“I want for the church to be a force that causes my life to change and causes me to change the world with my life. When people come to church they should not be handed an order of service with a smile, but should be given hard hats and life preservers; because church should be a dangerous place, a zone of risk, a place of new birth and new life where we confront ourselves with not only who we truly are, but also who we are called to become.” – Annie Dillard
On Wednesday, June 18, I officially passed on the leadership torch for the UU Association of Membership Professionals (UUAMP). I wanted to share with you some of what I said in my farewell:
I have been honored to be on the UUAMP board for 5 years, and the last 2 as your President. It has been a joy in my life, and I know it has helped me become more confident in my work, and proud to be a membership professional with you all. However, it’s also a bit sad. I have loved working with my fellow Board members… all of them. Having other people to be able to work through how we can be more visible in the larger UU world, how we can support all of you, and how we can grow our membership. I have EVERY confidence the incoming Board – assuming you vote them in – will not only continue the good work we have been doing but will take UUAMP even further.
During this past year we have continued the Monday chats. We have offered workshops and gathering spaces. We had a workshop in GA last year and have worked with the UU institute to offer Tending Congregational Life. We also led a discussion group on that training. Behind the scenes, we continue to work with the other religious professionals organizations to raise awareness and support one another. One big project that continues is a shared code of ethics that all religious professionals would abide by. I look forward to seeing where this work goes, and helping to make it happen!
One thing I’m particularly excited about, we now have four Good Officers! Caron Armstrong, Kristin Cleveland, Tina Lewis and myself took the training to be Good Officers. We are still in the process of setting everything up, but please make sure you call early, call often when you have any issues. Think of it this way – if something is keeping you up at night or making it hard for you to go to work, reach out. We are here to help.
I want to take a moment to especially thank Tina Lewis and Caron Armstrong for seeing something in me to ask me to be on the Board in the first place – and to Caron for asking me to be your Vice President. I want to thank Kristin Cleveland… you have been an amazing partner in our work and I have all the confidence in the world you are going to be one of UUAMPs best Presidents. To my fellow Board Members – current and past – I have learned so much from you and the friendships we have built will sustain me for the rest of my life. After all, that’s part of the joy of UUAMP – a community of membership professionals that support and love one another. Thank you.
Again, I want to thank you all for your support. I hope I served you well, and I officially pass the torch over to your new president, Kristin Cleveland!
To my East Shore family, thank you for all your support while I was able to help the larger UU world! I hope I made you proud and helped other membership professionals excel!
by Nicole Duff, Director of Membership Development