Moderator Musings

As we are experiencing the cold weather of winter, we have much to be thankful for. Our congregation is determined to live through our time of transition and pandemic and come out better for it. Our leadership through the past few years has steadfastly led us to where we are. Pastors Tim and Susie Grade have been called by our Search Committee to be our pastors into the future. Our beautiful building, though needing occasional maintenance, gives us space both for our use and community meetings and projects, and now again houses the Warm for Winter mission which began in our church.

At our annual meeting in January, we passed our budget for 2025 that includes budgeting for our new pastors who have accepted the call to be with us beginning June 1, and the funds for improving the operation of our boilers for reliable heat in below-zero weather. Because this fix involves a $15,000- outlay, we are asking for donations in addition to our regular pledges to help defray the cost. If you wish to make an additional donation for this expense, please mark your donation for “Heating Fix”.

Also at the annual meeting, we voted to accept the slate of officers and board members for 2025. They include some new people to our church boards: Cecily Dawson as Vice Moderator, Roger (Steve) Dahlquist on Building & Grounds, and Cherie Gilmeister on Spiritual Life. We welcome all of them as new leaders of our congregation. A new Personnel Committee was formed by Carla Chropkowski to perform evaluations and recommendations for staff. The committee will include the Moderator, Past Moderator, chair of the Spiritual Life Board, and a member at large.

In anticipation of Pastors Tim and Susie Grade coming in June, the Spiritual Life Board and I are beginning to work on updating our pictorial directory. In speaking with members about this, I have discovered that many of you don’t realize that we have one, and don’t know how to access it. Stay tuned for announcements on this. I find it very handy as a tool to look up members’ phone numbers and email addresses on my cellphone or computer, and the new pastors have asked about it because they want to connect our names with our faces to get to know us.

I feel compelled, for the benefit of people in Wisconsin and the wider world, to mention that Wisconsin projects of the United Church of Christ and the UW are in jeopardy now that federal funds have been cut off. Specifically, a tree-planting project of the Wisconsin UCC for low-income areas which provides jobs and improves their neighborhoods; and on-going research into cancer and other diseases at the University of Wisconsin are not receiving their federal grant money. Please join with me in praying that these programs will be continued. We have much to be grateful for, but also much to pray for.
Sandy McKitrick, Moderator