Leadership & Followership
Jerry Katzmann, President, Board of Directors
Earlier this year, Rev. Hudson used the familiar image of Rochester's flying geese formations as a metaphor to talk about congregational life and social justice work. The flock has a leader who knows the destination and does the hard work of breaking the wind for the "vee". The flock has faith in the leader, follows on the air currents, and importantly, when the leader grows weary and slides off to the side to take their place in line, another goose steps (soars) forward to the leader position.
At this year's annual meeting we recognized 5 committee chairs who stepped aside. In stepping down from Chair of the Caring Congregation, Jennifer Harveland reminded me of the need to make room for new people and ideas and quoted Rear Admiral Grace Hopper,
"The most dangerous phrase in the English language is: we've always done it this way".
Our "retiring" committee chairs are:
Jennifer Harveland, Caring Congregation
. Jennifer worked to improve the committee's communication tools and made it easier to volunteer by organizing tasks into 2 week blocks.
Linda Thompson, co-chair, Hospitality and Growth Council
. Linda and Ann Lien introduced Sunday morning hospitality teams to spread the effort and include more people in making our church more welcoming.
Anne Black-Sinak, Design Committee
. Anne has used her creative talents in many ways in our church and now has moved to chair the Worship Committee.
Jeff Larson Keller, Worship Committee
. Jeff has been a member of our church for 28 years and chaired Worship Committee for more years than I can remember. He was an important part of establishing our Worship Associate program and has been a steady voice from the pulpit.
Dave Siljenberg, Finance Committee
. Dave and Pat joined the church 8 years ago and jumped right into lots of volunteer work. Dave has chaired Finance for 3 years and now joins the Ministerial Search Committee.
We are grateful to all of you for your leadership, ideas, and energy.
New Committee Chairs were approved at the June Board meeting:
Vikki Wolff, Caring Congregation
. Vikki returns to this job and sees the people-to-people connections and acts of kindness as the embodiment of congregational life. She wants to recruit newer caregivers and pair them with experienced members in "caring teams".
Rebecca Rolstad, co-chair, Hospitality and Growth. Rebecca joined the church 15 years ago and she and Steve's enthusiasm and energy lit us up. Rebecca and Steve organized Rev. Carol Hepokoski's installation service, and she is now ready to bring her energy to hospitality and growth.
Richard Hutton, Design Committee. Richard has served on the Board of Director's, has a long history in craft and the arts, and is now stepping into the Chair of Design Committee.
Anne Black-Sinak, Worship Committee. Anne has been a worship associate and is moving from Design Committee Chair to Worship Committee Chair. Her creative and analytic skills are a perfect fit.
Linda Thompson, Finance Committee. Linda has been involved in almost every aspect and every committee in our church. In addition to co-chairing hospitality and growth, she was on Finance, Property, Social Justice Council, and taught in the children's education program. She and Bill are hardworking thoughtful congregants, and she will be a good steward of our church's assets.
We welcome you all and look forward to your work advancing our church's mission.
Continuing committee chairs are:
Paulette DeMers
, Communications Committee
Julie Gilkinson, Social Justice Council
Tara Freimund, Religious Education Council for Children & Youth
George Huston, Property Committee
Ann Lien, co-chair, Hospitality Council
If you are interested in finding out more about any committee's work, please directly contact the committee chair.
In addition to committee leadership, there are changes on the Board:
David Kallmes
steps down as Board President
. David led the Board for 2 years and facilitated a smooth and respectful transition for Rev. Carol Hepokoski. David has embraced the transition process, and has left us well on our way to the next leg of this congregation's journey.
Erika Beetcher
steps down as a Board Director-at-large
. Erika is one of those high-energy people that makes us all wonder how she does it. Erika willingly volunteered for a number of ad-hoc task groups including religious education activities for children & youth and our church history project.
Jerry Katzmann
moves from Vice-President to President. Jerry and Elizabeth have been members of the church for 38 years. Jerry has previously been President of the Board, chaired the Religious Education Committee, and served on Worship, Property, and Stewardship Committees. He co-chaired the Capital Fund Drive to remodel our front entrance and make all levels of the church accessible.
Gail Bishop
joins the Board as Vice-President. Gail and Allen have been members of the church for 27 years. Gail has served as Board President, RE Committee Chair, and Chair of Social Justice Council. She recently chaired the state-wide MN UU Social Justice Association (MUUSJA). Gail brings her energy, organizational skills, and passion for social justice work to the Board.
Greg Turosak
joins the Board as a Director-at-Large. Greg has served as Property Committee Chair and worked on a hospitality team. He wants to make certain that our church is a safe and welcoming environment for all of us: especially families, children, and youth. A strong church home makes it easier to reach out into the wider community.
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Saturday Noon Meals mission: "To provide an attractively served nutritious meal in a warm, safe atmosphere for persons in need." SNM 
(For more information and to sign up, see the Rochester for Justice
