and follows up with visits, letters, or phone calls; sponsors events to help visitors, friends, and new members get to know UUSD better and become involved in the life of the congregation. Contact Barbara Barnette, Chair, at membership@uussd.org. Jane Miller is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

  • Ushers: ushers@uussd.org

Men’s Covenant Group: Ken Loewy, Tom Delany, menscovgrp@uussd.org

Pastoral Care: Assists the Minister in providing pastoral care to members of the congregation, either in the Minister’s absence, due to Sabbatical leave, vacation, or illness, or in the event that the needs of the congregation temporarily exceed the ability of the Minister to attend to them concurrently. Contact Michele Cavanaugh, Chair, at pastoralcare@uussd.org. Rev. Heather is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

Property Management: Oversees the maintenance and management of the buildings and grounds at UUSD. Several teams operate under the jurisdiction of this committee. Contact propmgmt@uussd.org. Paul Barnette is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

  • Audio/Visual Systems & Operations: Susan Goekler, avteam@uussd.org
  • Energy: Allan Cairncross, energyteam@uussd.org
  • Kitchen Team: Karen Kreiser, kitchenteam@uussd.org
  • Landscape Management: Karin Westermann, landscapeteam@uussd.org

Safer Congregation Committee: Responsible for the overall oversight of the safety ministry and is accountable to the Board. Contact Ruth Lamothe, Chair, at safercongcomm@uussd.org. Carol Huckabee is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

Social & Environmental Justice: Through advocacy, activism, education, and witness, the committee engages the congregation and community in various local, national, and global issues promoting equality, peace, human rights, and sustainability. Focuses on justice in the areas of Economic, Environmental, Immigrant and Refugee, Peacemaking, Racial, Women, Family, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation. Contact Susan Goekler and Mac Goekler, Co-Chairs, at socialjustice@uussd.org. Donna Davis is the Board of Trustees Liaison.

Stewardship Ministry Team (SMT): To provide a vehicle for planning and coordinating a congregation-wide vision of generosity that will sustain a culture of stewardship and enable UUSD to thrive. Stewardship is an ongoing intentional process for giving our care, time, skill, intelligence, gifts, and money. We give freely and joyfully based on our values as Unitarian Universalists. Stewardship requires a reciprocal capacity for both giving generously and receiving the gifts given to us. As a spiritual practice, stewardship is generative and transformative, creating more meaningful connections with each other, as well as deeper levels of engagement with UUSD and the larger world. SMT Chair TBD.

UUSD Cares: UUSD Cares is dedicated to building relationships both within UUSD and outside in our larger community. The committee hosts events to bring each other together for fun, learning, and helping our community. Some events include potlucks (often in cooperation with other UUSD Committees), Giving Parades (collecting donations for our local communities in need), and helping to support special events at UUSD such as the 25th Anniversary Celebration. UUSD Cares specializes in helping others while building community and having FUN! Contact Kris Acker, uusdcares@uussd.org

Worship: Oversees the logistics of Sunday worship services as well as the programs for those services when our minister is not in the pulpit. Trains ushers and worship associates to support the Sunday services. Contact Jean Charles or Rick Welk, Co-Chairs, worship@uussd.org. Beth Law is the Board of Trustees Liaison.