TREE OF LIFE INTERFAITH TEMPLE
  • Home
    • About Us >
      • Annual Report 2021
    • Contact Us
    • Our History
    • Our Founder Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt
    • Our Presiding Minister Rev. Linda Goodman
  • Join us
    • Worship Services >
      • Upcoming Worship Services
      • Worship Service Proposal Form
      • Archive
    • Classes and Offerings >
      • Covid-19 Protocol
      • Seekers Book Club
      • Conversations in the Wilderness
      • Growth in Connection
      • Social Justice Group
      • Think Indigenous
      • Presiding Minister’s Office Hours
      • Class Proposal >
        • Class Proposal Form
        • Program Presenter Contract
      • Archived Classes at the Temple >
        • Winter 2021-22 Classes >
          • Hope and Action for Our Times
        • Sparrows 2021 >
          • Lil Bits of Heaven
        • Fall 2021 classes >
          • Exploring Your Dream World
          • Teilhard, Tom and Us
          • The Healing and Empowerment of Women in the Gospel Stories
        • Summer 2021 Classes >
          • Monday Meditation
          • Book - Radical Regeneration
        • Spring 2021 >
          • Dream Works
          • Spiritual Resiliency for Everyone
          • Our Sacred Call
          • Rise Up and Call Her Name Part 2
        • Sparrows 2020 >
          • Interfaith Spiritual Practice
          • Lovers in the Wilderness: Discover Your Path to Mystical Unity
          • On the Shaman's Drum
        • Fall 2020 Classes >
          • Writing Personal Essay and Memoir as a Spiritual Practice
          • A Sacred Calling - Crafting End of Life Celebrations
          • Braver Angels - Depolarizing Political Conversation
        • Spring 2020 Classes >
          • Better Angels - Depolarizing Political Conversations
          • SEVA (Service Project) 9 week Free Yoga with Carol Gaudreau
        • Sparrows 2019: Owned and Operated by Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt, our Presiding Minister >
          • Living The Prayer of Jesus Book Signing
          • On the Shaman's Drum
          • Pray Without Ceasing
        • Fall 2019 Classes >
          • Winter Solstice Spiral Walk
          • Building Your Yogi Toolbox
          • Cooking Basics for Health & Wellness
          • Introduction to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
          • Writing Personal Essay and Memoir
        • Spring 2019 >
          • Chakra Vibration - An Inner Journey
          • Grief Yoga - Moving to Empowerment
          • The Secret Garden
          • What is Happiness - How do we find and nurture it
          • Psalm 23
          • Yoga Nidra
        • Winter 2019 >
          • Spiritual Dowsing
          • Tai Chi
        • Fall 2018 >
          • Call of the Morning Dove
          • Gentle Yoga
          • Interfaith Approach to Christian Mysticism
          • Hinds' Feet on High Places
          • Lord's Prayer in Aramaic
          • Mala Workshop
          • Our Relationship with Food
          • Soul Collage
          • The Hero-Heroine's Journey
          • Writing Personal Essay and Memoir
    • Membership >
      • 2022 Membership & Pledge Drive
      • Becoming a Member
      • Membership Overview
      • Ministers Roster
    • Our Community >
      • Volunteer Opportunities
      • Our Ministries/Our Lives >
        • Carol LaChance
        • Stephanie Rutt
        • Camilla Sanderson
  • Interfaith Seminary
    • Rev Ahjan Grossman - Seminary Director
    • The Vision: We Are Called
    • The Seminary Program >
      • Curriculum
      • Spiritual Practice
      • Community Service
      • World Religions
      • Ministerial Duties
      • Seminary Guides
      • Fees , Scholarship Aid & Applications >
        • Seminary Application
        • Scholarship Aid
      • Bookstore >
        • Seminary Core Curriculum
        • Suggested Reading
        • World Religions
    • Seminarians' Reflections >
      • Our Journies
      • 2020
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • 2013
      • 2012
      • 2011
    • Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program
  • Interfaith Collaboration
    • World AWAKE
    • Peaceful Journeys
    • Interfaith in our neighborhood
    • Community Outreach
  • Donations
    • Donations for us
    • Donations for Seminary Scholarship Fund
    • Donations for our neighbors

Annual Meeting

Voter’s Guide - March 20, 2022

“Everything is a blessing, even meetings. Whether its meetings, or running gassers or lifting,
​it's an opportunity, and the best thing to do is be thankful for it.”

