Kit was born in Ann Arbor Michigan. Her parents were both from Michigan, her mom was a housewife, and her dad was an insurance salesman. She grew up and went to school in Ann Arbor. She was involved in her church’s youth group, and would sometimes attend church. Luckily, no one in her family had to serve in the military during a war, but she mentioned that her husband served in the navy during peacetime. Even though she remembers Sunday school, she unfortunately doesn’t have much memory of confirmation. She says that she doesn’t remember ever getting confirmed, and she might not have.
Kit went to Central Michigan University, and got a degree in teaching, where she later on became a teacher for a while. She also had owned a retail business, which sold quilting supplies. She also lived in Chicago, and she moved to Wisconsin because of her husband’s job. She started at a congregational church when she moved here, but eventually came to Windsor UCC. She says the pastors she remembers are Dave Moyer, Dan Randall, Marty Balmer and David McDonald.
She has three children, Mark, Julie, and Sarah. Mark is a consultant, Julie does nutritional work for dairy cattle in her dads business, and Sarah works at Eveco. She has eight grandchildren, most of them in college. Her husband, Tom, worked as an accountant, and helped with his dad’s business, which Julie now works in.
Joan Rice was born November 5, 1949 near Green Bay. She lived there for the first few years of her life. She was one of eight children. Her dad owned a jewelry store and her mom stayed home with her and her siblings. Both of her parents died at a very young age. She went to a few Catholic schools. She went to Sacred Heart for elementary. For intermediate school she went to Xavier high. She attended UW Madison for college. She was confirmed in 7th grade, with all of the kids in her class which was about 30 to 40 . In her confirmation class she had to memorize a lot, also the bishops came to help with confirmation. The one pastor Joan remembered was Pastor Schmidt.
Joan has two children and they both live in California. Sara is the oldest, and has a talent agency. She also teaches workshops about the arts, and nature education. Sara also has a 16 year old son named Riker. Her other child Nick does background acting. Joan has lived in many different places in Wisconsin. Those include Green Bay, Appleton, Spooner (Which is up North), Madison and now Deforest.
Joan and I went to El Charro for dinner and conversation. Joan is very nice and easy going. This interview was great because I met someone new. I felt the interview could not have gone any better because we were similar people. I would love to do it again.
Kathy Boebel was born in Madison, Wisconsin, started school in a country school in Milwaukee, and then moved to downtown Windsor for her father’s work. She later moved to Sun Prairie. She was taught in one classroom with 8 other grades in her first country school. She was the only 1st grader in her school. When she moved to Sun prairie she was in 2nd grade, where she was amazed to see there was more than just her in her 2nd grade class. Everyday for school, she would walk a mile there and a mile home, however she was involved in multiple school activities so she wasn’t home very often. She lived in a multigenerational home. This means she lived with her mother, father, grandma, grandpa, and older sister. Her father worked as a farmer salesman, but later got his license for selling homes and became a realtor. Her mother didn’t really leave the house and stayed at home taking care of her family. She has 2 children (one girl and one boy) and 5 grandchildren (plus a grand-dog).
Kathy was confirmed in 1959, with four kids in her confirmation class. Kathy was able to remember so many pastors. She was able to remember the following: Pastor Dave MacDonald, Pastor Dave Moyer, Pastor Bob who married them, Pastor Dan Randle who she hired and fired, and Pastor Reverend Caseman.
Kathy worked as a PE teacher for a few years before raising her kids. She was a synchronized swimming, track, tennis and gymnastics coach. Later she worked for UW and retired from the School of Education where she had been assistant to the dean.
Once the pandemic hit, she realized how much the church really meant to her. When we were all worshiping online, no one was 100% connected within the church. She realized what was amazing was the fact that she was able to have that family within the church when she needed it most. For example, she needed support when her mother died and also when her husband had cancer.
One amazing story that she was able to tell was about her father and sister. As WW2 ended, and word made it back to Windsor, her dad was at home with her sister. When he heard the news, he grabbed her sister’s arm, ran to the church and rang our church bell until he couldn’t do it anymore. This meant that as WW2 ended, our church bells rang to celebrate it!
