by Tamilyn Moore
Hello Heritage Community! Thank you for allowing me to be your President of the Board this coming year. I look forward to working with Jim Nolan as Past President, Michael Wilhite as Vice President, Barb Lyon and Kay Inskeep as Co-Secretaries, and Mark Buckley and John Sandman as Board Members. Thanks to Bob Rush and Bob Booth for their service on the board.
I want to thank Jim Nolan for his leadership through Rev. Bill’s partial sabbatical and this pandemic. He has protected the health and safety of our community and guided us through virtual participation in the democratic process. I appreciate all of you who participated in the virtual emergency congregational meeting in April and the virtual annual congregational meeting in June. Your participation allowed us to continue with the business of the church, even when we can’t gather in person. Language has now been added to our constitution to allow the Board to take actions in emergency situations and provides clear direction on how to allow for virtual participation in congregation meeting.
For a little history on me, I have been a member of Heritage since 2007, my wife, Nicole Dangelo, joined in 2014. My mom, Nancy Moore, joined Heritage sometime between then. The first service I attended at the church was the water ceremony in August 2006. The sense of community I felt that day was what I had been looking for. Since then I have been part of and chair of the RE committee, social action team, the caring circle, and the auction team. I am grateful that my children were dedicated here and get to grow up in this community which encourages them to be who they are and to be proud of who they are. Nicole and I had Rev. Leslie officiate our private marriage in Indiana in June 2015 a few weeks before the Supreme Court issued the landmark decision for marriage equality. Rev. Bill officiated our wedding with many friends and family at Heritage in August 2015.
Over the past year, Jim Nolan has helped us all put our energy into action. We did this through participation in many activities inside and out of the church. Since March of this year, many of us have continued to put our energy into action in helping those who are not able to get out during the pandemic. Thank you to all who have helped!
This year the Board will focus on keeping the spirit of our community alive. During this time when we cannot be physically together, we will focus on virtually fostering the love that is the spirit of this church. The Board will establish our shared ministry goals for this year at our virtual retreat on August 22. At the beginning of the stay-at-home orders, my kids talked about their concern for those living alone. They started writing a couple letters a week to members of our church who live alone. I encourage each of you to reach out to someone in the community that you don’t regularly talk to. Check in with them. See how they are doing. Remind them that they are not alone.
Virtual hugs to you all!
Tamilyn Moore
August 2020.