~ Eric Berry
Dear Tree of Life Members ~

Purpose of this document

The purpose of this document is to outline the history and reasons behind the issues up for vote at the time of the annual meeting. This document has been prepared by the Leadership Council after much discussion. Questions about the issues in the document can be brought to the Annual Meeting, which will take place at 11:15am EDT, March 20, 2022, after Sunday Service, on zoom.

Issues to be brought to a vote
1. Budget
2. Procedures around leadership

Budget
The attached budget document includes the overall picture of our income and expenses from last year as well as projected expenses for the upcoming year.

Your pledges and donations are the bulk of our income. These fund our basic expenses, such as our mortgage, insurance and utilities, providing weekly worship, offering stipends to our Presiding Minister and Administrator, and providing scholarships to our seminary. In addition, we are still working to renovate and improve our new physical location. Additional donations from our community will allow us to fulfill more of our wish list, including increasing our stipends for worship leaders, transforming the cement floor on the lower level of our temple, and improving our technical equipment for upcoming hybrid worship and classes.

You, the Membership of the Temple, are requested to vote to accept or reject the budget as presented.
The Leadership Council recommends a “yes” vote.

​
Procedures around leadership
The past couple of years have been a steep learning curve. Not only did we suddenly shift from in-person to online worship and classes due to the pandemic, we also shifted from operating under our Founding / First Presiding Minister to having a new Presiding Minister. In addition, in accordance with our bylaws, we called forth an Associate Minister, a position that did not previously exist.

We have seen, experienced, and hopefully learned a lot through these transitions. First, it takes a while to learn the Presiding Minister role and get into it comfortably, so that one can actually have the impact one is hoping to have. COVID didn’t help this; as Rev. Linda was learning to be our first Presiding Minister after Rev. Dr. Stephanie, she also was trying to captain our vessel in uncharted online waters.

Along with this, we found that the new Associate Minister position is harder to define than we expected. It is neither just an assistant role nor a completely independent role. The position relies heavily on communication and coordination with the Presiding Minister. In addition, the way the role was created carries with it a lot of pressure. The requirement that the Associate Minister succeeds the Presiding Minister after two years limits the position to someone willing to, first, put a minimum of four years into leadership of the Temple, and secondly, be willing to become Presiding Minister. We take this opportunity to thank Rev. Debb-Ellen who courageously jumped into the position and who served as well as the difficult circumstances allowed.
​
​
For these reasons, the Leadership Council is proposing that the following policy changes regarding leadership be incorporated into the Temple bylaws via amendments:
  • The Presiding Minister’s term is changed from two years to a four year term.
  • The Presiding Minister may be voted into office a maximum of two consecutive terms.
  • The position of the Presiding Minister will not be left vacant. If there are no qualified candidates at the end of the current term, the standing Presiding Minister will continue in the position until a replacement can be voted into office.
  • The Associate Minister will be nominated by the Leadership Council, including the Presiding Minister. The nominee will then be presented to membership for approval. Potential candidates for the Associate Minister position will be discussed and a nominee will be selected. (If anyone in the community is interested in learning more about the position, they should contact the Leadership Council. Initial conversations with the Presiding Minister to explore the idea are encouraged.)
  • There will no longer be a requirement that the Associate Minister succeed as Presiding Minister. The term for an Associate Minister will continue to be two years, allowing for multiple people to serve as Associate Minister under a single Presiding Minister.

You, the Membership of the Temple, are requested to vote to accept or reject the proposed bylaw changes as presented.
The Leadership Council recommends a “yes” vote.

​In conclusion
Thank you for being part of the membership of Tree of Life Interfaith Temple and for thoughtfully engaging with and responding to these issues. You are encouraged to attend the annual community meeting to review and discuss the information and questions in this document.

