Greetings! In August I joined WUUC as your interim minister. I’ve greatly enjoyed getting to meet many congregants, including meeting one-to-one with many congregants and lay leaders. As we go forward in the coming several months I’m looking forward to continuing to meet many more of you, building relationships, and working with you to strengthen the trust, relationships and communication that help make the covenantal community that is WUUC.
During the two years I’ll be with you, I’ll be ministering to and with your congregation and doing specific transitions ministry work with you. Each month I’ll be writing an “In the Interim” article to update the congregation on what’s happening with the transitions process. Here are a few things I’d like everyone to know as we begin our time together:
Communication and Feedback
It’s important to me to keep healthy, direct communication open generally – and especially in times of transition or change. If you have questions about what the transitional time is, please ask me or a member of WUUC’s Transition Team: Alaine Davis, Chick Sweeney, Chuck Bean, Cora Goss-Grubbs, Leslie Morton or Robin Heffelman.
Please contact me directly if you have concerns, feedback or more detailed questions about things that are happening at WUUC during the interim, or if you’d like to have a more in-depth conversation with me about WUUC.
In the interest of direct and open communication, I do not accept anonymous feedback. This means I don’t read unsigned letters or notes, nor will I listen to feedback that doesn’t come from an identified source. If you have questions about this, please get in touch with me.
Children and Youth
Some of you have noticed a small chair in my office. That’s because I love having children and youth come in to talk with me or for pastoral care. In the interest of keeping a safer congregation, I do ask that children tell their adult that they’re coming to see me. I will observe confidentiality except in cases where there is risk to the child or others. Please let the children and youth in your life know this. I’ll also be talking with our children and youth about this when I visit religious education classes and youth groups during September.
How to Contact Me
If you’d like to schedule a time to meet me or you want to share some thoughts or questions with me, please email me at revdiana@wuuc.org. You can also call me at the WUUC office (425) 788-6044 ext. 2. If you leave a voicemail I’ll be able to pick it up. For urgent matters you can also call me on my cell phone at (360) 705-2243.
I’m generally in the WUUC office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. On Thursdays I come in as needed or work from home. Fridays are my sermon writing days so I try not to make appointments then. Some Saturdays you’ll find me at a retreat or meeting, or attending an event in the community, but I try to take Saturdays off. Sundays you’ll almost always find me at WUUC.
Mondays are my Sabbath day. Keeping a Sabbath day is important to me as part of nurturing a healthy spiritual life, so I don’t make appointments on Mondays and I don’t read emails. If there’s an emergency on a Monday, you can call me on my cell phone with the understanding that depending on where I am I may not get the message until the evening.
If you have a pastoral need, please either contact me or the lay pastoral associates. You can find more information here: http://gtest.wuuc.org/pastoral-care/ or contact Jean or Chuck Fowler at fernhaven@comcast.net.
Nametags help me! Please keep wearing them and telling me your name. Also, please consider sending your photo to office@wuuc.org for the WUUC Directory.
Blessings,
Rev. Diana