How will First Church bring its visions to life? How will we live out our UU principles and covenant as a church body in the mid-2020s? How will we serve each other as stewards of our church home? And not just how: who?

These are questions at the heart of the responsibilities entrusted to First Church’s Board of Directors and Nominating Committee.

The Board is nine members who keep us going and take us toward where we want to go. The Board meets once a month and does a lot in between.

The Nominating Committee leads the church’s annual search for members who may feel a call toward leadership-in-community. (We are never “leaders alone.)

The time for that search is now. It works like this: The Board will need three new members, because three of its nine members will finish their three-year commitments in June. The Nominating Committee will also need three new members, as three of its six members will finish their two-year terms, also in June.

This renewal of shared leadership brings new energy, new ideas and new skills.

Board service is year-round. Nominating Committee work is focused from late January to May. Terms for both start and end in June, after the Annual Congregational Meeting, which is where the congregation votes on Board and Nominating Committee candidates.

We know: We are busy. We are stretched. We are healing. We are visionary. We are determined. We uphold each other. We respect each other. We listen. We learn. We yearn, for belonging, for the future, of our children, our grandchildren, our city, our planet. We care. We are present.

The Nominating Committee invites you to reflect on the future of First Church and hold in thought the sharing of your leadership in these roles, no matter how modest you might think it would be. You may also know someone you think would be a good leader: You are free to nominate them to the committee confidentially, and the committee will reach out to discuss the role possibilities with each individual.

It’s okay to feel unsure. But if the idea of Board or Nominating Committee service tingles your spirit or feels like a small, encouraging voice pointing toward a new step on your path, the Nominating Committee invites you into a conversation of discernment.

Email NominatingCommittee@firstuu.org, or grab one of us for a chat on a Sunday soon.

We are open to your hopes and your concerns. Service must acknowledge both.

Service on First Church’s Board or Nominating Committee is a deep way to cultivate your relationship to the church and to Unitarian Universalism. It’s good to talk about it.

We look forward to the conversations.

Natalie, Penny, Earl, Connie, Edmund, Jon, Lauri

Here’s what some past and present Board members have had to say:

When you are a Board Member, you deal with FUUCH not only in the present as a slice of time/circumstance, you are actually affecting its past and its future. Decisions made today have lasting effects and consequences.
—Connie

The benefits of being an FUUCH Board Director are being intimately involved with what's happening at FUUCH. Working with fellow Board Directors is a wonderful privilege and opportunity to better know fellow members of FUUCH. The responsibility is being one of the decision makers. You directly affect the future of Our Beloved Community.
—Johanna

As a Board member, you have a responsibility to help with the budget process and to monitor how the expenses affect our church life. This also means that you have an impact on church programs that pertain to all of our members. It also means that you have a great opportunity to work with our senior minister and make recommendations to him. You are also making sure that the church is running smoothly in being a part of the governance process. You will review governance policies and suggest changes that can improve the process.

I think you will find it to be very rewarding.
—Earl

You get a front seat view of what/how/when/why this church community operates and survives. You will definitely learn intimately some process, work flow and/or decision criteria that you never knew existed and now have an appreciation for. And, in my opinion, more importantly, you get to know fellow church community members so much better, and that enriches your life.
—Michael

The experience has felt like moving from having a 2D view to having a 3D understanding of FUUCH, which has deepened my appreciation and gratitude for FUUCH immeasurably. Board service provides a close-up view of what staff does, what volunteers do, which groups rent space and what they do, how unplanned events are handled, and how much time and energy so many members of this beloved congregation pour into creating and sustaining this community. I have made new friends, deepened relationships, and I have gained a greater appreciation of the role FUUCH plays in Houston and in the UUA—and through the UUA, in the world. It’s a good feeling.
—Ruth