Dear Friends,

As I enter my final month as moderator, I am reflecting on the last year at UCG. We started the year in Transition with a capital “T”, with a designated Transition Team working to engage the congregation and discern our next steps with regard to a third minister. Now, we end the year in transition, this time with a lower-case “t” – less clearly named, harder to describe, but a transition nonetheless. Some of the questions we face include: “How do we resolve conflict in a loving and meaningful way?”; “How do we provide feedback to staff and ministers, again in a loving and meaningful way?”; “How do we identify and address problems before they become crises?”; “What are our financial and programmatic priorities?”; and, more generally, “What is the way forward for the United Church of Gainesville?” I hope, and believe, that the next phase of our collective life at UCG will involve working together to discover the answers to these questions.

I have such deep appreciation for our congregation, our ministers, our church staff, and our lay leadership team. I hope we may all continue to speak and act not only out of love for our church but with love and compassion for each other. Thank you, truly, for the opportunity to serve this church.

Jeremy Archer