Respectfully submitted,

Your Leadership Council
Rev. Linda Goodman, Presiding Minister
Rev. Karen Manchester, Admin, Treasurer, and Zoom Lead
Alexis Eaton, Council Secretary and Programs Liaison
Rev. Ahjan Grossman, Seminary Director and Outreach Coordinator
Rev. Carrie Ives, Website Guru and Facebook Lead
Vote now -ballot
Budget Documents:
Picture
Picture
Picture
Vote now - ballot
TREE OF LIFE INTERFAITH TEMPLE
5 Northern Blvd, Suite 8
Amherst, NH 03031-2330

603 732 0224
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Community Calendar
Monthly Newsletter!
Be sure to LIKE us on Facebook!
  • Home
    • About Us >
      • Annual Report 2021
    • Contact Us
    • Our History
    • Our Founder Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt
    • Our Presiding Minister Rev. Linda Goodman
  • Join us
    • Worship Services >
      • Upcoming Worship Services
      • Worship Service Proposal Form
      • Archive
    • Classes and Offerings >
      • Covid-19 Protocol
      • Seekers Book Club
      • Conversations in the Wilderness
      • Growth in Connection
      • Social Justice Group
      • Think Indigenous
      • Presiding Minister’s Office Hours
      • Class Proposal >
        • Class Proposal Form
        • Program Presenter Contract
      • Archived Classes at the Temple >
        • Winter 2021-22 Classes >
          • Hope and Action for Our Times
        • Sparrows 2021 >
          • Lil Bits of Heaven
        • Fall 2021 classes >
          • Exploring Your Dream World
          • Teilhard, Tom and Us
          • The Healing and Empowerment of Women in the Gospel Stories
        • Summer 2021 Classes >
          • Monday Meditation
          • Book - Radical Regeneration
        • Spring 2021 >
          • Dream Works
          • Spiritual Resiliency for Everyone
          • Our Sacred Call
          • Rise Up and Call Her Name Part 2
        • Sparrows 2020 >
          • Interfaith Spiritual Practice
          • Lovers in the Wilderness: Discover Your Path to Mystical Unity
          • On the Shaman's Drum
        • Fall 2020 Classes >
          • Writing Personal Essay and Memoir as a Spiritual Practice
          • A Sacred Calling - Crafting End of Life Celebrations
          • Braver Angels - Depolarizing Political Conversation
        • Spring 2020 Classes >
          • Better Angels - Depolarizing Political Conversations
          • SEVA (Service Project) 9 week Free Yoga with Carol Gaudreau
        • Sparrows 2019: Owned and Operated by Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt, our Presiding Minister >
          • Living The Prayer of Jesus Book Signing
          • On the Shaman's Drum
          • Pray Without Ceasing
        • Fall 2019 Classes >
          • Winter Solstice Spiral Walk
          • Building Your Yogi Toolbox
          • Cooking Basics for Health & Wellness
          • Introduction to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
          • Writing Personal Essay and Memoir
        • Spring 2019 >
          • Chakra Vibration - An Inner Journey
          • Grief Yoga - Moving to Empowerment
          • The Secret Garden
          • What is Happiness - How do we find and nurture it
          • Psalm 23
          • Yoga Nidra
        • Winter 2019 >
          • Spiritual Dowsing
          • Tai Chi
        • Fall 2018 >
          • Call of the Morning Dove
          • Gentle Yoga
          • Interfaith Approach to Christian Mysticism
          • Hinds' Feet on High Places
          • Lord's Prayer in Aramaic
          • Mala Workshop
          • Our Relationship with Food
          • Soul Collage
          • The Hero-Heroine's Journey
          • Writing Personal Essay and Memoir
    • Membership >
      • 2022 Membership & Pledge Drive
      • Becoming a Member
      • Membership Overview
      • Ministers Roster
    • Our Community >
      • Volunteer Opportunities
      • Our Ministries/Our Lives >
        • Carol LaChance
        • Stephanie Rutt
        • Camilla Sanderson
  • Interfaith Seminary
    • Rev Ahjan Grossman - Seminary Director
    • The Vision: We Are Called
    • The Seminary Program >
      • Curriculum
      • Spiritual Practice
      • Community Service
      • World Religions
      • Ministerial Duties
      • Seminary Guides
      • Fees , Scholarship Aid & Applications >
        • Seminary Application
        • Scholarship Aid
      • Bookstore >
        • Seminary Core Curriculum
        • Suggested Reading
        • World Religions
    • Seminarians' Reflections >
      • Our Journies
      • 2020
      • 2018
      • 2017
      • 2015
      • 2014
      • 2013
      • 2012
      • 2011
    • Spiritual Mentoring Certificate Program
  • Interfaith Collaboration
    • World AWAKE
    • Peaceful Journeys
    • Interfaith in our neighborhood
    • Community Outreach
  • Donations
    • Donations for us
    • Donations for Seminary Scholarship Fund
    • Donations for our neighbors