Town Hall Recap

Dear UVC,

Last week, our church gathered (remotely) for a time to hear updates on the health of the church, status on transitions, and answer questions. Here are the highlights:

SITES

• South Loop Next began initial trials of evening services at Momentum Coffee shop in May were promising, so the gatherings will continue through the end of August, every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month. These events are smaller, more intimate, and experimental. There will also be opportunities for fellowship in between gatherings. A challenge has been fewer first-time visitors, so a focus on outreach will also be part of summer activities.

• Edgewater has been focusing on recovering and rebuilding. The greeting team has been really fantastic, in terms of recognizing visitors. The first summer outreach event took place at a local block party. More outreach is to come, as well as focusing on building out opportunities for small group gatherings.

• Wicker Park is in a time of discernment about whether or not to stay in Vittum, due to lower attendance. There is a good flow of Sunday worship volunteering. New people are visiting every week. However, among newcomers and regular attenders, noticing that not folks are not attending weekly. A “Fire and Water” team has been developed to reflect on where the fire of God is moving and where the waters of the spirit are nurturing. Outreach experiments are in the works–spoken word open mic nights, worshiping in a local bar, etc.

• Hyde Park-Woodlawn is like a beehive; everyone is ready to jump in on Sundays and for outreach events, and the worship team has grown under the leadership of new and seasoned worship co-leaders (s/o to Ashley and Rico!). The site explored different worship times to see if it was possible for Pastor D’Angelo to attend both WP and HPW on Sundays, but it didn’t work out. Thanks for being gamers, HPW!! Fellowship will begin at 10:30am, followed by worship at 11am. Exploring having more voices up front on Sunday mornings.

• West launched very strongly fall 2021, with 4 strong starting point groups taking place since then. Site explored asset-mapping a few weeks ago, which resulted in 5 ministry teams to help keep the site growing and healthy. RFUMC funded an “accessibility audit” to identify the ways that the building can be more hospitable to those who are living with disability. Challenges around supporting the growing number of babies and children have risen up and thinking about how to use the building in a way that engages our neighbors.

• Ñ has a strong launch team that is leaning into conversations around LGBTQIA inclusion, but conversations around gender continues to be a growing edge. Working with the team to visit various churches and pay attention to what people are experiencing. Many members of the team have encountered significant personal challenges – please lift them up in prayer.

• Online ministries are somewhat in flux, with new support staff and volunteers coming on board. Immediate focus will be on accessibility – especially around audio.

DISCIPLESHIP

• Family ministries has been growing more stable and rooted since Lea Schweitz came on staff as Director of Family Ministries and Children’s Ministry Coordinator for West. We are partnering with other UMC youth groups for a retreat for a retreat 9/23-25, a collaborative effort focusing on spiritual care, faith formation, and mental health. We are refreshing our “Safe Sanctuaries” policies to ensure that our kids are safe at church. At the same time, we are exploring developmentally appropriate faith formation practices, with attention paid to the kids among us with special needs. The family ministry newsletter will be rebooted, so stay tuned!

STAFF TRANSITIONS

• New Communications Manager. Wing Yun Schreiber joins us after Blake Collins’ departure. Wing Yun brings a number of gifts and experiences, as a graduate of Duke Divinity School, a photographer, and a videographer.

• Director of Discipleship. Juan Pablo Herrera will begin an expanded role on staff, as our Director of Discipleship, a role that he has previously filled.

• Executive Pastor. Emily McGinley has accepted a position as Senior Pastor of City Church San Francisco. Her final Sunday at UVC will be 7/24.

INTERIM PLANS (August 1-Jan 15, 2023)

• Pending approvals and minor revisions, plans for coverage for church leadership are that Christian Coon (Founding Co-Pastor, Pastor for Emerging Ministries, Pastor of UVC-West/RFUMC) will step into the role of Interim Lead Pastor. Responsibilities will primarily consist of staff oversight, organizational leadership, and working with the finance team to ensure that our resources are adequate. In order to support this shift, a part-time support pastor will be hired to preach regularly at West and support ministry teams. Christian will continue to spend most Sundays at West, but will travel to various sites for support and oversight.

• Melissa Kirk (Administration Manager) will move into an expanded role, as “Executive Administrator,” taking on some of the more administrative tasks that were part of Emily’s portfolio, including working with rental locations to support site pastors, facilitating onboarding/exiting of staff, and expanded responsibilities around payroll and benefits.

FINANCES

• Generally, our pledges are tracking but our anticipated unpledged income is 78% below projected levels. Our spending is below budget. While the finance team had approved up to $170k to be moved from our reserves, so far $35k has actually been spent. The finance team and ONE Board are continuing to monitor our financial status closely, with a quarterly assessment as to whether or not we need to make budgetary adjustments. TL;DR so far so good.

LOOKING FORWARD

It has nearly been one full year of gathering in person and we have some “data” to work with, in terms of what is working, what isn’t, where there are challenges and opportunities. As we move through this interim time, we are beginning to track the “vitality” signs for each of our sites. These will be a guide for our site pastors to assess how we are doing, as well as guide our ONE Board in thinking about how our staff structure might best meet these realities – both in terms of financial constraints as well as opportunities. As the ONE Board looks toward this work, please be in prayer for them and also support our community life in any way that you are gifted – Sunday morning volunteering, gathering people for fellowship, participating in outreach and service, or supporting our various discipleship opportunities (small groups, children/youth ministries, etc.)

You may view Q + A beginning at 54:00 of the video recording.

As we continue to find our way as a faith community “post” pandemic, let us be encouraged by how God journeys with us as we journey with one another through it all, not only on Sunday mornings, but in all the small ways that make us church – caring for one another, serving alongside one another, and finding spaces for spiritual growth and communion.

Faithfully,

Pastor Emily