Dear Friends,

I invite you to attend the PCUUC Community Forum after services on Sunday, February 12, 2012.  The Community Forum will be held in the Barn from 10:30 – 12:00, we will serve bagels, coffee and fruit, and child care will be offered.

You may be asking yourself….What is the PCUUC Community Forum?  The Community Forum is a PCUUC Board-hosted opportunity for our community to check in with one another, for the Board to check in with the community and for an exchange of thoughts and ideas.  We will be breaking into small groups and two topics will be discussed.

1) As we approach the renewal of Rev. Ziegler’s contract, a check-in to allow the Board to get a sense for the will of the congregation.  If you are unable to attend the February 12 Community Forum and have thoughts you would like to share, please contact me or another Board member.

2) If you were to start a brand new church tomorrow, what would be the characteristics the ideal member of your church?  Perhaps this activity sounds silly and I think we will have a lot of fun with it.  (As an aside, I am taking wagers now on the percentage of groups that will say a solid portion of their ideal membership would be generous and rich so that they don’t have to hold pledge drives or fundraisers.) In addition to a little fun, I think at least of couple of insightful thoughts, visions and/or realizations will come out of this exercise that could have real meaning as we continue to work to create visions and plans for what we want to become as a church community.

So, please participate in the February 12 Community Forum.  We need your voice, insights and ideas.  As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with your thoughts and questions.

Peace and Blessings,

Tonia Becker VerShaw
PCUUC, President of the Board
President@PrairieCircleUUC.org

The PCUUC Board has been hard at work preparing for an exciting church year.  A lot is going on behind the scenes and I thought I would take moment to share some of the highlights with you.

Although we have been working with Rev. Jackie Ziegler for several weeks now, her debut from the pulpit was Sunday, August 21.  Many hands and hearts have been involved as Rev. Jackie and the PCUUC community have worked together to move her into her home in Ingleside, bring her up to speed on PCUUC’s current approaches to various aspects of our church and we have already begun learning a great deal from her.

A “Getting Started with Rev. Ziegler” session was held on August 18 for the PCUUC leadership (Board and Committee heads) and was moderated by Rev. Ian Evison who is the Director of Congregational Services for the Central Midwest District.  We uncovered and clarified some potential source of confusion which will help to alleviate future problems.  In addition, it became glaringly obvious that this year’s Board must spearhead and support planning efforts across all critical aspects of the church in order that we can move toward the visions many of us have for our future.  I will have more to report as these efforts take shape.

Thank you to all who have played very important roles (big and small) in transitioning Rev. Jackie into our community.

The final thing I wanted to share with you this month is that the Board, under the leadership of Chris Kozlowski, has made progress setting up and training our Health Congregation Team (HCT) as called for within the Conflict Resolution Policy the PCUUC community adopted in February of this year.  In addition to the work of learning how the HCT can best offer value to our community, we will be organizing additional conflict management learning opportunities as we progress in the church year.

I am quite exciting and optimistic about the journey before us.  In a nation and a world with some many deep challenges, I find comfort and joy in the opportunities we have to together make our world just a little bit better.

Please e-mail me or give me a call with suggestions, ideas and concerns.  President@PrairieCircleUUC.org, 847-224-9809

In Faith,

Tonia Becker VerShaw
PCUUC Board President

P.S. I do tend to be able to respond via e-mail more quickly, but am always happy to talk.