Last fall, OUUC hired two new people to help us move forward. Those positions are changing, so here’s an update.

Lori Doran has served OUUC for three months as Community Life Coordinator and left the position this week. I am grateful to Lori for helping us reconfigure the Commons to be more welcoming and for creating a page on our website that lists all the ways a person can connect to groups at OUUC. I am excited about the possibilities and in the process of investigating next steps regarding this position. I will definitely keep you posted. Thank you to Lori for her service to OUUC and in the wider community.

Our search for a new bookkeeper has taken an unexpected turn in a good way. When the local person we chose let us know she needed to step away due to family concerns, we had to begin looking again. Darlene, our administrator, found a service based in Texas that specializes in supporting churches using Realm and its bookkeeping functions. We have engaged this service to help us set up our new chart of accounts and reports in Realm, which will let us use Realm this fiscal year. We anticipate better reporting for all of us and an easy way to share financial information with the Board and congregation going forward.

I see all of this change as growing pains on our journey of transition to a program-sized church. This transition has many aspects that range from replacing outdated software to reimagining staff positions for our future. As we explore resilience this month, we can practice that skill in the operations and management of our congregation as well as in our congregational life together.

In my sermon last Sunday, I defined resilience as adapting and changing when we are challenged, drawing strength from returning to our heart. Change and transition, which is sometimes challenging,  gives us the chance to practice adapting and changing, drawing strength from our core values and principles. May this indeed be so.

Blessings on your week,

Rev. Mary