UU Update
It’s Official! Buds and I are now members at our new church in The South, and we’re thrilled. We went to the membership class yesterday, and we signed the book.
I have such fond memories of the people we joined UUCF with, mainly Connie and Lars, so I look forward to seeing what our “joining class” will undertake at our new church home.
I did realize something about our recent UU Churches when The Buster and Yessa and I were sitting on the couch this morning.
At the Methodist Church growing up, we always had pews. In fact, all the churches I attended up until UU churches had pews. None of the UU churches we’ve visited, except for the one in Boulder, CO, have had pews. Oh, wait, maybe the other UU church here in town has pews. I forgot that.
Anyway, I realized how much I miss sitting in a pew with my crew. I have such fond memories of snuggling up to my mom during a church service, and chairs just don’t have that same snuggle-ability. It’s a little thing, but it does change the feel of the space.
Of course, you couldn’t hold an auction in the middle of your sanctuary if you had pews, so I understand the benefits.
Finally, I’m just tucking this in down at the bottom of this post, for my future benefit.
In July of 2012 I was named as the “Congregational Treasure” at our church. While that was certainly a kind thing, I was very touched today when I was searching the UUCF website for something else, came across the forgotten piece below, and realized that someone, probably Mary Lareau, took the time to add a note at the bottom that we had moved away. That seemed like such thoughtful, full-circle closure. My story at UUCF has ended, but we’re not forgotten.
Congregational Treasure
Jul. 17, 2012
If you’ve encountered a seemingly endless bundle of ideas, energy and enthusiasm at UUCF, it’s probably Jennie Gemignani. Most visible in her role as Auction chair the last two years, Jennie has also contributed lasting results for our Religious Exploration (RE) program and our 300+ children.
Jennie, along with Mia French, co-chaired the RE Committee from 2010-2012. Mia credits Jennie with spearheading the effort to bring RE teacher training to the digital age. Now, teacher materials, forms and other resources are all online and UUCF has “a YouTube video tour of the RE supply closet,” says Mia. Mia calls Jennie a “tremendous co-chair – so organized and efficient with innovative ideas and fearless optimism – such a great leader.” What’s even more remarkable about these contributions is that Jennie served as RE Committee co-chair while she also chaired the Auction – one of the most demanding volunteer roles at UUCF.
UUCF Executive Director Rich Sider says the UUCF Coordinating Team has been impressed with Jennie’s energy and commitment to keep improving the Auction. “Every year she would look for new ways to bring in more people and more Auction items. We have been so lucky to have someone with Jennie’s abilities leading the Auction team,” says Rich. This year’s co-chair, Marlo Nash, calls Jennie a great leader and mentor. With the Auction and RE Committee stints behind her, we can look forward to finding out where Jennie’s talents will land next. Wherever that is, UUCF will be lucky to have her.
Editor’s note: Jennie and her family moved to Nashville in 2013.
– See more at: http://uucf.org/jennie-gemignani/
