Marie Luna
Dearest members and friends,
 
I have known for a long time that at some point, it would be time for me to move on to focus on work in the greater Unitarian Universalist world, and in doing so make room for someone else to develop this position in new ways. I now know that time has come. I will be resigning from my position as your Director of Congregational Life as of May 30, 2022. While this may feel surprising to many of you, this is a decision I have been discerning for many years. The complexity of the pandemic has simply moved my timeline up by a year or two.
 
I have loved working in this position and for this community for the past 16 years. I am so grateful to have been able to build upon the legacy of those who came before and to help co-create a foundation of welcoming and engagement that has brought meaning for so many people. We have had many experiences saying goodbye to long-term ministers and other staff members, and I know it is never easy. Often we have told them that this is hard for us, but understand and appreciate their decision. I hope you can feel that same way for me!
 
I believe in this Fellowship. I believe that the next stage of this shared congregational life ministry can offer new opportunities that will be right for everyone. You are worthy people doing important work in the world, and I know you will continue to do this well, far into the future, no matter who is on staff or in leadership.
 
The Fellowship gave me a spiritual home and social connection when I needed it, and then deeply meaningful work and skills that will allow me to help other congregations. In my 16 years here, I have helped start up a UUA-wide professional group for people who do similar work and have worked in a consulting capacity with many congregations. Through these years of working in other UU spaces, I have seen the need for full-time consultants to help congregations do the work of welcome and engagement in better ways. While engaging in this consulting work, I have often been told “we need you,” and moving into this work feels like a natural step on my journey. I am not moving “away” from my current position as much as I am moving “toward” this new opportunity to deepen and share my skills, and help the larger UU faith tradition. I hope you are able to understand that this transition is right for me, as well as allowing for new opportunities for the Fellowship.
 
As is tradition in our faith, while I will remain a Fellowship member, I’ll respectfully be stepping away from the Fellowship for a period of time. This will better allow for a healthy transition - and I will miss you! I trust we will all be able to navigate this change in a healthy way, and form new relationships in the future. My long “goodbye” period will allow us plenty of time to grieve and celebrate our shared ministry together. Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns, or want to connect about this news.  

With love,
Marie

Marie Luna
Director of Congregational Life

Meet with Marie!

•  Join Marie for a special breakout room after the January 16th service.
•  Set up a phone call, zoom chat, or in person meeting: https://calendly.com/marieuu (Make sure to include a note on how you want to meet. If you want to meet on zoom, Marie will send a link.)
•  Contact her at marie@fvuuf.org or 920.731.0849 if the available times don’t work for you.
•  Drop into an open zoom time on Tuesday, January 25th from noon-1pm CT: Zoom link: https://bit.ly/3njM8C4

Rev. Christina
Dear Ones,

As your senior minister, I join you in congratulating Marie in this next step in her professional journey, and joy for our Unitarian Universalist faith that more people will benefit from her expertise, wisdom, and warm, joyful spirit. I also join you in grief for our own Fellowship’s loss. Marie has been one of the backbones of the ministry here for over a decade and a half! She was one of the first staff people hired by Rev. Roger Bertschausen (our previous senior minister) when it became clear to him that he alone could not carry the professional ministry of the Fellowship. Marie developed incredible paths to membership, leadership, and sustained engagement for our congregation, all while developing and supporting a larger UU professional organization for people who do the work of membership and congregational life. I told Marie that I was so glad that she was a part of the team that welcomed me when I arrived as your senior minister 4 ½ years ago. Her longevity, stability, and strength on the staff team provided us with an excellent foundation for shared ministry.

Marie has supported this congregation through ministry transitions, staff changes, a building expansion, program changes, and two years of an unprecedented pandemic. It is now our turn to support Marie in this next transition in her life. It is also our turn to trust in the larger ministry of the Fellowship—the ministry that is not led only by those “up front” but by each and every one of you—that we will get through this, and we will use this as an opportunity for creativity, connection, and deepening into our mission as a congregation. Your executive team and governing board are in conversation about the best path forward, and we will be in communication with you as soon as there is anything to share. We will be embarking on a series of sessions to gather input from the congregation about our mission and vision. We will integrate that congregational input into decisions about hiring, so please take an opportunity to engage in those sessions as they become available! In addition to your feedback, we will consider our upcoming assistant minister transition, our staffing needs, our budget, and recommendations from the UUA to make a plan for whatever comes next. However, at this moment, the task at hand is to celebrate Marie and to grieve together this loss. Please take Marie up on her offer to meet, in individual or group settings. If you’d like to reach out to me or minister Ali, we’re available. Our Healthy Congregation Team and our Care Team are also on standby if you need to chat. Don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here for you.

With love,
Rev. Christina Leone-Tracy
Senior Minister
fvuuf.org | 920.731.0849 | marie@fvuuf.org
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