 Unitarian Universalist Church of Loudoun Newsletter
May 2008
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HAVE A BALL AT THE UUCL SERVICE AUCTION
UUCL SERVICE AUCTION
Sykes Hall, Leesburg 4-H Fairgrounds
17564 Dry Mill Road, Leesburg VA 20175
6 - 10 pm
Dancing will follow the auction
Masquerade begins at 6 pm
Wear costumes, vintage clothing, or your favorite party clothes.
Prizes for 1) funniest, 2) most original, 3) most elegant and
4) best all around costume.
Masks of diverse colors, shapes and styles will be provided,
or bring your own. We'll have crowns and hats too!
Potluck Dinner at 6:15 pm
Bring an appetizer, salad or entreé for 6-8 people. No desserts
please. Beer, Wine and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Provided
COME AND BID ON...
THE BEST DINNERS IN THE COUNTY,
FUN AND EXCITING EXCURSIONS,
LABOR-SAVING SERVICES,
AND JUST HAVE FUN SOCIALIZING,
WHILE YOU BENEFIT OUR CHURCH
We're looking for designated drivers. Please let us know if you can
drive someone home. Contact a member of the Auction Planning
Committee: Marco Chevez, Barbara Elvin, Gina Faber, Ricky Keech,
Catherine Motivans, Carol Moses, Laura Montgomery, Jim Reynolds,
Karen Ward or Leslie Wright. If you would like to lend a helping hand at this fun and fabulous annual event, contact Catherine Motivans at motivans@verizon.net.
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GOVERNING BOARD ELECTIONS OFFICIAL!
Thank you to all the members who attended the April 27 Congregational Meeting to elect the new UUCL Governing Board. The new board members will take their offices at the beginning of the next fiscal year in July.
President: Ricky Keech
Vice President: Mel Harkrader Pine
Secretary: Denise Kirwan
Treasurer: Rich May
At Large: Sheldon Pratt, Gina Faber, JoAnn Robinson |
REMINDERS
ONE SERVICE BEGINNING MAY 4
Every year, UUCL switches to just one service per Sunday over the summer. We're starting a little early this year with one worship service at 10AM starting Sunday, May 4th.
Religious Education classes, however, will continue through the end of June. | |
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Sunday Worship Services - 9:30 & 11:15AM
May 4: Travels to Neighboring Faiths
Join the youth from UUCL's Religious Education program as they share
their experiences visiting neighboring faith services over the past several months.
May 11: Mother's Day: Wear Lipstic Rev. Amy Kulesza DeBeck
May 19: Vision and Insight Rev. Amy Kulesza DeBeck
May 25: The Shape of Our Worth: Our 7 Principles in Mime & Music
Bull Run Unitarian Universalist Youth Troop will lead this service
in Mime and Music to demonstrate the worth of our 7 UU Principles.
June 1: What Welcoming Means Rev. Amy Kulesza DeBeck
REMINDER - UUCL will begin our summer service schedule with one worship service starting Sunday, May 4th at 10AM. Religious Education classes will continue through the end of June. |
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Religious Education News
I hope you will join our Youth Group Sunday, May 4 as they present a service inspired by their travels to "Neighboring Faiths". What have they learned from visiting a Catholic Mass? Baptist Service? Buddhist Wat? Sikh Gurdwara? Come support our Youth Group and enjoy a service like you have not participated in before.
DESPERATELY SEEKING:
* Youth Group Leaders for the fall. Can you spare some time each month to spend with our UUCL Youth developing a Coming of Age Program for our Middle/High School aged group? Please see me for information.
* Summer Religious Education Teachers: Our theme this summer is "The Arts" again since it was so well received last year. Do you have some art or a talent you would like to share? Can you lead a short nature hike around our building? Plant some flowers? Make a bird/butterfly house? We are excited to see what you have to offer!
* Fall Religious Education Teachers and RE Committee Members: It is not too early to start thinking about how you can help our program. We have fabulous, thorough curriculum selected but need enthusiastic teachers to help out.
A special THANK YOU to all youth and parents who participated in our Neighboring Faiths program for our Youth Group this year. I had a fabulous time and really learned a lot--about other faiths, and about our wonderful inquisitive UUCL youth (and about what 4 boys will do to the inside of a van on the way home from Ashburn!). Not only did we learn about other faiths, but they learned about Unitarian Universalism. Thank you!
Grace of the month:
As our bodies are sustained with this food,
May our hearts be nourished with true friendship
and our souls fed with truth.
