Welcome, everyone!
The new Board took office in May 2015 with a challenge to restore confidence in the Branch. The task was several-fold – to improve communications and sharing among our members, to encourage, sponsor and support Branch festivals and events, to provide more openness and transparency in Branch governance and to restore order and clarity to the Branch’s finances. We accomplished much of this through the following:
Offering an excellent new monthly/bimonthly Branch newsletter, The Michael Messenger.
- Developing a new web site, including an on-line interactive calendar, secure on-line payments of dues and donations, and more information about the Branch and Branch governance. The website is more modern (e.g., support mobile devices), easier to navigate, has more useful functions, is easier to maintain and expand, and is more attractive than our previous website.
- Replacing the listservs for RSB-NC-List and RSB-NC-Members with a faster web provider and more secure management of the lists.
- Sponsoring and supporting Branch festivals, with very successful celebrations of St. Johnstide, Michaelmas, All Soul’s Day, Advent Sundays, the Holy Nights, Passion Week and Easter. We also actively encouraged workshops and similar offerings from Branch members.
- Sponsoring and supporting Branch events, including the John Billing concert, Glen Williamson’s December presentations, and three Branch meetings (a Conversation about the Society with Marian Leon and Elizabeth Roosevelt, a Report on the Anthroposophical Society AGM, and a celebration of Rudolf Steiner’s birthday).
- Bringing order to the Branch’s finances by transferring accounting for the Branch to Quickbooks, adjusting bank accounts to reflect the specific restricted fund balances, and providing additional support for the Branch through free-will donations from each Board member.
- Providing community outreach by volunteering at the Emerson Waldorf School Holiday Faire.
Another major challenge was to address issues and concerns among a number of members that resulted from events occurring prior to and at the 2015 Annual General Meeting (AGM). The new Board held four meetings open to the community, and, while the proceedings were not perfect, they did allow the major issues to be heard to the best of our ability. We trust that these matters have ended as a public concern, and we have encouraged those who feel they have not been sufficiently heard or their viewpoint has not been honored, to talk with that person directly and strive to understand the other person’s good intentions.
We also addressed another area of concern, about the Board’s role in the Branch and in the cultural and spiritual sphere. We held conversations with several individuals about this question and concluded that the Board has a central role in all of the cultural activities of the Branch and so has a central role in the cultural life of the Branch. Discussions will, no doubt, continue.
