All-staff day helps UCC national offices staff find new ways to collaborate

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

All-staff day helps UCC national offices staff find new ways to 
collaborate

> Written by Jeff Woodard
> October 6, 2010

More than 100 national staff members from Cleveland and other U.S.
locations gathered today at the UCC's national headquarters for
worship, breakout discussions and report-backs relating to the tasks
and transitions involved in their work.

"Collaboration" was the overarching theme for the annual All-Staff
Community Day, which commenced with morning worship in the Amistad
Chapel led by the Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, UCC general minister and 
president.

Ten breakout groups met in morning and afternoon sessions that
celebrated the talents of each staff members and provided time to lay
the groundwork for future joint projects between ministry teams.

"We just completed the Neighbors in Need project," said Bentley de
Bardelaben, executive for administration and communications in Justice
and Witness Ministries. "It was both a joy and a challenge. The joy
comes when people give to people who they didn't think was their 
'neighbor.' "

As minister for conference relations, Susan Towner-Larsen works with
38 conferences and assists search committees for conference ministers.
With 10 conferences in various stages of transition, she has been 
busy of late.

"It's exciting how the church is changing," she told fellow staffers.
"It's partially driven by finances, but also because the way people
see the church changing." Maintaining a mode of discernment can be a
challenge, but she loves the work. "It's fun. It's scary. It's
awesome," she said.

One breakout group compiled a slideshow of a proposed project it
labeled "Collaborative Hopes Across Teams (CHAT)" in which two
clusters of up to six people would meet in monthly "chat-abouts" to
discuss commonalities among ministries and ways to serve all.

"They would generate a list of potential projects that would be
submitted to Community Life for monthly circulation," said Barbara
Baylor, UCC minister for health care justice. "During the spring
all-staff day, we could assess whether the project has been helpful."

Cher Gardner is one of several staffers wearing many hats. Her duties
are split among Community Life, Building Services and the department
of Affirmative Action/Diversity. "They are very different jobs with
very different responsibilities," she said. "My day goes very fast."

Technological advances were a popular topic. At least a few groups
discussed how the email route is still tough for some. Tracey Mann,
administrative assistant for JWM's Franklinton Center at Bricks in
Whitakers, N.C., said she interacts with an older constituency. "They
don't want email," she said. "They'll say, 'If I don't have in the
standard mail, I won't get to it."

Taylor Billings, research assistant in the Office of General
Ministries, said the new all-staff format that designated no formal
facilitators worked just fine for her breakout group. "It went very
well, we didn't have any issue with that. We had some bold
personalities in our group," she added with a laugh.

In his morning message, "Treasure in Earthen Vessels," Black offered,
"Like clay pots, we do come with flaws. Even when others might appear
well off and quite together, we are sometimes surprised to learn that
they are, in fact, earthen vessels."

Black also shared a slide show of his summer visit to Lebanon, Syria,
Jerusalem, Hebron and Turkey. He was accompanied by Cally
Rogers-Witte, executive minister of Wider Church Ministries and
co-executive of Global Ministries; and Peter Makari, WCM area
executive for the Middle East and Europe.