Denise Kirwin, RE Committee Chair |
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Canvass Process
There has been a little bit of confusion surrounding the Canvass process and I'd like to help clarify that for everyone. During the Canvass/Pledge Drive a member of the Canvass group will be contacting you to schedule a face-to -face discussion about your feelings, wants and needs for the church. If you are unable to or uncomfortable with meeting face-to-face this interview can be conducted via phone, or you can choose to fill out the survey privately and return it to the church. Whenever possible, it is preferable that the canvass be done in person so that an open and honest discussion can take place and you can be heard. This conversation can be 'on the record' if you like, and your name can be provided so that follow-up can occur; or it can be 'off the record' and no one other than your personal Canvasser will ever know what you said. They have all been sworn to secrecy if that's the way you want it. The Canvass is all about your opinions and will be used to shape the future direction of our community, as well as by the Minister Task Force in selecting a candidate to recommend to the Board for approval.
The Pledge Drive, while conducted simultaneously with the Canvass is a separate issue. We use the pledges of members and friends to build a budget on which our church will operate for the coming year. The results of the Pledge Drive will determine what type of Ministry we seek (quarter, third or half time?) what programs we are willing to fund, and of course, it pays the bills, keeping the lights on and the heat working. It is also important to remember that we receive absolutely NO money from outside sources - in fact we pay thousands of dollars in dues each year (based on the number of members we have) to the Joseph Priestly District and Unitarian Universalist Association to fund their work. The money we send these organizations comes back to us via programs that support our church, such as the new advertising campaign in Time magazine (in the issue just out this week - check it out!), programs such as helping match Ministers to congregations (we're using this one in a big way), Religious Education resources, Worship resources and much, much more. If you are interested in knowing more about the programs these bodies fund, I heartily recommend you check out their websites at www.uua.org and www.jpd.uua.org.
So please, talk to your Canvasser when they come calling. If they haven't yet, I promise they will. If you don't hear from someone soon please contact me or any other Board member. Think about the church and what you want for it when you fill out your pledge. Each one of us has different life situations and what we can afford is ours to decide. But please give as generously as is practical so that we can continue to grow into the community that we are meant to be!
In faith,
Ricky Keech
Vice-President |
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MAY HAPPENINGS!
Saturday, May 17 - Fabulous UUCL Yard Sale! (8am-Noon)
. . . at the Ward's home in Leesburg, 111 Belmont Drive, SW, Leesburg, VA. Drop your itemsoff the night before (priced, please, except for clothing which will be bulk priced). Then come back and help sell on Saturday, or to buy each other's great stuff! There's a family fun-fest at an elementary school close by, so we hope to get extra traffic from families visiting the fun fest.
Sunday, May 25 - Church Clean Up, and Eat Up
(immediately following service)
So this is the excuse you've been looking for to "dress down" for services :-) Wear your overalls and join the Grounds Committee for a few hours of work and lots of praise and reward (from everyone!). There will be a wide variety of tasks, including general clean up and organizing to painting pews and even some tree trimming (bring work gloves, extra painting supplies and a chain saw, if you know how to use it). We'll have some simple grill foods available to keep up your energy, so join us for this first annual Memorial Day weekend clean up! Contact Dan Davis for more info: davisdb@verizon.net
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FAREWELL PARTY FOR REV. AMY! JUNE 22, 2008, 4pm
Join friends and members of UUCL to celebrate Rev. Amy DeBeck's time at UUCL and bid her and the DeBeck men (Kevin, Henry and Charlie) a fond farewell as they make their way to their new home in Indiana over the summer.
The farewell fun starts at 4pm at the home of Dan & Brenda Davis in Ashburn. Please bring a side dish to share. Hot Dogs, Burgers and beverages will be supplied. Kids should bring their bathing suits for the water slide that will be in the back yard, and everyone should come prepared to share their favorite "Rev Amy" story.
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MINISTER SELECTION PROCESS
Losing a Minister is never easy, especially one that we've all grown to love so much as we do Amy. While we watch her move on to her new ministry, it is natural to have feelings of sadness, as well as joy and pride throughout the community. Amy has stood with us through good times and bad, and she has been a steadfast supporter of our community, our religion and each of us personally. And we have stood with her. Just as Amy helped us grow as a church, we have helped her grow as a minister as she moved from intern to ordination while in our church family. She may be leaving, but we will be forever joined on our spiritual path, and for that we are grateful.
