Hello Beloved Church Family,
As always, I want to start with an expression of gratitude for the members who do so much to plan, participate in, organize and manage all of the tasks and activities in, about, and around the church. We have a wonderfully involved and committed congregation and I feel very proud and privileged to be a part of it.
To update you on our new Office Administrator job search: I can say we are still wading through resumes and have high hopes of someone coming “on board” soon. I have reviewed about 100 resumes, and we (myself, Scott Satterwhite, Denise Gunn and Erin Renfroe) have interviewed three candidates so far. Two of them were exceptionally well-qualified, but one of them decided that her beliefs were too far from ours for her to feel comfortable serving with us (the interview team agreed with her), and the other had a change of heart about a part-time position. Until someone is hired, Erin is filling in, and any email correspondence can still go to either “communications@uupensacola.org” or “uupensacola@gmail.com. Erin is also checking our phone messages. Thank you, Erin, we are so grateful for ALL you do!
The team is still working on mitigation of the visual and drainage problems caused by the unpermitted and unlawful clearing of the property next to the church, and to that effect, our member, Tim Kingston, an attorney in Alabama, sent a letter of demand to the owner, Kenneth Jarrell early in February. Mr. Jarrell had his crew clean up some of the dirt from our parking lot, and do some initial work to redirect the water. His plans include a warehouse and a retention pond on his property. This morning (February 20) Hugh Ed Turner, Daniel Cobb, my husband, Ed and I met with Mr. Jarrell in person at his office to negotiate further mitigation and we came to a verbal agreement, which we will put in writing, run by the board, and ask him to sign.
Arnie Ondis has been working with an electrical contractor to replace three electric panels which an inspector from our insurance company recently discovered were suspicious, and that we later determined were indeed hazardous due to age, and that needed to be removed and replaced. Two of the three have been replaced, and the third is scheduled. Thank you, Arnie!
The UUA Article II Study Commission has come up with their recommendations, which you may remember me mentioning in my letter here last month. If you want to learn more about them, you can watch one or two videos on YouTube. There is a 30 minute video here: https://youtu.be/zPQmvlMBUOg, and a 7 minute summary of their recommended new principles here: https://youtu.be/eL2t8wnV0h4. There is also a group within UUA that opposes the changes, because we are UUs, so of course there is.
Many thanks again to all of you who attend church and participate! If you haven’t been with us lately, know that we miss you and want you back. If you haven’t been to a service yet, please know that we will welcome you with open arms!
In Love and Fellowship,
Laura
Laura Keith King