VOLUNTEER at Beacon. In the community; throughout the world.

Serving others is one of the best ways for Beacon to feel like your community.

Beacon is a community of volunteers. From our worship services to small groups, from greeting to hospitality, from ministry teams to committees, there are so many ways that your service can make an impact on our mission of radical inclusion, feeding the human spirit and healing the world. Let us help you find a way to match your gifts with the needs of our mission.

Current opportunities:

An Invitation to Serve…on The Facilities Expansion Task Force (FET)

Have you been following the news of the progress of our plans for 695 Springfield Avenue with great excitement and a wish to do what you can to help? With one of our members stepping aside to spend more time in other states, we're looking for someone with organization skills, time, and commitment to Beacon so we can live into our mission and vision at 695 Springfield Avenue.

The FET meets on average twice a month, with email communication in between. Most meetings are in the evenings via Zoom. We would ask you to commit for at least one year.

The FET is focusing on:

  • Working with our Advisory Groups (currently Architecture, Sustainability, and Landscaping) for expertise in design aspects

  • Submitting an application to the Town

  • Tracking expenditures

  • Researching and obtaining vendors who help us deepen our commitments to anti-racism and sustainability

  • Keeping the congregation informed

We welcome all who are interested and encourage anyone with diversity, equity, and inclusion experience, administrative skills, communication skills, or engagement in social justice ministry to strongly consider joining the FET.

If you have an interest in joining this important work, we'd love to chat! Please reach out at fet@summitbeacon.org or phone a member of the task force.

Michele Blanchard, Steve Cramer, Jessica Park, Rev. Dr. Robin Tanner

How Does Our Building Communicate about Belonging?

A building can communicate welcome, belonging and accessibility. Or not. It's important to our community that our building radiate a radical welcome, not just for those who are members but for guests, partners, and random visiting clergy. To that end, we're creating a Facilities Team. Beacon is looking for volunteers with experience in accessibility and building maintenance. Our goal is to maintain our home and grounds through the lens of 8th principle, accessibility and inclusion. If you are interested, please reach out to Tuli Patel at tuli@summitbeacon.org

Free Cup of Coffee?

…you’ll find that plus the opportunity to join The Nominating Committee and be part of the exciting work of developing Beacon leaders!

Where are you on your spiritual journey?

Are you seeking to deepen your experience at Beacon? Wondering how you can serve?

We are here to tell you that service can be a very meaningful experience that deepens your own spiritual journey. Beacon is a voluntary organization (meaning our mission comes alive through our works), and we need volunteers who contribute curiosity, vision, commitment to anti-racism, a love for the community, and a desire to bring our UU principles to life.

Wondering what the Nominating Committee does? As one of only two Committees established in our bylaws, the Nominating Committee is officially tasked with proposing nominees for congregational approval for both the Board of Trustees as well as the Nominating Committee itself. Assistance to other committees and teams in helping to identify leaders is also provided when requested.

The Nominating Committee is committed to focusing on:

  • Identifying and developing leaders with a recognition of service as a sacred responsibility, and a meaningful and enriching part of our spiritual journey at Beacon.

  • Working toward Beacon’s stated commitment to dismantle racism by using new practices, specifically transparency and accessibility, in nominating, selecting and supporting members in leadership and service.

These priorities guide our efforts to update and expand our practices for identifying leaders, and we welcome your strengths and your voice in continuing this work!

What you will find:

  • A small, committed group that works closely and affirms their time together as valuable and sacred

  • An exciting opportunity to meet and interact with Beacon leaders as you help fill Beacon’s Board and Nominating committee with passionate members

  • A chance to further Beacon’s commitment to our 8th principle through focusing on a leader’s development by encouraging the use of resources and opportunities to further their education in dismantling systemic racism

Why not include your name in this year’s nominees to serve on this important committee! Want to learn even more? We’d love to chat! Please reach out at nomcom@summitbeacon.org or phone a member of the committee.

Kendall Murano

Kris Gordon

Nancy Skinner

An Invitation to Serve on the Widening the Circle Committee

Background

The Widening the Circle Committee (WTCC) was created by the Beacon Board of Trustees in 2021, inspired by Beacon’s adoption of the Eighth Principle and our congregational covenant that affirms our commitment to anti-racism. The Board charged the committee with examining how White privilege and White supremacy is at play at Beacon and with developing processes for dismantling racist and oppressive systems.  The committee aims to nurture an inclusive and racially equitable Beloved Community.

Our Work

The committee is focusing its initial work on three areas of congregational life: leadership, faith formation and member care, with each area assigned to a subgroup of the committee for close study. We seek to:

  • Develop and support leaders who are committed to their own antiracism journeys and who embody the Eighth Principle in all of Beacon’s work. 

