From Our Board President
Dear Fellow Countryside Members and Friends –
It’s hard for me to believe that it’s already July and we’re beginning a new church year. It’s also hard for me to believe that I’ve completed one full year as Board president, and what a consequential year it has been. Think of some of our major accomplishments this past year. We have hired a new contract minister – Rev. Dr. Emma Farrell, who will begin their ministry with us on August 1. We hired a new Director of Religious Exploration – Dr. Mary Lamb Shelden, who began work on June 1. And we said goodbye to Rev. Pam Rumancik and Rev. Karen Mooney, who retired at the end of June.
We owe our sincere thanks to Rev. Pam and Rev. Karen for their steady, experienced and thoughtful leadership these past two years. Two years ago, the congregation didn’t know what a contract ministry was. Two years later, we not only know what a contract ministry is, we also know what a contract co-ministry is. We’ve grown quite a bit as a congregation because of Rev. Pam and Rev. Karen. They helped us recognize both weaknesses and strengths that we didn’t realize we had, and they worked tirelessly to help us become a better congregation. They have left the congregation better than they found it, and I know we will remember them with fondness and deep appreciation for years to come.
After a busy June, we now enter into a quiet period. July and August have traditionally been quiet months at CCUU, but this July will be somewhat different in that we will not have a senior minister. Most of us won’t notice a difference, since the Board, the ministries and the congregation will go about their normal activities. This quiet period will give us time to prepare for the arrival of Rev. Dr. Emma, who will officially start as our senior minister on August 1. I’m not yet sure what Emma’s office hours will be, so I suspect August may be somewhat quiet as well. In any event, I know we are all eagerly awaiting Emma’s first service, which will be our in-gathering service on September 13.
On a different matter, we found out recently that ComEd gave us the OK to proceed with our solar panel project without any additional costs. While this project hasn’t moved along on the schedule we originally set out, at least we will have the new solar panels in place, probably by sometime in September. That’s great news.
All in all, things are looking up for CCUU. We will begin the new church year with a new Senior Minister, a new Director of Religious Exploration, and new solar panels. I can’t wait to begin working with Rev. Dr. Emma and Dr. Mary and to see how the church grows and evolves during the upcoming year.
Thank you,
Gary LaBedz, Board President