Common Street is a community that is volunteer-governed and mostly volunteer-led. Below please find a list of our current committees and teams. If you are interested in joining one of these teams, or want to get in touch with any of the team leaders, please send a note to info@commonstreet.org and we will connect you!
Council
The council is the central governing committee (aka the Board) of Common Street Spiritual Center. To contact the council, please send an email to council@commonstreet.org. For a list of current Council members, please click here.
Finance Committee
The finance committee is responsible for preparing the Spiritual Center’s annual budget, tracking income and expenses throughout the year, reviewing community decisions from a financial perspective, informing other committees and our membership in general about the state of our finances, managing our bank accounts and investments, and handling day to day matters of bookkeeping and bill-paying.
Building Committee
The building committee has oversight of the building and grounds of Common Street Spiritual Center, including routine maintenance and building improvements, artistic projects, and in general designing a positive environment. They sometimes do projects themselves and they sometimes oversee the hiring of outside contractors.
Membership Committee
The membership committee seeks to grow the community of Common Street Spiritual Center, both quantitatively and qualitatively. They welcome in new members and help them find a sense of belonging and engagement in the community. They reach out to inactive members to welcome them back, and also invite friends of the community to become members. They run an annual membership drive and in general maintain our membership list and membership directory. They also have an eye to promoting a culture of acceptance, mutual support, and collaboration.
Programs and Events Committee
The programs and events committee is focused on supporting programs and events that are led by members, friends, and partner organizations of Common Street Spiritual Center in fulfillment of our mission and vision. They support leaders in planning, facilitating, and promoting programs and events (including financial aspects), they envision and help to cultivate a robust, balanced, and inclusive range of programs and events, and in general oversee the offerings of the Spiritual Center.
Fundraising Committee
The fundraising committee promotes a culture of generosity among members and friends of CSSC, encouraging monthly giving and organizing specific fundraisers to address programmatic or building project needs. The fundraising team may also seek philanthropic or other financial grants.
Community Service Committee
The community service committee is a group of people who engage in community service together and create volunteer opportunities for people beyond the committee. They pay attention to the needs of the community, infuse our community’s values into constructive action for the common good, and partner collaboratively with other groups and organizations.
Director Advisory Committee
The Director Advisory Committee serves as an advisory group to the director and as support for the director’s leadership. They share hopes, ideas, and dreams. As support for the director, the committee interprets roles, functions, and needs of the director to the congregation. They work to support and maintain open and healthy relationships between the director and members of the community. In doing so they build and support a relational framework in which conflict can be dealt with creatively.
Open Circle Team
The Open Circle team organizes and plans our weekly Open Circles. They are responsible for the overall thematic vision of the Open Circle, for responding to feedback from participants, for inviting guest speakers, and in general tending to a transformative, enriching, participatory and engaging spiritual experience on Sunday mornings.
Peace and Justice Team
The Peace and Justice Team seeks to fulfill our mission to “envision a life-sustaining society and cultivate activities that bring peace, justice, and healing to the earth.” They speak on behalf of the rest of the community, organize activities to raise awareness and build solidarity, and collaborate with other peace and justice seeking communities.
Elders Circle
The Elders Circle is not defined only by age but by wisdom. The Elders are a group to seek advice from, including with the resolution of difficult feelings or conflicts that arise. Before making very big decisions, we can go to the Elders.
Spiritual Education and Integration Team (SEIT pronounced “Sight”)
SEIT serves to envision and implement programs that raise the consciousness of the community and promote spiritual growth. Educational programs bring new ideas into our communal conversation and enrich the lives of individual members. Practices of integration help people leverage spiritual experiences for personal and collective transformation.
Common Good Mini-Pantry Support Team
Everyone is welcome to take what they want and/or to donate to the Mini-Pantry. When the pantry is full, please leave donations in the lobby of the Spiritual Center. While the Mini-Pantry is self-serve, our team of volunteers check it daily to ensure that all products in the pantry are in good condition and unexpired, and that a mix of items are available. The Mini-Pantry is a standing invitation for people in our Natick/Metrowest community to come together and take care of each other in an inclusive, fun, and accepting way.
Interfaith and Racial Harmony Team
Finding Common Ground is at the heart of Common Street’s mission. This team is focused on practices such as interfaith dialogue, anti-racism work, educational programs, shared meals, and joint service projects that bring people together. In general they seek to bring greater unity to our diverse community and the wider world. They seek to partner with groups, organizations, and communities that share this sense of purpose.
Visioning Team
The Spiritual Center community is constantly evolving and growing. Our visioning team is a place where new ideas come to life and are organized into strategic initiatives, projects, and long term plans that can then be shared with the wider community and become actionable.
Community Wellness Team
The community wellness team tends to the health and wellness of the Common Street community–physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. They seek to not only support individuals but to foster a culture that is supportive of the health and wellbeing of all of our members.
Volunteer Nomination and Coordination Team
This team’s role is to interface with the membership of the community to find out how people might best contribute their time, expertise, and skills to the community through volunteering. They consult with various teams and committees to find openings and advise on the formation of new committees and teams as needed. Chairs and co-chairs of committees and teams seeking new members can reach out to this team for support.
Website and Social Media Team
This team helps to maintain and operate the Spiritual Center’s online presence through our website and social media channels.
AV Team
The AV Team helps to organize, maintain, and improve our AV capabilities at the center. They support members of the community who are putting on programs and events that require AV systems.
Response Team
The response team of Common Street Spiritual Center is responsible for handling cases of harassment or abuse according to our Safe Community Policy. If you would like to be considered for this team, please email info@commonstreet.org. To report an incident to the response team, please email info@commonstreet.org with “RESPONSE TEAM” as the subject.