  • Develop programming that guides congregants on a journey of self-reflection about race, privilege and oppression – a journey that enables us to live out our values and honor our commitment to antiracism in a spiritually nourishing, faith-forming process.

  • Ensure inclusive, antiracist practices that welcome and support members from their first step through Beacon’s doors, through meaningful engagement with small groups and the larger congregation, and through life events that require pastoral care.

In addition to these core areas of focus, the committee acts as a consultant to other committees and groups at Beacon seeking to identify and eliminate oppressive practices and barriers to inclusiveness. Examples from the past year include consultations with the Nominating Committee, which nominates candidates for the Board of Trustees; and the Facilities Expansion Team, which is exploring building options for our property at 695 Springfield Avenue.

The committee aims to listen deeply to those who have experienced oppression and exclusion, to identify individual and shared concerns, and to seek remedies and promote accountability for harms done. Individuals and groups are invited to raise awareness of systemic inequities and to suggest remedies. 

The committee also is monitoring the experiences of other UU congregations to identify effective practices that could be used to dismantle racism at Beacon.

Makeup of the Committee

To keep the committee vibrant and engaged with the broader congregation, its nine members serve staggered three-year terms. We seek diversity in our membership, as well as members with experience in various aspects of congregational life. The committee includes two liaisons to the Board of Trustees, serving staggered terms, so we can maintain a strong connection with the congregation’s top governing body, with which we partner to effect change.

Want to join us? We invite you to apply if you embody these qualities:

You have an ongoing commitment to exploring your own racial identity, including learning about the impact of the conditioning you received in our White-dominated culture.

You are willing and eager to lean into structural change aimed at dismantling racism at Beacon and are accepting of and willing to stay engaged when inevitable conflict arises in the course of that work.

You recognize that the committee is doing long-haul work and are comfortable with the fact that there is no clearly defined course. We will learn as we go. We will make mistakes. When we make mistakes, we will learn from them and keep going.

White-identified candidates must be willing and able to remain accountable to and to center the voices of those with traditionally marginalized identities.

As a member of the WTCC, no matter what your racial identity, you must understand that your own liberation from White supremacy is bound to the liberation of all. Guidance from the Global Majority is necessary and highly valued on this journey to liberation.

You are able to listen deeply, share vulnerably and hold other members’ vulnerability with compassion and care.

Experience in racial justice work, organizational change initiatives and managing conflict dynamics is welcome but not required.

To apply, please send an email expressing your interest to widencircle@summitbeacon.org. We will follow up to talk with you about your application. Please note that members of the committee are required to have engaged in some antiracism training, such as Summit Dialogue Circles on Race, a Racial Equity Institute workshop, Jubilee, Beloved Conversations, or something similar to these programs.

We welcome questions. Feel free to reach out to any of the current members of the committee, signed below.

Co-leaders

George Faison

Kendall Murano

Janet Roberts*

Additional members**

Susan Spencer Cramer

Ingrid Loeuis

Suzanne Pallak

Kimi Nakata

Marty Rothfelder

*Liaison, Board of Trustees

**We have an additional vacancy (return to top)

Beacon Café

We Provide the Apron... You Provide the Smile

The Beacon Café is back on Sundays! We're still looking for volunteers at 10:15 am and at 12 pm every Sunday. It can be a one-off volunteer experience or a monthly commitment. If you love hospitality, this is your gig! Plus, it's an easy, fun way to meet people and build your Beacon community.

Please email chris@summitbeacon.org if you are interested in volunteering for Beacon Café. (return to top)

Chaplain Ministry

Have you wanted to grow your gifts in supporting people in your life? Beacon Chaplains are volunteers trained in active listening who work with our ministers to extend the spiritual care of our community. Our ministry affirms that everyone needs care at different points in their life and everyone provides care to others. We extend spiritual care, defined as intentional compassion through presence and listening, into our community. But Beacon chaplains also know that we aren't alone in doing so. What we also affirm is that all of us at Beacon can grow our abilities to both offer and receive presence, listening, and support.

Would you like to join our Beacon Chaplain ministry? Chaplain responsibilities include:

  • An initial 5-hour chaplain training, in person

  • Ongoing anti-racism training

  • Monthly 1-hour meetings (most often, via Zoom)

  • Optional: Leading our Sunday candle lighting and/or special rituals.

  • Optional: Connecting regularly and confidentially with a Beacon person who has spiritual support* from a chaplain.

Chaplains have different gifts and strengths, identities and backgrounds. We offer multiple ways that chaplains can choose to engage in our ministry. For each option, we offer training and ongoing support. *Our chaplains do not offer meals or rides.

We are seeking people with:

  • A willingness to show up, to learn, and to listen

  • A willingness to meet people where they are, both physically and spiritually

  • An ability to follow boundaries and requirements, to keep confidentiality, and to seek help when needed.

