Ministerial Relations Committee
The purpose of the Ministerial Relations Committee is to serve as a communication channel between the congregation and the minister. Members of this committee are elected by the congregation.
The most important functions of the committee are:
- To aid the minister in carrying on an effective ministry by being available for counsel;
- To keep the minister advised concerning conditions within the congregation as they affect relations between minister and members, with the main thrust to strengthen and improve relationships;
- To be available to interpret to the congregation the nature and scope of work of the minister, including clarification of role expectations for the minister and development of realistic priorities for minister and members;
- To consult with the minister and submit an annual compensation recommendation to the Board;
- To work with the minister on her continuing education program, sabbatical planning or other professional development, and to present such plans to the Board and congregation.
Members or friends of the congregation are encouraged to discuss any concerns they might have with regard to ministry first with the minister and then if needed with members of the committee.
These are the current members of the Ministerial Relations Committee
Barry Copeland
Anne Harrison
Mary Leonard
Biographies of Members of the Ministerial Relations Committee
Anne Harrison
Term Expires 2007
Anne Harrison grew up in Mississippi as a Southern Baptist. In college and later she explored the Presbyterian and Catholic denominations. She had a long career in nursing and nursing education retiring from the University of Colorado School of Nursing in 1997. In the early 1970’s she discovered the UU Church of Boulder and found views on life and spirituality which fit with those she had evolved on her own while not attending any church for 10 plus years. Although she dropped out of UUCB in 1982, she attended a UU church in Tucson while there and tried the Fellowship when she moved back to Boulder in 1990. Shortly after Catharine was called to the Fellowship she began to attend there regularly and signed the book in December 1999.
She has served the Fellowship: on the Adult Religious Education Committee for 5 years, two as chair; two years on the Board as Secretary; and two years as canvasser. She was elected to the Nominating Committee 2 1/2 years ago and Ministerial Relations Committee 1 1/2 years ago.
Mary Leonard
Term Expired 2006 – Mary agreed to stay on through the ministerial transition year
Mary reflects that, “UU congregations have always seemed like home.” She has been a Unitarian Universalist since she was 10 years old — over 60 years! Her first congregation was in Minneapolis, and over the years, she was active in Ames, IA, Lansing, MI, Portland, OR, Bloomington, IN, Harrisburg PA, Brookings and Vermillion, SD, and the UU Fellowship of Boulder — now the BVUUF in Lafayette.
Mary and Dave Leonard were married in the First Universalist Church in Minneapolis after meeting in the UU Liberal Religious Youth group at Iowa State University. They have three adult children and five grandchildren. The Leonards moved to Boulder in 1992 following Dave’s retirement.
In all the various congregations, women’s groups and social concerns have always been a high priority for Mary. At the UUF, she has also been a mainstay of the Fellowship Singers. Mary has served on a variety of UU committees, projects, and boards. Currently, she is a member of the BVUUF Ministerial Relations Committee.
Over the years, Mary and Dave have traveled frequently to District and UUA meetings, beginning with their first General Assembly in Vancouver, BC in the early 80s. In an earlier life, Mary majored in dietetics, interned at the University of Minnesota Hospitals, and worked briefly at the VA Hospital in Temple, TX — all before the Leonards moved to Lansing, where oldest child Julie was born. Their two sons are Oregon natives.
Barry Copeland
Term Expires 2008
Bio Requested. Picture pending.