Some advice she gave to me was to stick with the program. Even if I wasn’t enjoying it now and I still had questions, I should just stick it through and be able to find that the church family is the most important part of a church. Overall, I loved this interview and she was very nice.
The final assignment of our Confirmation class was for each confirmand to interview someone in our congregation they didn’t already know. Here is how I explained the assignment to the class:
There are a lot of wonderful people in the congregation who have long and faithfully supported the church. It is easy to attend for years without meeting people who are not friends or relatives or who sit on the other side of the church. The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to meet some of these people. I trust they will inspire you--they sure inspire me (-:
I am proud to share these interviews with you over the next few days.
There are times when what is true and good is clear to see, and the Service of Installation on Sunday the 19th was such a time for us.
Three challenging years after we began our journey together, filled with disruptions too many to count and with strains too general to measure, we at last made an official start as pastor and congregation.
None of us would have chosen to start this way, and yet here we are, called to walk together, making promises for what we cannot see in advance–this is the heart of the installation liturgy:
Pr. Craig: I am willing, and I promise to serve this church faithfully, preaching and teaching the word of God, administering the sacraments, and fulfilling the pastoral office, according to the faith and order of the United Church of Christ.
Windsor UCC Members: We, the members of Windsor United Church of Christ, receive Craig as our pastor and teacher, promising to labor with him in the ministry of the gospel and give him due honor and support. >>>Rev. Wayne Shannon, Service of Installation<<<
I believe we have been called together for a purpose, convinced that the hardships we faced inside and outside the church prepare us for the road ahead.
With the Holy Spirit to guide us, gathered as a church in Christ’s name, we will walk this road together.
In the past month, I have given my full attention to meeting the target Council set for reopening our sanctuary for in-person worship: April 18th. Thanks to the help of many, I gladly report that we will meet this target, though not as we had expected or planned.
This article summarizes plans and decisions for reopening. This summary served as an outline for my Zoom presentation on Sunday, March 28th. Further details will come as we progress toward reopening and then adjust as we go.
We all know the approach we are taking won’t please everyone in our congregation, but I believe that working together to create a safe worship environment is how we as people of faith serve God in these challenging times.
With God’s help, your cooperation, and mutual sacrifices, our congregation will emerge from this pandemic stronger and more united.
Peace,
Pr Craig
NOTES ON REOPENING
Number of Worshippers: As more of our members are vaccinated, the number of members ready to join us for in-person worship has grown. Thirty-five (pink) of the 84 members who planned to return to in-person worship after they had been vaccinated have been vaccinated, bringing the total number of members ready to attend in-person worship to 135.
Given our current capacity limit, two worship services are needed.
Capacity Limits: We are unsure how many worshippers can be seated in sanctuary with social distancing. One hundred chairs are set up. The total number of worshippers in the sanctuary will depend on the size of family units, as three chairs between each family unit is required. Capacity also depends on ushers maximizing seating.
Additional seating in the Narthex may be needed as capacity limits increase, as determined by our Medical Advisory Team.
Ten percent of capacity will be reserved for our guests.
Worship Service Times: Worship service times will be 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Questions about these times tend to rise from expectations that by default we would worship at the pre-pandemic times of 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. There are several reasons for these worship times:
Ushers and greeters will need extra time to prepare for worshippers to enter and be seated.
Extra time is needed between services for ushers and greeters to sanitize frequent-touch, hard-surface areas.
Extra time is needed for 9:00 a.m. worshippers to visit outside of the building and depart from the parking lot to open spaces for 11:00 a.m. worshippers.
Intermediate Technology and What to Expect: The new sound and video system has been ordered. The expected installation date is the week of April 18th. We will devote our resources to setting up the new system rather than also setting up an intermediate system. As a result, as we begin in-person worship, we will continue to livestream worship using an iPad. This decision will affect the way we conduct worship in ways we will discover as we go.
Also, as we launch our new system, there are sure to be glitches and problems to solve we cannot see in advance.