Interested? Reach out to Robin at robin@summitbeacon.org.

Beacon Hope and Equity Advisory Group

Background: Beacon Hope and Equity Center,“Beacon Hope,” is a supporting[] organization of the Beacon UU Congregation.  Beacon Hope began in 2020. In December of 2021, Beacon Hope received approval as a 501c(3) organization.  Beacon Hope is committed to the establishment of equity[1] and the seeding of hope.  In order to build an equitable world Beacon Hope’s primary goal is to dismantle racism, understood as prejudice plus power. To this end, our collective focus is the decolonization of wealth.[2]  

So far, Beacon Hope put forth a matching grant for the Summit Interfaith Council’s Fund for Undocumented Individuals and their Families as well as created microgrants for immediate relief to neighbors in Newark, Patterson, and Morristown.  In addition, we recently coordinated with RIP Medical Debt to abolish over $2M of medical debt in NJ. 

We are planning  to have an official launch that highlights community leaders, in particular organizers, on June 4th.  We are looking to partner with the Beacon Hope Advisory Group to plan this launch; to consider how to develop our microgrant program and to help to identify new Board members to join Beacon Hope.  

The present Board members of Beacon Hope are: Jessica Park (President), Joe Parsons (Treasurer), Rosalee Boyer, Rosa Santana, Pat Vogler, and Charlene Walker.  Rev. Robin serves as the Executive Director for Beacon Hope.

[1]  2nd Principle of the Unitarian Universalist Association

[2]  Decolonizing Wealth by Edgard Villanueva.

Responsibilities and Qualities

Responsibilities:

  • Help plan official launch on June 4th

  • Advise Board on best practices for impacted-person-centered decision making.

  • Advise on Board development practices and potential Board members.

  • Share about Beacon Hope and Equity Center with Beacon members, friends and the wider community.

Qualities:

  • Training or experience with anti-racism and anti-oppression work

  • Willingness to develop new models and structures

  • Commitment to dismantling racism as a core part of Beacon’s mission (return to top)

Membership Action Teams

Visitor Team:

The Visitor Team ensures an inclusive welcome for in-person and virtual greeting.  The Visitor Team coordinates the Welcome Team on Sundays in-person as well as the chat during the virtual service.

New Member Team:

The New Member Team follows-up with all visitors in order to welcome them to the congregation and help them understand potential pathways for Beacon connection.  This Team coordinates and leads Starting Point as well as the New Member class.  They coordinate the 4-month small group for new members.

Visitor Team Coordinator:  

Role Description:

  • Coordinate the team to ensure visitors are welcomed whether they are walking in the door or logging onto the virtual service

What’s Needed:

  • Knowledge of Beacon

  • Welcoming Personality

  • Willingness to train volunteers

New Member Coordinator:

Role Description:

  • Coordinate a team of volunteers with Rev. Robin to help new members connect and find their community within Beacon for connection and contribution

What’s Needed:

  • Knowledge of Unitarian Universalism

  • Desire to companion people on a spiritual journey

  • Ability to develop small group sessions and facilitate

  • Awareness of Beacon activities and ministries (return to top)

Finance and Endowment Committees

You know that Beacon depends on your generous financial support, but have you ever wondered what happens next? Thought about how we plan a budget to serve Beacon’s mission, balance our many priorities, and preserve our legacy for future generations?

It’s about a lot more than reading spreadsheets and financial statements! We’re looking for members with diverse skills and experiences, who are committed to UU principles and care deeply about our beloved community, who would like to help Beacon “put our money where our mouth is.”

If that sounds like you, please come meet with us and learn more about the Finance and Endowment Committees. We’d love to talk with you about how you can participate.

Core responsibilities:

  • The Finance Committee provides oversight on behalf of the congregation, and advises the Board of Trustees on meeting its fiduciary responsibility.

  • The Endowment Committee looks after our longer-term funds, keeping them safe and appropriately invested to support Beacon’s mission well into the future.

But we promise we’re not all accountants and mathematicians! We bring a variety of perspectives, and much joy and passion to the time we spend together. It’s a part of our spiritual journey. No matter your background, we commit to helping you prepare as a committee member so you can contribute meaningfully to this important work.

Want to learn more? Please contact one of these Committee members:

  • David Gordon, Chair, Beacon Finance Committee, davidagordon2@gmail.com

  • Jennifer Skarda-McCann, Chair, Beacon Endowment Committee, jsmccannlaw@gmail.com

  • Alejandro Polo, Treasurer, Beacon Board of Trustees, alejandro.polo@icloud.com

  • Dr. Tuli Patel, Executive Director, Beacon Lead Ministry Team, tuli@summitbeacon.org (return to top)