We’re becoming so accustomed to meeting online, it does seem almost normal. EUU held its first online Annual General Meeting (AGM) last month, on Saturday 21 November, together with the first “open town hall” meeting.

In our official business, the members at the AGM approved the slate of officers for next year: Peter Jarrett of the Nominations Committee proposed that the current officers continue, so I will continue as President, Karen Kyker as Vice President, Jutta Hamm-Ullmann as Treasurer and Bonnie Friedmann as Secretary. For Jutta, this is her first election, as she stepped in when Michael Zink, elected as Treasurer last year, returned to the US. It’s been wonderful to work with Karen, Jutta and Bonnie over the past year, and I look forward to continuing our work together.

Jutta presented the Treasurer’s Report for 2020 and the budget for 2021 to the AGM, and both were approved. As Jutta explained, this year was an unusual one for our budget. While our spring retreat was cancelled, many participants kindly converted all or part of their fees into pledge payments. And our online fall retreat had a pay-as-you-can system that yielded extra funds for our Social Action work. In the end, 2020 is the first year in a long time where we paid into our reserves rather than drawing from them – an important shift, as we need to keep our reserves healthy for the future.

In other business, Carolyn Burlingame-Goff announced this year’s Appreciation Awards for all the volunteers who have given so much to keep our work going – please see the separate article! And please remember, as Carolyn told the AGM, volunteering is a great way to spend time with other UUs and work on something meaningful.

Peter Jarrett announced the spring 2021 retreat, which will be held online from 22 to 25 April. The theme will be Nourishing Body and Soul: The Ethics of What We Eat and Why, and the speakers will be Dr Aaron Gross and his partner, the Rev. Jennifer Channin. Stay tuned for more information! And if Carolyn’s words about volunteering inspire you, this retreat is a great opportunity to leap in! You can write Peter and the committee at retreatcommittee@europeanuu.org.

Even if meeting online has become normal, I very much look forward to seeing fellow EUU members and friends in person. I hope it will happen next year! I wish everyone all the best for the end-of-year holidays – Christmas, Hannukah, Chalica and more. And all the best for 2021!