Online Registration for In-person Worship: Worshippers will sign up for weekly in-person worship using an online system.
Phone and email support will be provided for those for whom technology is a barrier to participation.
The registration system will be open to the congregation for a trial run after Easter.
Online registration is required to attend in-person worship.
A process is in place in case of cancellation.
A process is in place in case capacity limits are reached, enabling those who are unable to attend because of limits to be first in line to attend in-person worship the next week.
Help and explanation documents will be available before registration begins.
There are sure to be adjustments needed as we go.
Serving in Worship: In-person worship depends upon support of safe worship through active participation of our members. The following roles for serving in worship are needed, totaling 17-20 per service, 25-27 per week:
Online Registration Support: 3 per week. (may not attend)
In our annual meeting, I updated the congregation on progress toward installing a sound and video system. There has been a lot of interest in these systems, including offers of contributions to “get the ball rolling.” After worship on March 7th, we will hold a zoom meeting to offer details and to answer questions. This report offers basic information to help with our discussions, and offers a proposal for congregational support.
Worship Through Christmas, our online worship services included images, prayers, scriptures, and muli-media. When we return to in person worship in our sanctuary, I intend to use our screens in our building the way we used our screens during the pandemic, projecting all parts of the service so we can pray and read and sing together. I would like to supplement children’s time and the sermon with mutli-media.
We have selected a company that can install an audio-video system so what we project on our screens in worship will simultaneously be streamed online for those who cannot be physically present with us in our building.
Member Care As we have learned through the pandemic, our shut-ins have enjoyed the advent of online worship. I have received many grateful messages from elder members such as Dorothy Dahl, 92, grateful for the connection online worship offers them. Some of our members recovering from surgical procedures have found online worship a welcome source of peace and hope during their convalescence. Members traveling or away on vacation have been glad to join us online from their remote locations.
Our reopening survey helps us to see many of our cherished members who have special health concerns will not return to in person worship until safety protocols are no longer advisable, and will rely on our online services until it is safe for them to return.
Outreach From August to December, we added one new member through our online worship, and three guests have been regularly attending, actively participating, and contributing financially.Online worship is the digital front door of the church; guests will visit our webpage, sample our services online, skim a written sermon, before they decide to visit us in person.
Cost In August, our Finance and Stewardship Ministry recommended that Council designate the $10,000 gift Betty Gene Diener bequeathed to the congregation as a fitting way to honor her generous commitment to the life of our congregation. Council approved this recommendation. Proposals to install a system were solicited from four audio-video companies, and one was selected: WI Audio Video.
Video System: We have been live streaming services to Facebook using an iPad without words or images. Installing a video system would allow us to livestream words and images and also to make our services available on multiple platforms, not only on Facebook. We cannot continue to use our current method of livestreaming when we return to in person worship without choosing to focus on members who worship with us on-line at the expense of those who worship in person, or focusing on those in person at the expense of those who worship online.
Sound System: As we have recently experienced, our analogue sound system does not allow the kinds of controls needed to share audio from our sanctuary with our congregation and guests online. A digital sound board and new microphones would allow us to share the sound of our musicians and vocals online.
Contingency: It is wise to plan for contingency costs for complex projects such as this. For example, a digital sound system can be controlled through a tablet such as an iPad. We may find that to add systems will require that we physically alter our current sound booth. We may need to increase the speed of our internet service. Should this project go forward, an amount to meet contingency costs should be included, with a plan for how unspent funds would be allocated.
Video System
$13,000
Audio System
$8,000
Contingency Funds
$3,000
Sub Total
$24,000
Diener Memorial Fund
-$10,000
Fundraising Goal
$14,000
Conclusion Installing an audio video system is an act of compassionate care for our shut-ins and members with health concerns who will be the last to rejoin us for in person worship and is necessary for growth in the future. I encourage Council and the congregation to initiate a fundraising campaign to install an audio video system giving our members an opportunity to care for the least among us and invest in our future together.
