Dear Ones: My Whereabouts
Beginning after the July 4th weekend I will be taking my annual summer vacation and study leave. As always, I will be available throughout the summer in the event of a pastoral emergency. Our UUS:E Office Administrator, Annie Gentile, and our Pastoral Care Committee chair, Gailynn Willet, will know how to contact me during this time if necessary.
A Time of Transition
During the course of the summer and into the fall, UUS:E will be going through a variety of staffing transitions, which I’d like to outline here. First and foremost, we warmly welcome Gina Campellone into the position of Acting Director of Religious Education. Gina will have responsibility for organizing and run¬ning the children’s religious education program in partnership with the Religious Education Committee. Welcome Gina!
Second, Gina will be joined by Mr. Barb Greve, who will be serving as UUS:E’s Interim Religious Education Consultant. The Interim Religious Education Consultant will serve as a change agent, paying spe¬cial attention to UUS:E’s children’s Religious Education program and the quality and growth of UUS:E’s multigenerational community. In short, Barb’s job is to guide UUS:E through the developmental tasks of the interim period. These include reviewing our congregational history with regard to religious education, envi¬sioning a new future for religious education, and making the changes necessary to achieve that new vision. Barb is contracted to work approximately 180 hours for UUS:E through the course of the coming year. He will conduct most of his work through video and conference calls since he will be living in California. How¬ever, he does expect to visit us three to four times in person. I want to thank the Interim DRE Search Com¬mittee for finding and recommending Barb to play this consulting role. (Members of that committee included Walt Willet, Peter Marotto, Clare DiMaiolo, Andrew Clokey, Krystal Kallenberg, Jennie Bernstein, Diana Creamer, Polly Painter, Monica Van Beusekom). We warmly welcome Barb!
Third, since Gina Campellone is leaving her role as Religious Education Assistant, we will be hiring a new staff-member to replace her. At the time of writing this column we have not yet begun advertising for this position. We hope to have the new RE Assistant on board by August 11th.
Fourth, UUS:E is about to launch a search for a Director of Music to succeed Pawel Jura, whose last service will by July 27th. Leaders from the Music and Sunday Services Committees have been putting a search committee together. At this point we do not know when that search will be completed. We expect to take our time and find the right person for the position. So, in the meantime, we are hiring Pamela Adams as our acting pianist and choir director. Pamela is an accomplished musician who some may remember as the final director of the Beethoven Chorus. She will begin providing music for UUS:E services in August. We warmly welcome Pamela!
You can see we are indeed entering a time of transition. While I know such times can produce immense anxiety, I also know that all the people working on these various transitions (through the search committees, the RE, Music and Sunday Services Committees, the interim transition team, the Personnel Committee and the Policy Board) are wonderfully capable of getting us through to the other side.
Wishing you a wonderful summer,
Rev. Josh
