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by Ugena Whitlock, Southeast Conference Moderator
On behalf of the SEC Board of Directors, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Conference Minister, Rev. Kimberly Wood. We are so excited that Kim has been called to our conference! She comes to us after an extensive search and call process. Search committee members were from all across the Conference, and they worked in prayerful collaboration with the UCC National Setting. We on the Board were ecstatic when their work concluded and they introduced us to Kim. Many of you had the opportunity to attend a “meet and greet” with her in the summer, and earlier Conference Connections have included her video introduction and bio. I wanted to share an excerpt here:
“Kim is passionate about caring for all of God’s creation, creating empowering spaces for the voices and gifts of those people who have been ignored and silenced, serving as an ally for people who are oppressed, and standing up, speaking out, and acting against systemic injustice and individual cruelty….As a pastor and teacher, she works, and encourages others to work, for God’s Kin-dom of equity and love…”
In these complex and troubling times, the Board of Directors shares in our gratitude for the gifts Kim brings to our conference after our long period of transition. We look forward to growing together in love and caring.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank Rev. Char Burch for her service as Transitional Conference Minister. Char’s pastoral and leadership gifts allowed the Board to have the space and time to settle and grow as we thoughtfully prepared to search and call our settled Conference Minister. Personally, I appreciate Char’s guidance as I undertook the role of Moderator, which was completely new territory for me. She was patient and kind as she exemplified the invaluable traits of a leader.