Last Sunday, January 24th, we hosted a zoom meeting to talk about our Annual Meeting this Sunday, January 31st. The two items on the agenda for our Annual Meeting–Committee nominations and our 2021 Budget–were of less interest than questions about when and how we will return to worship
The question of “when” will be answered by the congregation’s response to the survey we recently sent you (if you did not receive a survey, please contact the office: office@windsorucc.com; 608-846-5731). This survey helps us answer two important questions. First, under what conditions will our members return to worship; second, who is willing to help us reopen our building for worship. Once we have answers to these questions, then our work really begins.
We will need to create a sustainable system to train and schedule our members to serve God by opening our building for worship. We will also need to create a system for people to sign up to join us in worship in safe numbers, making sure that everyone has a chance to attend once before anyone attends twice, and also reserving spaces for guests to join us. This process will also serve as contact tracing.
In addition, we will need to plan for how we will continue to reach members and friends online who will return on a longer timeline, and also continue to reach our shut-ins who have enjoyed the advent of online worship. I am committed to these members and to reaching out to others online. I hope the congregation will resolve to ensure that our return to in person will not come at the expense of those who are unable, for whatever reason, to join us for worship in our building.
One of the most often asked questions is why we are not yet open while other churches are already open. One answer is that we respect science and follow the advice of experts who have warned against gathering and say that singing is dangerous.
Another answer to the question is that we currently lack capacity and organization to open our building. It is hard to see from the perspective of this pandemic, but the congregation went through a significant transition in the process of calling me to serve as Pastor. We are getting our start in a hard time, and we do not yet have processes in place to make decisions, enlist help, and get moving. In truth, the informal and personal nature of the congregation, one of its greatest strengths and assets, leaves the congregation ill-prepared for the time we are living through. We now need to build a sustainable structure for today and tomorrow.
I hope we will all put our energy and passion into creating formal structures and organizations that will sustain us as we move forward together. When we open our doors, we will all be glad to be back in our church home, and I pray we will be ready to welcome the new people who will join us after this hard time.
God has given us so much, and we are coming through this pandemic with few losses compared to other congregations. I hope you will join me in asking how God is calling us to serve through the ministry of our congregation. Peace, Pr. Craig
Pastor’s Annual Report to the Congregation Windsor United Church of Christ, 2020
When I first saw this lovely building and talked with the Search Committee about what God might have in store for us, I was convinced that 2020 was going to be a very good year indeed.
We made plans for the weekend of March 22nd–time for our families to meet, time to sit together and to share a meal, time for questions and answers, time to get to know one another–but then the pandemic disrupted our plans and not for the last time.
We rescheduled for the weekend after Easter, April 19th, planning to meet outdoors so at least we could be together in the same place at the same time. Alas, COVID-19 disrupted these plans as well. Undeterred, the Search Committee arranged for us to meet online and the congregation worked together to conduct a vote on-line.
It’s startling how faith works, isn’t it? How God’s timing defies our plans and how the Holy Spirit calls us into unexpected and uncharted territory. It was an amazing thing for God to call us together in 2020. We are all wondering what God has in store for us in 2021.
We hope and pray the vaccine will reach us so we can safely congregate again (and for the first time :-). When this time finally comes, it will be time to celebrate. There will be babies to baptize, loved ones to mourn, a Sunday School to reopen, new people to welcome, and new opportunities to serve God by taking care of our neighbors.
I continue to be amazed by the strength and resilience of the congregation. These hard times have not shaken our belief that our congregation is a light in dark times, nor diminished our commitment to minister in Christ’s name.
I would like to especially thank Roger Stoltenberg, Chair of the Search Committee, and Terry Anderson, our Moderator, for their tireless and faithful work; Aaron Lissowe for his technological skills and generous support of the worship life of the congregation; and our staff, Barb Varner for her brightness and know-how, and David Schipper for his nurture of the music ministries of the congregation. Thank you also to the members of the Search Committee and their families for the extraordinary effort that went into bringing us together during these unprecedented times: KJ Busse, Denny Dobson, McKenna Kelsey, Karen Meylor-Miller, Jon Rouse, Matt Sutherland, and Kit Thomsen.
Suppose It Matters 