So what next? Everyone has questions, and while we do have some answers, we don't have all of them quite yet. This is a learning process, and we're learning too. But I'll attempt to describe the process by which we will go about finding our next Minister. Unlike many religions which have a central authority that simply sends out a new minister, we have what is called 'congregational polity' and the decision of who will serve as our Minister is solely ours to make. Fortunately, the Unitarian Universalist Association has an excellent program for matching up Ministers with congregations and they will guide and assist us every step of the way.
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In the first step, the Governing Boarddecides on what type of Ministry we are searching for, based on input from the members of the Congregation. The different types of Ministry are: "Called" (a permanent Minister, and a very long process that requires a 90% plus positive vote of the entire congregation); "Interim" (a Minister trained to help a congregation achieve specific goals to work toward called ministry, hired by the Board and cannot be considered for a calling); and "Consulting" (kind of in-between Interim and Called) hired by the Board for a specific amount of time, but can be called if the stars align. With very little time to conduct an exhaustive search, and based on the advice of our District Executive, Rev. Dr. Richard Speck, we have opted to go with a part time Consulting Minister. This will give us the opportunity to have Ministerial presence in the near future, and keep the door open to calling a Consulting Minister if we are able to sustain the financial support necessary to "call" a half or full time minister.
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The next step is for the Board to appoint a task force to facilitate finding our new Minister. The task force is in place and begins meeting this Sunday, May 4 after services. The first step for the task force is to pull together information about UUCL to give a "snapshot" of who we are. They will use this information to fill out various on-line questionnaires and surveys so that prospective candidates will be able to find out who we are and what our church community is like. Think of it as match.com for UU Churches! To guide them in their work, the task force will use the results of our recent canvass questionnaire, hold open meetings (all are welcome, please attend!) and occasionally pick our brains.
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After we've completed all of our surveys and questionnaires, Ministers that are looking for a church will be able to access our info on the UUA's website. If they're interested, they'll let the UUA Transitions office know, and if that office feels it could be a good match, they'll allow us to access that Minister's profile. (Sounds more like match.com with every step doesn't it?)
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Once the task force has identified a couple of Minister's we're interested in, we will exchange 'packets' with them. Our packet will include information about our church, including sample Orders of Service, the budget, info about our membership, pictures of us, etc. The Minister's packets will include information about their Ministry style, samples of sermons, personal profiles, etc.
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The task force then narrows it down to the one Minister that they will recommend to the Board. We plan to involve the Congregation as much as is practical through this process. The Board will then make the final decision about whether or not this Minister is the right one for us. (Keep in mind that while we're checking out our prospective Minister, he or she is also checking us out.) If there is a decision to make an offer, contracts and duties will be discussed and once everyone is on the same page . . . we'll have our Minister!
If this sounds like quite the process, that's because it is! No decision a congregation makes is more important than choosing a spiritual leader. The UUA has vast resources and experience that enable them to help us ensure that we select the right Minister for our congregation, and we intend to take full advantage of their help.
I hope this helps everyone understand the process a little better, and knowing what's going on allays some concern. We will keep the congregation fully informed as this process proceeds, and encourage and welcome any comments, questions or input anyone may have. The Task Force has set up a special email address for you to share your thoughts: UUCLMinTaskForce@yahoogroups.com.
Please feel free to contact me or any other Board member should you have anything you'd like to discuss. My personal email address is rkeech@uuloudoun.org and the whole Board can be reached at board@uuloudoun.org. We are here to serve you!
In faith,
Ricky Keech
Vice-President |
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SAVE THE DATES IN JUNE!
Congregational Meeting - June 1
Meeting will start after services and includes voting on budget for next fiscal year.
Annual Picnic - June 8
It's time for UUCL's Annual Picnic! On Sunday, June 8 after services, head over to beautiful Algonkian Park for lots of family fun. Bring bathing suits, blankets, towels, side dish to share and sunglasses!
Farewell Party for Amy - June 22
Come to the home of Dan and Brenda Davis to say goodbye to our beloved minister, Rev. Amy. Share your favorite "Rev. Amy" stories, good wishes and hugs as she and her family perpare for their new journey to Indiana. RSVP to Brenda at newsletter@uuloudoun.org. |
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WOMENSPIRIT
UUCL's women's earth-centered spirituality group will meet at the
church at 7 pm on Friday, May 16. Bring a rock to cast a circle,
snacks & beverages to share.
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Committee/Group Meetings
Membership Committee Meeting - meets at 7:00PM on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at the church Chris King and Dene Hill are co-leading the membership committee this year and are looking for new members to be a part of this important committee. Come join us to develop creative ways to reach people. All are welcome!
