President Jeff Pipes reported that we’ve had another successful year with stable and growing membership and and an especially successful school program. He also reported that we have a stable financial report for the past year.
Membership & Community
Our member renewal rate stands at 91.1%, a testament to the strength and warmth of this community!
We celebrated four youth B Mitzvahs this summer and had two adult B Mitzvahs last summer after last year’s Annual Meeting.
Solemn and meaningful High Holidays were led by Rabbi Eva with a number of deeply felt presentations from members of our congregation. We held both major holiday services at the First Unitarian Society (FUS), which while very nice, poses a parking challenge. The EC is considering where to hold holiday events in the future and we’d like your input.
Our Passover Seder drew over 120 attendees, with a participatory reading of the Haggadah led by Rabbi Eva. We joined FUS for a festive Purim, complete with a bouncy house, numerous fun games, and an aerial artistic presentation during the reading of the Megillah. Kids and most adults came costumed! Other community highlights were our summer picnic & Havdalah, our Yiddish Shabbes (thanks Sarah Berman Young), Saint Paul Saints baseball game outing (thanks Carrie Dickson), and Jewish Christmas (thanks Naomi Rockler). To continue and increase our social events we will establish a Social Event Coordinator volunteer position.
We launched our new website. It presents Or Emet with a more modern look with lots of smiling families and children. It should also allow us to handle payments more easily for holiday meals, dues, and donations. Thank you to all who helped over the past two years, including past members Rob and Dave who continue to volunteer on our behalf. A special thank you to Rabbi Eva for getting us past the finish line.
On a more somber note, we lost several long-term OE members, including Gwen Leder, Beryl Greenberg, Muriel Sterne, and Edna Bernstein. Our hearts go out to their families. We mourn their loss, but their memories will be a blessing and live with us forever.
Financial Picture
As of May 30, we have about $118K in total reserves, but with a few large bills to pay this summer—the fiscal year ends August 30. There were higher rental and food costs for the holidays this past year than in previous years. Rabbi Eva’s position was adjusted from .4 to .6 FTE to better reflect the hours necessary to do her job. Next year, the EC will work on:
- Managing increases in rental costs and the possible hiring of a part-time bookkeeper
- Exploring fundraising efforts to ensure sustainability
- Working to further publicize Or Emet and build membership
- Updating our strategic plan
A Voice for Justice
Rabbi Eva was highly active with other Rabbis and clergy, and other community partners. Or Emet members have been active and visible participants in protecting our immigrant neighbors’ rights and safety. Molly Phipps and Howard Schneider appeared in the NYT and MPR, respectively, in relation to their activities. Many more of us have done our part to help our immigrant neighbors. Rabbi Eva has represented Humanistic Jewish values in press conferences, hearings, public forums, and policy discussions, standing up for immigrant rights, secular democracy, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigrants, and those impacted by the war in Israel and Gaza. Or Emet marched in the Twin Cities Pride Parade and Rabbi Eva staffed the J-Pride booth.