The Prudential Committee (often called “The Pru”) is Arlington Street’s elected governing board. Prudential Committee meetings are held in the Arlington Street Zoom room on the third Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm. Pru meetings are open, and guests are always welcome!
Prudential Committee
Sandy Dixon, Chair
Richard Marshall, Vice Chair
Hala Hazar
Misty Hathaway
Harry Kelso
Art Nava
Bill Briggs
Darrell Waters
Dave Erbe
Officers of the Corporation
Hala-Mary Hazar – Interim Treasurer
Stephen Anable – Clerk
Sarah Cooleybeck – Co-Moderator
Jen Erbe – Co-Moderator
Arlington Street Church—A Democracy at Work
In 1788, Arlington Street Church caught the democratic spirit of America and left outside control to become self-governing. No longer was the church assigned a minister, now it chose its own. Rituals, once imposed by outside religious authority, were now fashioned by the ministers and members to suit their ways of worshiping. Today, each member of Arlington Street votes on the big decisions of the congregation. Arlington Street Church is democratically governed by its congregation through two core groups: the Corporation and the Prudential Committee.
The Arlington Street Church Corporation is comprised of the congregation’s membership. The Officers of the Corporation (Co-Moderators, Clerk, and Treasurer) are elected by the membership for one-year terms and preside over all meetings of the Corporation, where key decisions affecting the entire congregation are made.
Our governing board is known by the old Yankee name “The Prudential Committee.” The Prudential Committee was formed as group of individuals, respected for their wise and prudent management of assets and trusted to take care of church business between meetings of the Corporation. Our bylaws, voted on by the Corporation, serve as legal guidelines for the Prudential Committee. The Pru is made up of nine members, elected to three-year terms. Akin to a non-profit organization’s Board of Directors, our Prudential Committee is responsible for overseeing the finances, policies, long-range planning, and volunteer leadership that make church life possible. The Pru is also responsible for leading efforts to call, hire, and manage our ministerial staff.
Connecting with the larger Unitarian Universalist movement, the Corporation selects delegates to represent it at the annual General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Each June at General Assembly, delegates vote on major program directions for the denomination and register their opinions on world issues of justice and peace. They also receive information, ideas, and inspiration to bring back our congregation.
Covenant of Right Relations
Approved by corporation vote circa 2016
Introduction
Unitarian Universalists are united not by belief but by covenant: the sacred promises we make about how we treat one another and our world. Recognizing that conflict is normal and healthy, we embrace right relations not as a set of rules but as a spiritual practice that connects us to our own and others’ inherent worth and dignity and to the interdependent web of all existence. When our affections become strained, we seek to restore one another and our community to wholeness.
This covenant affirms our values and aspirations. Because we are imperfect beings, we will live this covenant imperfectly even as we seek its guidance. As each of us is responsible for upholding the covenant in congregational life, we will ask for assistance as needed from each other and our ministers.
We will lift up this covenant in our meetings, programs, communications, and worship. We will revisit it at least every five years, amending it as appropriate. It is a living document that will change and grow, even as we ourselves change and grow.
This covenant is used by Arlington Street Church with the
permission of First Church Cambridge.
Covenant of Right Relations
In the spirit of right relations, we covenant to:
Acknowledge and celebrate our differences.
Listen compassionately, speak respectfully, and take responsibility for our actions and feelings.
Speak from personal experience, use “I” statements, and avoid judgment, generalizations, and offering unsolicited advice.
Deal directly with others to resolve conflict.
Strive to stay in relationship through conflict.
Fulfill our commitments, complete our tasks, admit our mistakes, praise each other’s successes, and say “thank you.”
Ask for help when needed and give help as able.
Assume the good intentions of others.