Worship Committee
Peggy Fallon is chair of the worship committee and is working on summer services. The worship committee is open to suggestions and input, so please feel free to share your thoughts or become involved in this committee. Contact Peggy for more information at: mlfallon@aol.com.
Caregiver Support Group - The caregiver support group provides an opportunity for people who are acting as caregvers of a loved one (parent, sibling, child, friend) to share resources or information and find comfort in a safe and supportive environment. For more information on the caregiver support group, contact Bernadette Wladyka at bernwladyka@yahoo.com.
Book Club- For up-to-date information, join the Book Club Yahoo Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/uucl-bookclub)
Religious Education Committee Meetings - meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7:30PM at the church. Meetings generally last about an hour (children welcome to play quietly while we meet). Here are some things we are working on this fall: Curriculum mapping, Creating a Master Calendar, Nurturing our Youth Group(s), and initiating a Coming Of Age program. Can you help out? If you cannot make the meetings but would still like to be part of our discussions, join our Yahoo group: UUCL-RE@yahoogroups.com
Board Meetings - First Thursday of the month at the church, 7:30PM. All welcome.
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UUCL'ers Keep Loudoun Beautiful
by picking up trash along Gleedsville Road
The trash pick up was organized by Sandy Shihadeh and helpers included Barbara Elvin, Barbara Berg, Marco Chavez, Ricky Keech, Arnie & Debra Tanner, Dan & Brenda Davis, Chuck Harris, and Peggy Fallon (she took the picture). |
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HOSPITALITY HELP?
If you can help open or close the church, or provide snacks onSunday mornings, please sign up at the back of the church, or email to hospitality@uuloudoun.org.
Thank you!!
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The UU JAMMERS - May 9, Paul & Karen  Ward's in Leesburg
A group of mUUsical friends has formed to get together and play music once a month, just for fun. Everyone who is interested in playing, singing, or just listening is invited. Things to bring: instruments, lyrics, songbooks, drums, voices, snacks & beverages to share. For directions and more information, contact Karen Ward at DRE@uuloudoun.org.
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Green Tip of the Month
Can turning right save the planet?
Have you heard the story about UPS? It designs all routes to have only right-hand turns because this saves the company at least 3 million gallons of gas a year and reduces emissions by 32,000 metric tons. Think about it the next time you have to wait a long time at Sycolin. Is there a better route where I can
Turn right? |
THE WIDER COMMUNITY
Murray Grove programs coming up soon!
Seasons of Sage-ing, May 15-18 and November 6-9, 2008 - led by Rev. Patricia Hoertdoerfer. Explore the paradoxes of the seasons as reflected in the challenges and blessings of aging - celebrate the poetic beauty of your one wild and precious life!
Ways to the Spirit, July 11-13, 2008 - led by Rev. Karen Foley and Rev. Craig Hirshberg. A Weekend of Spiritual Practice for Unitarian Universalists: prayer · meditation · art · music · movement · yoga · t'ai chi · labyrinth walking · silence · spiritual direction
1st Annual Community Drum Festival! August 15-17, 2008 - led by Tom Brown, Skip Leib, Amy Schindler and Maire Tashjian (ViRAGO), Lara Gonzalez and Yael Schacham (Marafanyi). Join us for an exciting full-moon weekend filled with opportunities to express yourself creatively and spiritually through the magic of drumming and dance: ancient practices with roots in ritual, religion and celebration!
Homecoming 2008: A Mid-Atlantic Celebration, September 27, 2008, 10:00-4:00 - A regional UU gathering to celebrate our roots, spirit and future.
Murray Grove is also available for congregational and family gatherings, pool parties, family reunions, etc.
Call 609-693-5558 or go to www.murraygrove.org for more information
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The Reverend Dick Gilbert to Headline UUCF Social Justice Dinner
Saturday May 10
All are welcome! Enjoy a buffet dinner, entertainment, awards presentations for social justice work, and keynote speaker Reverend Richard S. Gilbert at the annual Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax social justice dinner on Saturday, May 10 at 6:00 p.m. UUCF is located at 2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton, Virginia - just off I-66 outside the Beltway.
Reverend Gilbert recently retired after 44 years as a UU minister in Ohio, Colorado, and New York. He is author of several books, including "The Prophetic Imperative: Justice Making in Unitarian Universalist Congregations", and the "Building Your Own Theology" adult religious education serices. He also is the recipient of the UUA's Holmes-Weatherly Award for faith-based social justice work.
