Who Does What at Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church

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Our Ministers, Roger Fritts, Senior Minister, Susan Archer, Minister of Religious Education, and Heather Janules, Associate Minister, Minister for Pastoral Care, are available to church members. They each have training and experience in talking with people struggling with personal difficulties. There is never a charge. Contact anyone of them for an appointment. Ministerial counseling is generally short term. We are fortunate to have many trained professional counselors in this area to whom the ministers are able to refer church members if necessary. Learn more about our ministers: Roger, Susan and Heather.

In addition to counseling, and their obvious focus on providing quality Sunday worship, the ministers are available routinely in a variety of areas. Our associate minister, Heather Janules, has primary responsibility for pastoral care and supervises our lay Pastoral Associates program but Roger and Susan also make home visits. All the ministers are available to church members for Weddings, Funerals and Memorial Services, and Child Dedications. They keep their own calendars so contact them directly to check availability for specific dates.

Dr. Leslie Westbrook, our endorsed community minister in pastoral counseling, offers counseling and therapy for individuals and couples. The counseling can be brief or long term. She also serves as a consultant to social workers, counselors, ministerial students, and ministers. Leslie has a doctorate in clinical social work and she is a licensed clinical professional counselor. Her services are available to non-members on a fee for service basis. Leslie is also available to perform nonmember Weddings and Memorial Services.

Religious Education of children and youth is much more than something that takes place on Sunday mornings. We are, year round, occupied with teacher training, teacher recruitment, and curriculum development. While our Religious Education Council develops and implements policy, general inquiries regarding the program, registration, and scheduling may be directed to the Religious Education Administrators --Gale Ginther Luce and Jeannette Wilson. They may be reached at RE@cedarlane.org. The Rev. Susan Archer, Minister of Religious Education, provides leadership in this area, and of course, is also available for specific concerns and consultation.

Our senior high youth group is led by the Coordinator of Senior High Youth Ministries, the Reverend Archene Turner, who helps the group plan events. The junior high group is led by volunteer John Daniel.

Our Adult Program offerings are among the most extensive of churches in this area. The Adult Programs Committee is always interested in new ideas for programs and individuals who can teach or facilitate them. Jeannette Wilson and Gale Luce, our Religious Education Administrators, support these programs in the area of registration, scheduling, and preparation of the program booklets. You may contact them with inquiries at RE@cedarlane.org.

Our Music Program: We are happy to have Dr. Henry Sgrecci as our Director of Music. Henry directs the Cedar Lane Adult Choir (an adult choir of 50+ singers), the Youth Choirs, the Handbell Choirs (bell ringers), and Gruppo Piccolo (chamber ensemble), when not playing the trumpet. Henry first served as our Interim Director of Music, following the retirement of our longtime Director of Music Ministry, Dick Darne and Mary Darne, our Assistant Director of Music. Henry has been joined by our new Organist & Accompanist, Thomas W.D. Guthrie. Thom plays both organ and piano. Learn more about our Director of Music, Henry Sgrecci.

The Church Administrator is Sara Deshler. Sara has the overall responsibility, under the direction of the Senior Minister, Roger Fritts, of managing the daily functioning of the church office and coordinating all the administrative and financial activities of the church. Sara supervises the Buildings and Grounds Manager, the Administrative Assistant, the Database-Membership Assistant, the Church Accountant and the Membership Coordinator. Sara is happy to be available to assist in answering questions or responding to concerns of the congregation in the administrative and financial area. Sara schedules Memorial Services, both for members of the congregation and non members. All three ministers perform member memorial services.

Money in all its wonderful and various forms and purposes passes over the desk of and is tracked and recorded by Bruce Marquette, the Church Accountant. Bruce sends out the monthly statements on pledge commitments. Questions regarding pledges, payments, discrepancies, etc., should be directed to Bruce. If the Church Accountant is unable to resolve your question you may always call upon Sara Deshler, or Bob Pechacek, the 2009-2010 Treasurer of the church.

The Order of Service is prepared by Corinne Woodward, our Administrative Assistant. The Order of Service has the primary purpose of guiding us through the Sunday Service and indicating the names of the individuals who help to make it happen. Other announcements as space permits will be included with priority to the most current.

Responsibility for updating the Cedar Lane Web Site rests with Corinne Woodward.

The Church Calendar is kept by Corinne Woodward. To place an event on the calendar, call or e-mail Corinne at the church office with scheduling requests or questions, ext. 202 or Corinne Woodward. Please note we only rent to not-for-profits.

All Weddings whether for a member or a non-member are scheduled with Corinne Woodward. Members who are planning to be married at the church and wish the services of one of our ministers should contact the minister directly.

The church newsletter, Cedar Lane News, is published bi-weekly from September through June and monthly in July and August. Submissions should be sent to newsletter@cedarlane.org. The deadline for submissions is noon on the Wednesday before the publication date. The newsletter editors are Nancy Derr and Robin Larkin. Questions about the newsletter may be directed to Corinne Woodward at the church office. If you are interested in reducing paper waste as well as newsletter mailing costs you may opt to receive an e-mail notification of when the newsletter is posted to our website by sending Corinne an email to that effect.

The Church Database and Mailing Lists (including the newsletter, church mailings, RE mailings, Adult Programs, committee lists and others) are maintained by Lucy Dubinsky, the Database-Membership Assistant. If your address or phone number changes, or if you�re going away for an extended period of time, let Lucy know. She will see to it that your mail follows you or you don�t have newsletters piling up on the porch. Lucy can also supply you with mailing list labels for a church-sponsored mailing. In conjunction with these activities, Lucy performs many related tasks including preparing name badges and mailing information packets about the church to people who request them. If you want a name badge or your current one is missing or worn out, drop Lucy a note and she will arrange for one to appear in the name badge rack.

Our Membership Coordinator, Andy Streich, works with our Member Services Committee to help make sure newcomers feel welcome and, eventually, are comfortable enough to join and become a truly integrated part of the church community. Andy works with the Welcome Newcomers talks after each service, the Getting Started classes for folks new to Cedar Lane and the New Member Welcome service.

Mickey Sigsbee is our Buildings and Grounds Manager, reporting to Sara Deshler. He is responsible for the coordination of the maintenance of the church facility and grounds, with support from the Facilities and Grounds Committees. Mickey supervises the custodian, Pedro Diaz.

The Receptionists are all volunteers. They are coordinated by church member Jeanne Pearson. They strive to be aware of scheduled events and can answer routine questions. If you are not sure whom you need to speak with, the receptionists will be able to refer you to the right person. They take messages for the ministers and the staff and provide a warm and welcoming impression of our church to first time callers.