June signaled a month of transition and continuity with annual changes of Board membership and our June Board Retreat and Meeting, the semi-annual Congregational Meeting with recognition of FCC high school graduate recipients of Elkins-Nelson Scholarships on the 50th anniversary of this endowed scholarship fund, plus continued efforts to enhance organizational transparency: empower church committees, expand volunteering, and move toward a balanced operating budget. While it has been an exceptionally full season, our leadership team enters this new program year deeply grounded by a retreat focused on prayer and listening to the Spirit, fully committed to building momentum and strengthening communication across all facets of our collective congregational ministry.
Highlighting our shared life in community, the June Board meeting brought inspiring updates alongside key programmatic decisions, most notably the Board’s enthusiastic, unanimous approval of a new “Prayground” concept. Modeled on United Church of Christ best practices, this intentionally designed space at the front of the Sanctuary will feature child-sized furniture and curated materials to ensure our youngest members feel fully included and engaged in multi-generational Sunday worship. We look forward to introducing this model gradually over the coming months, with continued feedback from families and a formal evaluation scheduled for December.
In that same spirit of community care, at the Congregational Meeting the Social Justice and Witness Committee shared the remarkable success of our partnership with Hosea Youth Services and Connected Lane County, which has actively restored dignity and provided critical job readiness training, resumé building, and internships to vulnerable and unhoused local youth.
Ensuring the health and structural continuity of our operations, the Board moved forward intentionally on several vital staffing fronts to prioritize administrative efficiency and budget adherence. The finalized job description for our open, part-time Financial & Business Administrator position reflects a strategic decision to split our previous finance manager role into two specialized, part-time tracks, supported by the modern implementation of Gusto payroll software. We are actively reviewing applicants for this position. Concurrently, our profile for a permanent Associate Pastor is officially live, yielding applicants. Recruitment will soon be underway for a Youth Ministries Coordinator to establish a sustainable, lifelong spiritual pathway for our high school youth. We encourage all members to utilize their personal networks to help spread the word as we seek our next organizational and spiritual leaders, and to direct applicants to respond to our online listings (LinkedIn and Indeed) or email their cover letter/resumé to Dana at danac@fcceugene.org (she will forward on to hiring teams).
Maintaining administrative excellence and careful financial stewardship remains central as we evaluate our fiscal health. While we celebrated a strong conclusion to the previous fiscal year—which ended with a $46,000 surplus and a 23% increase in pledge giving—our current-year summer giving is trailing our target. Sustaining consistent pledge contributions is vital through the summer months, particularly after our emergency funds recently absorbed $40,000 in major, unplanned facility expenses for critical HVAC, lighting, fencing, and youth room carpeting repairs. So, we encourage all who can to give now. And we want to recognize and express our gratitude for the generosity of members’ time, talent and treasure in making progress on our core goals, improving our teamwork, and supporting the vibrant ministry of this congregation.
As a reminder, regular Board meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., with our next gathering scheduled for July 15. All church members are welcome to join us.
Tony Foy, Board Moderator
