Much of the work of Gaia Community is done by a variety of committees. As described in Article VIII of our Bylaws, membership in almost all of these committees is open to anyone, whether or not they are a member of the community!
You can find more information about specific committees, including who to contact if you are want to get involved, click below.
The Caring Committee takes care of members and friends outside of the context of 'official' programming. They make sure we don't miss out on birthdays and other life events in the community, make hospital visits when members are sick, and generally help out when people need it. Currently, the chair of this committee is Aubry; she can be reached at caring@gaiacommunity.org
The Communications Committee handles the bulk of Gaia Community's information sharing, both within the congregation and to the larger community outside. Communications keeps up this website, publishes a monthly newsletter (the Earth Healer), creates weekly printed announcements, and designs and prints congregational brochures and other outreach tools. If you have a talent for writing, design, or website programming, and want to put it to work for the Communications Committee, please contact Jamie, the committee chair, at communications@gaiacommunity.org.
The Finance Committee is responsible for assisting the Treasurer to prepare our annual budget, and to support the Treasurer in other tasks relating to collecting, accounting for, and spending Gaia Community's money. If you'd like to help out here, please contact John, our Treasurer, at treasurer@gaiacommunity.org or in person.
The KidSpace Committee guides the development of KidSpace, our program for children and teens. They find and develop curriculum for Sunday programming, recruit volunteers to teach classes, and may also serve as teachers. The KidSpace Committee meets monthly on the third Sunday, at 2:00p.m. at SMUUCh. The current KidSpace Coordinator is Linda. If you are interested in serving on the committee, or in teaching a class for one of our age groups, email kidspace@gaiacommunity.org, or look for someone with a red ribbon on their nametag at a Sunday service.
If you want to become a member of Gaia Community, you'll want to talk to someone on the Membership Committee. They staff the Greeter's Table on Sundays and at other events, hold our New Member Classes, and keep up our Member Directory. If you're interested in joining Gaia, or in helping out with the tasks of the Membership Committee, email membership@gaiacommunity.org, or look for Barbara, Devin, or Jamie at Sunday services -- they're the friendly folks with the yellow ribbons on their nametags.
Gaia Community's New Member Classes are held in three independent sessions. The classes are offered when interest is noted by a prospective new member.
The 3 sessions are called:
History of the UUA and Gaia Community
All About Gaia (Mostly)
Mock Ritual for Business
If you would like to take the new member class, please contact Devin or Jamie at membership@gaiacommunity.org or simply look for them on Sunday!
The Nominating Committee (affectionately known as NomCom) has the special task of recruiting community members to serve on the Board of Trustees or as heads of other committees. The Nominating Committee is comprised of three to five full active members, who are chosen at our annual Board Elections, and who serve for a term of one year. If you are a full active member, and would like to serve on the Nominating Committee, email nomcom@gaiacommunity.org and let them know you're interested.
The NomCom members for 2011-2012 are Amanda, Aubry, and Devin.
Gaia Community's Ritual Teams are trained in performing high-quality public rituals on a regular basis for our community (and sometimes for others as well). Unlike most committees at Gaia Community, there are some pre-requisites to becoming a member of Ritual Teams (or ritualist). All members have gone through the Excellence in Ritual training course, and many have years of experience not only in presenting rituals at Gaia Community, but with a variety of personal traditions as well. All members of Ritual Teams must also be Full Active Members, paying at least a minimum monthly pledge.
If you are interested in becoming a member of Ritual Teams, please contact Kimberly or David, the instructors for Excellence in Ritual, about attending the next class. If you are just interested in helping out with rituals that interest you from time to time, the committee welcomes that as well; there is a list of future rituals at the Greeter's Table with contact information for the people already involved with that ritual. You can also talk to ANY ritualist about being involved in rituals (they have a blue ribbon on their nametags), or specifically get in touch with David, the Ritual Teams Coordinator, at rtc@gaiacommunity.org
The mission of the Site Committee is to seek out a new home for Gaia Community; a building we can call our own. In pursuit of this goal, the Site Committee investigates financing options, views properties, and works with the Stewardship and Finance Committees to plan for our future. If you'd like to help achieve this long-term goal, contact Devin or Lizzy to volunteer for the Site Committee at site@gaiacommunity.org or in person.
The Social Justice Committee helps Gaia Community members to reach beyond our congregation and take action supporting our principles in the wider community and the world. Past projects of the Social Justice Committee include raising money for Heifer International, collecting holiday gifts for children receiving services through Jackson County Court-Appointed Special Advocates, sending care packages to pagan soldiers serving overseas, encouraging community members to volunteer for environmental stewardship activities, and fulfilling a wish list for Hope House, a local shelter for victims of domestic violence. Ongoing Social Justice activities include participating in the annual Blue River Rescue, and collecting donations of non-perishable food for Harvesters, a local food bank.
The Social Justice Committee is chaired by Andrew Turner, and meets monthly on the second Tuesday of the month, at 7 p.m. If you would like to join the committee, or attend a meeting, email sj@gaiacommunity.org, or talk to Andrew for more information.
Please note that as of January 11, 2012, the Social Justice Committee is also known as the Social Justice League of Justice (costumes not required).
The Stewardship Committee is responsible for helping Gaia Community grow and support itself. We coordinate the annual pledge drive, plan and put on fund-raising events, and help members and friends to find ways to volunteer within the community. Our annual events include the Longest Night Ball, a Spring garage sale, and the God Auction! We are always working to come up with new event ideas that will be fun and profitable.
The Stewardship Committee is comprised of Kimberly and Jamie and an ever-rotating group of awesome people who plan fundraising events. We meet often when gearing up for pledge drive and fundraisers. If you are interested in joining the committee, or helping with a specific event, send an email to stewardship@gaiacommunity.org.