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From left to right are: Marilyn Sutton, Suzanne Seifert, Marina Grant, and Guest Rev. Donna Hughes-Hargraves.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Unveiling of The Stephanie Tubbs Jones Community Plaza
Saturday, September 4, 2010
TOMORROW University Circle UMC Welcomes Rev. Donna Hughes-Hargraves
It is our pleasure to welcome Rev. Donna Hughes-Hargraves to our church family this morning. Donna has been an ordained United Methodist Minister for 16 years and recently completed her first year as the Executive Director of United Protestant Campus Ministries of Cleveland (UPCaM). Prior to coming to Cleveland, she served churches in Iowa for seven years and in the Dakotas for ten years. During her stay in the Dakotas, Rev. Hughes-Hargraves served rural churches and was a campus minister in Rapid City, South Dakota. As campus minister, she enjoyed taking students on international mission trips and involving the university in opportunities for community volunteering.
It's safe to say that Donna's career before entering the seminary was not typical of a United Methodist clergyperson. She received a bachelor's degree in Animal Health Management and a Master's degree in Horse Science. She worked at Texas A&M in student affairs while a part-time senior high youth director.
Pastor Donna shares that her most life-changing experience occurred in 1988-89 when she taught English in China. In her words, "that year gave me the courage to try anything" and a "big-time travel bug". She has taken six international work-mission trips with college students, visited every state but Alaska and Hawaii and, in addition to China, has visited South India, Russia, Lithuania, England, France, Egypt, Israel/Palestine, Mexico, Belize, Egypt, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Guatemala.
The desert southwest is the place of her birth and youth and she misses living in that part of the world. Her kids are two cats, Keyana and Rueben, and a dog named Rufus. She loves reading mysteries, watching movies of any kind, traveling the world (of course), participating in and teaching yoga, eating weird and interesting foods, and dreaming of owning a horse once again.
Update on UCUMC Administrative Issues from Kay Hogg
The weeks of summer have flown by and life in our new church has been full of changes and challenges. Here are just a few:
• This week the chairs in the Yoder Room (where Dr. Chalker conducts his Sunday morning class) were replaced with chairs stored at our E. 30th building. They are smaller and lighter weight, making the rearranging of the room for meetings much easier on staff and volunteers. The previous Yoder Room chairs were sold to a hotel liquidating company.
• This coming week some of the pews in the sanctuary will be removed along with two that have been in the hallway across from the office. A few months ago the Trustees approved the removal of certain pews to improve wheelchair access and create more room on the front, left side of the sanctuary as well as in the very back. The delay in removing the pews was the result of making a concerted effort to find an affordable, climate-controlled warehouse in which to store the pews once they were removed.
• Work is underway on the gymnasium. Exterior stonework is being sealed to stop an active leak that has caused damage to the walls. Asbestos was discovered in the gymnasium flooring and abatement of this material will begin as soon as the leaks are repaired and the new flooring is ready to be installed. We anticipate the asbestos removal and tear out of the existing floor to begin within the next 2-3 weeks.
• All wrought iron railings on the steps of the church were becoming unstable and they have now been re-set to ensure greater safety.
• Window work has also been scheduled to repair damaged Plexiglas and stained glass on windows in one section of the building.
• At the E. 30th building, the Campus International School opened in August with 120 children in grades K-2 and more on a waiting list. Improvements totaling more than $150,000 have been made in the classroom portion of the building and a sprinkler system will also be installed before January 2011.
• Former part-time staff member Julia Bingman resigned in June. Effective September 1, a part-time Young Adult Coordinator named Lauren Green was hired. (This change is budget neutral.) You will soon have the opportunity meet Lauren when she is introduced during the worship hour.
• Everyone is anxiously awaiting the new pictoral membership directory. This project is being produced completely in-house except for the printing. Combining and cleaning up our two membership data bases and locating the most affordable and flexible directory publishing software simply took longer than we anticipated and we regret the delay. Our hope is that they will be ready for you by the end of this month. Pictures will also be available for you to purchase at that time.
University Circle United Methodist Church September 2010 Calendar of Meetings & Events
9/5: Last Summer Worship at 10am, children join families in worship
9/6 Labor Day - church office closed
9/8 Trustee Meeting, 6-7:30pm, Reception Room
9/9 Chancel Ringers (Bell) rehearsal, 6-7:15pm
9/9 Chancel Choir rehearsal, 7:15-9pm
9/9 Parents of Murdered Children support group meeting, 6-8pm, Yoder Room
9/9 Shelter Ministry at Women's/Children's Shelter, 6:30-8pm
9/12 Kickoff Day for new program year
9/12 Women's Sabbath, 9:30-10:30
9/12 College-Age Study Group, 9:30-10:30
9/12 Worship returns to 11am, children join families in worship
9/12 Gourmet Hot Dog Extravaganza following worship
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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