Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF) Ashland, OR

Sermon by Rev. Martha Niebanck, from First Parish in Brookline, MA
Tami Marston, Music Director; Mark Turnbull, Jazz Guitar
Alan Berman, Piano; Jacqueline Rosen, Flute

Join us to celebrate the installation of the Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx as our settled minister. Installation Service begins at 6:00pm followed by a festive reception. Childcare provided.

The service of installation formally recognizes that a minister is settled with the congregation which called her to be their minister. It is a worship service with the familiar elements of sermon, prayer, reading, and songs. It also includes the act of installation where the congregation and minister affirm their covenant with each other. Order of Service

What is an Installation anyway? (Oct newsletter, p. 5); Formal Invitation

Slideshow

Office Hours: Tue, 11am - 1pm; Wed, 2pm - 4pm; Thu, 10am - noon.
You may also email or call to schedule another meeting time.

On May 9th, 2010, our Congregation voted to call Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx as our new settled minister.

She brings a rich and balanced set of skills that are responsive to our needs and desires, enthusiasm for nurturing our spirits, helping us grow, particularly in young families, and helping us reach beyond our walls to the social issues of the larger community. Rev. Leslie began her ministry at RVUUF on August 1, 2010; she started leading Sunday Worship Services in September.

• Biography
• Letters to RVUUF: 5/12/10; 4/26/10; 3/22/10
• Thoughts about: Religious Education, Ministry, Music, the Holy (excerpts from Ministerial Record)
• Slideshows: Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx [19 photos];
     Leslie, with husband Adam, infant son Aaron, and older stepson, Eric [20 photos]
     with congregation at Madhatter's Tea Party [24 photos]
     with congregation at Potluck [14 photos]
     with congregation on Mother's Day Service & Signing Ceremony [12 photos]

Newsletter columns (PDF):
Jan 2011
Dec 2010
Nov 2010
Oct 2010
Sep 2010
Jun-Jul 2010
May 2010

Rev. Carolyn Colbert served RVUUF from Aug 2008-June 2010.

Rev. Carolyn was the Interim Minister at the UU Church at Washington Crossing (UUCWC) in New Jersey, when Maria Geigel and Steve Weyer were members there. Their glowing recommendation introduced the Interim Ministerial Search Committee to the possibility that she might be a good candidate for us. When we mentioned her name to Heather Lynn, she told us that she and Carolyn had been friends and colleagues for years, and the Carolyn was, in her words, “a gem.”

During her career, she has served as an “on call” minister, an “extension” minister, and a “consulting” minister. She has served two churches as a called Parish minister, and five churches as their Interim minister.

As an example of what she brings to us, Rev. Carolyn served as settled minister at the UU church in Eugene. Beginning her ministry there in 1998, she followed two fine interim ministers (one of them, Heather Lynn) who had worked with the congregation to move through an unsettled history of difficult relationships with former ministers. Rev. Carolyn helped them grow from a pastoral church of 150 members, to a program-sized church with 350 members, 170 registered children and youth, 3 adult choirs and a kid’s choir. Under her guidance, their operating budget tripled. In 2006, at the end of her tenure there, the congregation honored her service by naming her Minister Emerita.

We think the RVUUF is indeed fortunate to have Rev. Carolyn with us. We will welcome into our midst a minister with an amazing resume that shows clearly that she is a woman who has spent her life in service to the Unitarian Universalist movement.

Slideshow

Weavings from the Web... [Newsletter columns (PDF)]:
Aug 2010 Hopes and Wishes
Jun-Jul 2010
May 2010
Apr 2010
Mar 2010
Feb 2010
Jan 2010
Dec 2009; also Minister's Discretionary Fund
Nov 2009
Oct 2009
Sep 2009
Aug 2009
Jun-Jul 2009
May 2009
Apr 2009
Mar 2009
Feb 2009
Jan 2009
Dec 2008
Nov 2008
Oct 2008
Sep 2008

Semi-annual report to Congregation Dec 2008

Our Fellowship was organized in 1953. As we have grown over the years, we have changed locations and hired professional ministers & staff -- see below for milestones.

Rev. Heather Lynn served RVUUF from Aug 2006-June 2008.

The Rev. Heather Lynn Hanson, born and raised in Oregon, grew up in a family of educators and music lovers. She discovered Unitarian Universalism as a young adult, and eagerly participated in creation of worship services and other leadership roles in the small fellowship she joined. She worked in educational video production and in adult training and education as she continued volunteering in UU church life and leadership. Once her two sons were grown, she returned to her childhood dream to become a minister. After graduating from seminary in Berkeley, CA, she served as associate minister for three years in Houston, Texas. She then returned to the Pacific Northwest to serve the Eugene UU Fellowship as an interim minister, and found that she liked that form of ministry. She received special training to become an Accredited Interim Minister with the UUA. Rev. Hanson has assisted six other UU congregations through their ministerial transitions before coming to Ashland.

Slideshow

INTERIM PASsaGES newsletter columns (PDF):
Jun-Jul 2008
May 2008
Apr 2008
Mar 2008
Feb 2008
Jan 2008
Dec 2007
Nov 2007
Oct 2007
Sep 2007
Jun-Jul 2007
May 2007
Apr 2007
Mar 2007
Feb 2007
Jan 2007
Dec 2006
Nov 2006
Oct 2006
Sep 2006
Aug 2006