Price of tickets: Adults $12, Children $6, Family $30. To purchase tickets by mail or phone, contact Nancy Commisso: 703 503-4541 or nmcommisso@aol.com;
OR Karen Rasmussen: 703 573-1420 or karenrasmussen@aol.com. |
UUA NEWS
UU Advertising Campaign
The Unitarian Universalist Association has begun a second phase of
national advertising with the April 14 edition (on newsstands now) of
TIME Magazine, the most widely read news magazine in the United States
with over 3 million subscribers and 21 million readers. The UUA
full-page ad, which carries the slogan, "When in Doubt, Pray. When in
Prayer, Doubt" includes an offer for a free DVD to introduce Unitarian
Universalism to newcomers.
The May 12 issue of TIME (available on newsstands May 2)-the popular
"TIME 100" issue-will carry a UUA ad with the provocative headline, "My
God is Better Than Your God," and will also include the free DVD offer.
The TIME 100 issue features 100 people whose power, talent or moral
example help to transform our world, and is one of the most heavily read
issues of the year.
The UUA will also resume advertising using Google Adwords. Advertising
via Google Adwords has already attracted thousands of new visitors to
UUA.org, UUWorld.org, and the UUA's "Find a Congregation" website.
The UUA's national advertising campaign is supported through the
generosity of Unitarian Universalist congregations who contributed to
Association Sunday, held last fall. The UUA's national marketing
campaign has energized congregations and individual UUs. For more
information on the UUA's national marketing campaign, see
http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/marketing/44189.shtml .
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In order to provide congregations with the best guidance possible, the UUA has released an updated edition of The Real Rules: Congregations and IRS Guidelines on Advocacy, Lobbying, and Elections. The new version provides clear, up-to-date information on what congregations can and cannot do, drawing heavily on a binding decision issued by the IRS in June 2007. Most of the text comes straight from IRS publications, with sources clearly footnoted. Please discard previous editions and use the new one! The version date on page 2 should be 2008-03-28. You can access The Real Rules and other key social justice resources at www.uua.org/socialjustice/resources.
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IMMIGRATION
In honor of May Day the UUA has posted a new a resource Welcoming the Stranger: An Immigration Resource for Unitarian Universalists. This printable booklet includes facts about immigration, related UU policy, a statement from President Sinkford, sermon excerpts, ideas and resources for taking action, and ways for youth to get involved.
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UUCL BOARD MEMBERS/USEFUL CONTACTS
President: Glenda Parsons: gparsons@uuloudoun.org
Secretary: Catherine Motivans: cmotivans@uuloudoun.org
Treasurer: Leslie Wright: lwright@uuloudoun.org
At Large:
Carol Moses: cmoses@uuloudoun.org
Minister: Rev. Amy Kulesza DeBeck minister@uuloudoun.org
For an appointment, call 571-235-2021
Director of Religious Education: Karen Ward DRE@uuloudoun.org
Newsletter: newsletter@uuloudoun.org
Worship Committee: worship@uuloudoun.org (Peggy Fallon, chair person)
Hospitality: Joan Erikson joanerikson@aol.com |
UUCL's Amazing Aliases
"Worship" and "caring " and "finance", Oh my! When you can't remember who is membership chair, want to suggest a worship topic, or ask an RE question, just click your heels 3x and use the UUCL email aliases. No need to keep track of changes in personnel or spelling of email addresses, just find the right alias.
Many of the aliases are already listed on the About Us page of the UUCL web site, but here is a complete list of Aliases. Use these in newsletters, email correspondence, the UUCL mailing lists, etc without fear of privacy issues. Be assured that the mail will get to the responsible person.
Example: To volunteer to help close on November 11, send an email to hospitality@uuloudoun.org, and it will go right to Bernadette W. and the hospitality committee!
UUCL Email Aliases
Group/Committee |
Alias |
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Governing Board |
board@ |
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Building &Grounds |
bandg@ |
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Calendar |
calendar@ |
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Caring |
caring@ |
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Comm on Ministry |
com@ |
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Info/Technology |
infotech@ |
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Webmaster |
webmaster@ |
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General Inquiry |
info@ |
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Leadership Dvlpm't |
leadership@ |
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Membership |
membership@ |
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Communications |
newsletter@ |
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Hospitality |
hospitality@ |
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Public Relations |
pr@ |
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Minister |
minister@ |
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Religious Education |
re@ |
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Director of RE |
dre@ |
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Social Action |
sac@ |
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Stewardship/Finance |
finance@ |
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Welcoming |
welcoming@ |
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Worship |
worship@ | | |
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