Transition

A few years ago, when we decided to move from three ordained clergy to two, we recognized that we needed some help and decided to create a Christ Centered Service Director position to focus on our mission. We hired Kendra Day, who is also a licensed social worker, and she has held this position since it was created. Some of the goals that we set at the time were to track the congregation’s participation in service and to increase the places that we serve. Under Kendra’s leadership we sorted all the things into tiers and discovered that we are active with 39 different missions or non-profits. That changed the goal. I have repeatedly asked Kendra to focus on how we could be more effective in the ministries that we already have rather than adding anything new. It is hard because there are so many wonderful places to serve and so much need in the world. Also, under her leadership she tracked the congregations participation in all of the service opportunities that were offered. We met our goal of 80% will real numbers and she reported at the end of 2022 that 88% of the congregation had served in some way. She also helped with folks who came into the church needing assistance and congregation members who could be helped by a social worker. One of the unexpected things that happened was that our current ministry volunteer leads said they didn’t need the support in their areas. Another surprise was the pandemic and Kendra began the food ministry that has blossomed from a dozen friends to 80 households! So this role has evolved over the years.

Kendra has decided to step away from this role and return to being a volunteer and church member. SPRC has met and decided that we will wait to see what happens with the SAS proposal before we consider if we need to rehire someone. Macy has offered to take on additional hours to continue to track participation in missions and the Mission Committee has been informed of her resignation.

We would like to thank Kendra for the many wonderful ways she has served this staff, congregation and community. We will have a basket out on May 7th to receive gifts or cards and words of affirmation. Stop by and tell her thank you! Her last day in the office will be May 11th.