TJ Connection - Summer 2004

Ministerial Matters
Compiled by Qiyamah A. Rahman, TJD Executive

Minister’s News

Rev. Tom Rhodes of the Westside UU Church in Knoxville will be on sabbatical this fall and is planning to use the time to focus on preaching and worship arts. He also says that he's planning to "preach up a storm!" at congregations in eastern Tennessee and
western Carolina.

Rev. Dick Weston-Jones is returning to Alaska this summer, leading two eco-spirituality tour groups visiting five UU Fellowships in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Seward, Juneau and Sitka. The groups also will cruise the Inside Passage in the southeast, go throughout Denali National Park on a wildlife-viewing tour and visit with native Alaskans.

Dick's website at www.wuurld.org has the schedule and pictures.

Rev. Christine Brownlie will serve on the faculty of the Dwight Brown Leadership School of the Southwest District. She will lead the worship module.

Rev. Mary Grigolia, Assistant Minister at the Eno River UU Fellowship, was called by the membership at their June 6 Congegational Meeting to the position of Associate Minister.

“A Church is Healthy if...”

*People are constantly expressing disagreement, and they do it right out in the open.
*The minister is always behind in his/her work.
*The Trustes can never seem to make ends meet financially, and they are forever giving money away.
*New groups keep cropping up and bumping into each other over schedules and competing for volunteers.
*A number of people miss meetings and insist on spending time with their families.
*The choir is filled with a lot of amateurs.
*The kids are noisy and all over the place, including during the time of worship.
*The hymnals are wearing out, the coffee hour is crowded and confusing, the building is in need of many repairs, the electric bill is way over budget, and it seems that an awful lot of people have keys and all kinds of groups are coming and going.
*The church is full of “losers” -- people who have lost their loved ones, people who know they can’t make it on their own, people who are losing but also finding their own lives and meanings, receiving and giving a lot of love.

--Author Unknown

Ministerial Changes

Minister’s Completing Service:
-Rev. Julie Denny-Hughes (UUF of Raleigh)
-Rev. Don Garrett (UUF of Raleigh)
-Rev. Dr. Arvid Straube (Eno River UUF)
-Rev. Janet Newman, Interim (Williamsburg UUs)
-Rev. Neil Schadle (UUC of Asheville)
-Rev. Enid Virago (First UUC of Richmond)
-Rev. Timothy Kutzmark (UUCC Glen Allen)

Interns Completing Service:
-Emilie Boggis (UUF of Raleigh)
-Leslie Takahashi-Morris (First UUC of Richmond)

Ministers Beginning Service:
-Rev. Janet Newman, Interim (UU Fellowship of Raleigh)
-Rev. Elizabeth Kerman, Interim (First UC of Samson County)
-Rev. Shirley Ranck, Interim (Williamsburg UUs)
-Mark Ward, Settled (UUC of Asheville)

Congregations in Search:
-Unitarian Fellowship of Hilton Head Island (full-time)
-Clayton Memorial UU Church (part-time)
-All Souls Waccamaw (part-time)
-UUC of the Swannanoa Valley (part-time)