Read the full issue of this week’s newsletter here: The Weekly Liberal April 2

This week, Rev. Jen Crow writes:

In the midst of so much hard news in our lives and our world, I’m thrilled to have some good news to share with you from church this week.

Rev. Ruth MacKenzie will stay with us through June 30 (about six weeks beyond her originally planned retirement date), and as soon as we can after that, we’ll say goodbye to her in person with a dance party/retirement celebration. We are incredibly grateful that Rev. Ruth will continue to share her leadership and care with us for a little longer.

Arif Mamdani, our Director of Membership and Adult Ministries, was welcomed into fellowship last week by the Ministerial Fellowship Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association. This means he has successfully completed all of the requirements for ministry, and now we just need to wait for his ordination before we can call him Rev. Mamdani. We’re thrilled for Arif, and we are also thrilled that he has agreed to increase his time with us, effective April 1. Arif is now with us full-time.

We look forward to Rev. Justin’s return from sabbatical on July 1, and we are grateful to continue to have Rev. Karen Hutt with us on a quarter-time basis.

As so many people all around us face the economic insecurity that comes with this global pandemic, we are glad to say that as an employer, the church will continue to keep all staff fully employed at pre-pandemic levels. No one is being laid off or having their hours reduced at this time, and we hope to be able to maintain full staffing throughout this crisis. The church is needed now more than ever, and we need our staff to help keep us connected.

Many of our staff are re-orienting their work right now to better serve our congregation and our community. For instance, our part-time front desk host, Aj Williams, is now our part-time video editor. John Steitz, who you used to see in the sound booth on Sunday mornings, is hosting our Sunday worship service on Zoom. Liz Farmer, our Administrative and Adult Ministries Assistant, who used to be responsible for office hospitality, creating the order of service, and administrative and program support, is now helping to support our move to virtual programming, including helping familiarize our lay leaders and congregants with Zoom. Lucia Webb, our Events Coordinator, who used to schedule your meetings in the building, is now scheduling your Zoom rooms and helping train the congregation in using Zoom. Jenn Stromberg, our Communications and Office Manager, has quickly turned into the coordinator of Sunday worship digital content and all things tech, keeping us connected as so many things change. Our facilities staff, Tracy Van Epps and Richard Thomas, have been deep cleaning the building and beginning renovation projects. Everyone is doing something new, and we are pulling together as a team to meet this moment.

I often say that a big part of my job as your co-senior minister is to ensure that the values of our church are being lived out within the institution itself. One of the most important ways we do that is by being a fair and equitable employer. I hope you will join with me in sharing your gratitude to our staff for all of their work in this trying time. I also hope that if you are able, you will let us know about your annual gift to the church for the upcoming fiscal year that begins on July 1. Your gifts are the primary source of income to the church, and our primary expense is our staff. Your annual gift, as well as any additional donations you can make, support the vital work of the church as we care for one another in these unprecedented times.

In gratitude,

Rev. Jen