Dear Ones,
To adequately express my gratitude for our community’s response to my last posting and request, I find myself at a loss for words. The outpouring of support through donations, words of loving encouragement, prayerful intentions, and acts of service from our congregation has been phenomenal. We stand to head into the next few months on a much more solid financial footing. God is good!
Please also let me acknowledge the confidence the church leadership and Staff have expressed during this fiscally challenging time. There has been no hand-wringing or lamenting on a single person’s count. Everyone is and has been holding in consciousness the affirmative stance that the universe is providing exactly what is needed. We will continue to practice abundance consciousness, knowing that the vast resources of a benevolent universe continuously are at hand.
For those of you who participated in this week’s 11:25 am service, you are already aware of my next topic. The Board of Trustees is very excited to formally announce that we have retained Rev. Dr. Roger Teel (formerly of Mile Hi Church) as a transitional consultant. During Rev. Teel’s visit with us last year and following his Sunday Service, the Board took him out for lunch. At that lunch a sweet connection was made and an obvious compatibility was evidenced.
We somewhat jokingly and casually mused during the lunch “wouldn’t it be wonderful if Rev. Teel could come to UCOH,” knowing that it was not possible. Little did we understand at the time that the universe was conspiring towards just such an eventuality. Fast forward a few months and the Board’s decision not to move forward with the proposed UWM team moved us to be open to alternative next steps.
Rev. Teel came up in our discussions and following contact with him we discovered not only was he now available, but he had a vision for us that exceeded our most aspirational concepts. Bringing his gravitas and wealth of experience in running and growing a New Thought church to serve thousands of members, we felt that he was the perfect person to work with us through our interim and permanent ministerial searches and attendant onboarding.
Over the next ten months he will be working in close concert with the Board, Interim Ministers and hopefully new Senior Minister in six specific arenas. These include stabilization (financial and operational), interim ministry, evaluation and enhancement, roles clarification, candidating processes and new Senior Minister support. Reading between the lines, this means that we will secure an Interim Minister as well as a new senior minister before the end of the year, with the last couple of months of Rev. Roger’s work focusing on support for our new Senior Minister.
This more aggressive timetable is consistent with the feedback we received from many congregants. Of course, we reserve the right to defer to Kairos (God’s time.)
We are so excited about the progress being made on several fronts and are now days away from announcing a potential candidate for Interim Minister. Hopefully we get to have an in-person preview in early June.
In closing, I simply want to express my gratitude. Gratitude for each and every one of you that holds the high watch, who is doing good work, practicing our principles and contributing in your unique way to our wonderful community of Love and Acceptance.
Frank T. Phelan
President, UCOH Board of Trustees.