Important Staffing Update
Beloved Church -
I hope you're having a beautiful summer and enjoying some rhythms of rest or travel or the difference of the seasons this time brings. Our family recently spent time on the West Coast and had a fabulous time, and now I'm enjoying being back in the swing of things at church and seeing so much beautiful active ministry happening even during – and maybe in part because of - this season of rest! I also have an important staff update to share with you about a transition from our Worship Staff, and an invitation to save the date of Sunday August 4th to help honor this change.
Jonathan Ulanday recently turned in his resignation, effective July 31, in order to take a full-time position at a nonprofit located downtown (called COFI, an org that organizes parents of color around social, racial, and economic justice issues like education reform, healthcare access, and more - in Chicago and beyond). While this is a sad loss for our congregation, I am grateful he’s found a good fit for his growing gifts in social and racial justice work that’s local and means we can still grab coffee 😊, and that we are in a season as a church where we're well prepped and covered for this transition.
Moving forward at LaSalle, I am already in some convos with various folks on our music teams about ways to cover worship in both the short and long term, and thankfully it is looking good. I also have some preliminary ideas being shared with the Elder Board on how to fill this role in the future as a part-time collaborative role that focuses on planning our worship music and arts. I am grateful for the ways that worship has been growing and shifting this past year, for all the volunteers and musicians who support worship week to week, and for the possibilities up ahead as well! Our music teams were also emailed this, but in the interim after July 31 volunteers can contact Rev. Alicia for any scheduling questions or info, and I will be in touch about longer-term plans as they develop - and I am happy to field any questions with the wider church. We are also canceling the Aug 4th Music Improv gathering, and hope to reschedule it later on.
I want to end this update with focusing on our deep gratitude for all that Jonathan has meant to this church community, and invite the wider church to join me in this on Sunday August 4th, when we’ll pray for and bless Jonathan in our worship service, and afterwards have a light cake and coffee reception in the church lower level in his honor. Please plan to join us to thank, congratulate, and help send him well into this next chapter, and/or reach out to him with your own thanks. For eight years Jonathan has served LaSalle in a key role, through significant changes and transitions on staff, helping spearhead the racial righteousness team and ongoing advocacy work, making so much of church happen throughout the strain of COVID and moving worship online, developing an online Sabbath Sunday service, managing new projects such as Church Center and staff tech needs, and so much more. His technical skills, care for people and training others, engaging our kids and youth, and friendship on our staff team will be missed and have made a lasting impact. So join me in thanking Jonathan, and in praying over this next season in his life and in the life of LaSalle Street Church. We know that in God there is More Than Enough to respond to both the losses and the potentials that change brings, and for that I am so thankful.
Holding the both/and of the in between with you - RevLiz