John Dorhauer

As I sit here  early in the morning, Tuesday, July 20 in my son's living room in Chicago, waiting for my grandchildren to awaken so I can spend another hour with them before heading to the airport to see my daughter in California for the first time since Christmas of 2019 - I find myself filled with gratitude for the entire staff of the National Setting. 

What you all just pulled off was nothing short of amazing. 

We all had to pull together to make this happen - and we did it. 

We basically built something that didn't exist before out of thin air. 

From start to finish, all of you banded together with creativity, with genius, with grit and determination - and made this happen. 

It was epic!

It was historic. 

It was magnificent!

Thank you each and all. 

Synod 33, our first ever virtual Synod, is in the books. Everything about it was top grade. Accolades for what you did are pouring in from all over the denomination. I am so, so proud of all of you!

I'd say let's do it again - and we will - but right now we all just want and need to rest. 

So, rest and recover. 

And know that I appreciate everyone of you. 

THANK YOU!!!!!

Hello Staff. 

I am asking us all to participate in a dream day (well, technically two half days). 

Save the dates Nov. 2-3, from 10am - 2pm for our next play dates. 

Well, it is a little more than play time.

I am asking we gather for a facilitated retreat time to dream about what a 21st century work place can look like. 

We have been trying for a few years to make long term commitments/decisions about what our work place should look like in the future, and where it should be located. And just when we thought we had some really good idea about that, this pandemic hit. We aren't exactly back at the starting gate, but close enough. 

I want to hear from you. 

What does the future look/feel like to you?

What kind of workspace can you imagine thriving in post COVID?

Will you join me in a time of open dream space to talk about what next steps will be?

More details will come. I am working with a trained facilitator to guide us through the exploration. So, stay tuned - but do hold the dates. Thanks. 

Sorry it took so  long  to post this. Many of you asked to see the full version, so here it is:

Traci, Karen Georgia and I will be releasing short messages to staff. We will each to one a week  - we hope you enjoy seeing them. Be well! You are all in our thoughts and prayers. 

Hello all! I hope you enjoy this short message. 

Look for more from Traci, Karen Georgia and me....

A week ago I began exhibiting cold/flu like symptoms. Most of the worst of what I was  experiencing has passed, though a deep cough  persists. I have been to the  doctor and am assured it is not COVID-19. They did not have a test available, but  the doctor is confident of his diagnosis. I am exercising every precaution, though, and working from home so as not to take any risks with anyone in the office. Do not hesitate to call or email or contact me if you need anything - I continue to work, though not in the office. 

Here are the dates between now and March 1, which is so much closer to being here than I can believe, when I will be in the office. 

Today, Feb. 18. 

Tuesday, Feb. 25

Wednesday, Feb. 26. 

I am headed to the Bahamas today to tour storm damages with the National Council of Churches.  From there I go to New York where the Investment and Endowment Committee of the UCCB meets  with  the Finance Ministries. 

The final weekend,  I will travel to Indianapolis  to  meet with  the IKC Board and then have a  morning with UCC clergy in the area. 

I will try and faithfully post the dates where I will be in  the office, and what I will  be doing when on the road. 

I wanted to share with you all that Karen Georgia and John will be out of the office until Feb. 11. They are on an overseas trip to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India under the guidance of Deenabandhu. Please hold them in prayer as they spend the next couple weeks visiting critical and historic mission partners. 

Happy New Year to all!

I hope you are all enjoying this little break. You have all been working very hard, and deserve a little time off. I know it has been restorative for me, and I am grateful for the chance to take some deep breaths, sleep a little more, and enjoy time with family. 

I look forward to what I hope will be a good year for all of us when we return. Until then, continue to enjoy a little time off. See you soon!

John here. 

As I write, I sit in an airport lounge with Mimi in San Francisco having spent two days with our daughter; earlier in the week I spent two days with my mom. 

i come home for one day in the office before I leave for speaking engagements across Germany. I will return from there to fly the next day to Minnesota for the Council for Theological Education and to preach at the Mayflower Church in Minneapolis. 

Shortly after that I spend three days in Birmingham on retreat with the Council of Conference Ministers. That gets us to the week of Thanksgiving when things slow down. Just wanted you all to be aware that while I will be tracking everything while on the road - you may not see me around much between now and Thanksgiving. I will track UConnect daily to keep up on the news - and will use it to give you reports about where I am and what is unfolding. 

Traci, Karen Georgia and John would like to share with you notes from their meeting together last week. They meet once a month for a full day with each other, and discuss the items most important in the unfolding life of our shared work and the mission of the denomination. We would like to use this Forum as a means to keep you updated on what they are discussing. 

Notes from Officer Meeting

All affirmed the request to have Elizabeth Dilley be the coordinator for the Council for Theological Education. This year the Council will meet from Nov. 13-15 at United Seminary in St. Paul MN. Elizabeth has been in touch with UTS president Lew Zeidner to discuss logistics and agendas. 

Each of the officers agreed to bring their work on declaring what it means to be an officer to the September meeting. We will work towards alignment on those declarations at that meeting. The work will focus on each of our individual responsibilities; and on our shared responsibilities. There will be three sets of declarations: I take sole responsibility for determining….; I will seek counsel before determining….; and I will seek consensus to determine…..

Arrangements were made to work with OPTIC to produce a monthly officers newsletter. Each month, one of the three officers will be responsible for authoring a 500-750 word essay. Each month, all three officers will be able to highlight two news worthy items they would like to lift up to the United Church of Christ. Deadline for submission is the 8^thof every month. Submissions will go to Pilgrim Press for editing. Edited content must be sent to OPTIC by the 15^thof every month. OPTIC will prepare final content for submission to UCCB, CCM, and the full staff while also posting in KYP and linking that to our social media pages. The newsletter will have its first production by October 1. John will write the first essay; Traci will write the second; Karen Georgia the third. The rotation will stay that way moving forward. John will send notice to Donyale, who will forward information to Linda and Denise, about posting deadline dates on our calendar. 

An update on the progress of the hoped for Research and Development office was shared. 

Permission was granted to send the Asset Map Data report to the full staff. Officers agreed to continue to mine the data for relevant information, and to have conversation with staff about either creating new resources consistent with emerging need or shifting job descriptions to be more aligned with emerging need in our churches. As a follow up conversation to observations already gleaned from the data, in particular churches asking for more worship material, more curricula, and more stewardship materials; and in fulfillment of a promise to do a Theological Summit 2.0; and in recognition that we are not going to be able to utilize our staff solely to meet these emerging needs: we agreed to play with and entertain a Theological Summit in the Fall of 2020. The focus will be on identifying which resources are most needed and also identifying strategies for producing and distributing them given our current staffing limitations. 

All three officers felt an urgent need to make a theological declaration about the role of the church and the state of the union. They have agreed to set aside two days to travel to St. Louis to be hosted by Traci – at which time they will work to author a statement consistent with the identity, core values, and mission of the United Church of Christ and fully responsive to the urgency of our day. 

All three talked about and made a commitment to biennial listening tours.  This would send all three officers to a single setting to hear and listen to what church leaders are thinking, dreaming, and asking of the church. The commitment is to establish a pattern of visiting all six regions for an event with all three officers in each biennium.

My name often gets and 's' added: Dorhauser. Think the thing you walk through when you enter a room: 

followed by the question you ask when something happened you can't explain:

followed by the name of an ancient Mesopotamian city, the city of the Moon God: