Greetings Members and Friends
I thought it was time to give you a short update on what has been or is about to happen around our Faith Home. It seems hard to believe that so much time has passed.
On the Spiritual side – we now have our transition minister- Rev Sam Schaal. He is here and settling in and will be officiating at our Worship Service on Sunday August 1. You should have received an invitation to attend the light luncheon in the Social Hall following the Service. If not – you are receiving it now! Please join us. We will be celebrating the Reemtsma’s birthdays at the same time.
Unfortunately, we are not yet at herd immunity, and we still have people in our State and County who have not been vaccinated. This has given rise to a surge of the Covid Delta Variant in several of our counties, Maricopa County being one of them. Because of this we are modifying our mask guidelines to follow the CDC and are asking everyone, vaccinated or not, to wear a mask when inside and in close contact to others. (of course, not when eating or drinking)
We are also limiting the number of people seated at each table for the luncheon. (4). I know this is not what we wanted; however, we have made it this far – let’s not jeopardize our chances going forward. We are not cancelling the event and we thank you for understanding.
On the practical side – we made our goal on the Welcome Home Project thanks to the generosity of our members. If all goes well, we will have a newly painted church with refinished front doors and an automatic door opener by the time the church year begins in September. Our trees have been trimmed and shaped; the HVac system in the Office area has been replaced with a new system; our new data management system – Breeze- has been uploaded and is being prepared for our use; clean up and organization has been done in the Church’s storage spaces and workroom; and lights in and outside the Church are being repaired and replaced with LED bulbs (saving money, maintenance and providing improved lighting).
Maggi Mahan has been busily forming a Music Committee and she and a few of the committee members are putting the finishing touches on the position description for a new Music Director. They have not quite completed this task, but they are – oh so close. Maggi and her committee have done a stellar job of getting this done, while keeping in mind the funding limitations we face. We hope to be looking soon for a perfect someone to lead our choir and put our choir members back in front of our Sanctuary. (We will have to wait for CDC clearance on singing!)
Our transition tasks continue. I will do my best to keep you informed and updated as we undertake these tasks. We will also be looking for assistance and if you are interested, I am sure we can find something for everyone as we begin the next steps in securing our settled Minister.
I would like to extend a huge thank you to Board Members, Staff, Committee/Team Leaders, and the Congregation for the support given the Church as we worked our way through the first phase of our Transition. Given the circumstances surrounding us, with the pandemic and the election, I would say we were successful in achieving our goals.
Doing this job remains a constant joy for me because of all the gracious and generous members and staff who step in to help when needed.
Yours still, in faith, friendship, and sincere gratitude
Sherry