June 8, 2022
For all that is our lives, we sing our thanks and praise!
~Bruce Findlow
Dear Ones–
It’s not official yet, but I’m feeling that summertime is upon us: School is mostly over; the main business of the church year has been accomplished (thank you for your pledges and your participation in our annual meeting, from which we left with a shiny new budget and Board for next year!); and the GNUUC tradition of Summer Song started last Sunday and promises to be full of so much wisdom and generosity!
Summer also means vacations and traveling and the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association (of which we are a member congregation). This year, delegates and UUA staff and lay leaders and many others will gather in Portland, Oregon, and online to conduct the business of the UUA and to experience the power of gathering, worshipping, and learning with crowds of UUs. I am excited to be traveling to participate in person and looking forward to bringing back new ideas for our life together.
I am also looking forward to taking some vacation time this summer. In fact, I plan to be away from GNUUC for the month of July. I’ll be busy resting and reading and helping my daughter prepare to begin college at the end of August. It will be a full summer for me, and I appreciate working for a congregation that recognizes the importance of allowing me time to pause, process the year behind us, and prepare for the coming year. Your Board and I are already looking forward to the launch of the 2022-23 church year, with our annual visioning process plus the added bonus of a Startup Workshop (because I am still your “new” minister) with Southern Region staff in August. I can’t wait to see what awaits us!
Thinking about the summer ahead of us, I have two invitations to extend to each of you:
If you would like to talk with me sooner rather than later, please reach out now (email works great!) to make an appointment to talk in person, by phone, or online before I go on vacation.
If you would like to help with worship over the summer, please reach out to me or to any of the familiar faces you see helping with Sunday services. We have all our speakers lined up for Summer Song, but the worship team can always use more help, whether you are online or in the sanctuary–we need folks to greet congregants, help with readings, even creating slides and choosing music. We would love to help you discover where you can contribute.
No matter how you plan to spend the months ahead, I hope they are full of rest, adventure, and learning, in whatever mix suits you best!
Yours in anticipation and love,
Rev. Denise
Rev. Denise Gyauch
Minister, Greater Nashville UU Congregation
RevDenise@gnuuc.org