Next Service

Roots Hold Me Close

Sunday, April 28, 2024 10:00 a.m.

Service Leaders:

Rev. Amanda Weatherspoon, Settled Minister Candidate

Mic Elvenstar and Dave Warren, Lay Service Leaders
John Herrick, Director of Music

What’s Happening at the UUCC this Sunday?
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Barry Ahrendt is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Recruiting Team. He joined the UUCC in October 2013 after moving from Columbia, S.C, where he joined his first UU congregation in 2007. In Charlotte, he has been privileged to serve on the Communications Team, the Board of Trustees, and the Focus 2020 Task Group, which led the effort to change the name of our congregation and update our logo and website. Barry has found enrichment and spiritual growth through participation in numerous adult education offerings at UUCC, Discovery Circles, Dinners for Eight, and the anti-racism workshop. Unitarian Universalism is a faith Barry found relatively late in life, but one which offered him solace at a time of upheaval in his life and the challenge to begin a spiritual journey. He looks forward to the work of recruiting a new settled minister to lead our congregation.

Althea Clark has been a UUCC member since 2013 and a Unitarian Universalist for 60 years, in four communities, with eight ministers. She says, “As I’ve said before this community means everything to me, and I will do my best to find a new minister worthy of it. In these last ten years I have missed Sunday services less than a dozen times. I organized Tables for Eight when I first arrived ten years ago, knowing I had to find my peeps. I attended almost every class offered by UUCC, affectionately calling it UUCUniversity. I have organized Thanksgiving potlucks, visited nine “treasured trees” in Charlotte during Covid, have been serving on two teams: Community Building, and Adult Ed and Spiritual Development. I have attended Open Book club a few times, belong to another book group of mostly UUCC women, and have been a member of a soul-sustaining women’s group for over eight years. Outside of these walls I participate in a Baha’i book group discussing racial justice every other Saturday, and I am a member of Coming to the Table of Gastonia.”

Mic Elvenstar has been a member of UUCC for 28 years and has been involved in the community on several levels: Ten years on the Worship Team or its equivalent; Room in the Inn; RAIN meals; 17 years in the choir; several theatrical productions, including 20 years as writer/director of Follies; leading a disability support and advocacy group the past five years; the 75th Anniversary planning team.

Ellen Holliday (Co-Chair) has been a UUCC member since 1996. During her time at the UUCC, Ellen has served on the Music Team and Board of Trustees. She has been a Cultivator of Generosity, Discovery Circle Facilitator, Canvasser, and an active member of the choir. Currently Ellen serves on the Board of the Memorial Endowment Trust of the UUCC

Rebekah Visco (Co-Chair) has been a Unitarian Universalist for more than 30 years. She and her husband Evan, along with their two children Samantha and Adam, joined the UUCC in 2010 after moving to the Charlotte area from Philadelphia. Rebekah began her second career as a registered nurse with Atrium Health, where she has now worked for more than 10 years. She has served in many areas at the UUCC, including the Vision Steering Team and on the UUCC Board of Trustees, finishing a term as Board Chair in 2019. She currently serves on the Intersectional Justice Team and the Denominational Connections team. One of her favorite UU roles is being a facilitator for Our Whole Lives, which she has enjoyed for more than 15 years. She has been involved in the UUA ministerial search process and hiring in previous congregations and is excited for the opportunity to help the UUCC find its next settled minister.

Dave Warren joined UUCC in November 2022. He and his wife Jennefer had been “long time visitors” prior to joining, and he has attended UU services on and off for almost 40 years in Virginia, California, Arizona and North Carolina. Dave volunteers at UUCC as an usher and coffee service provider, and in the greater community has volunteered as a court-appointed advocate for children in foster care and a peer addiction counselor. He currently works as a Franchise Business Consultant within the Restaurant Industry, and he hopes his passion and focus on culture building and recruiting will benefit UUCC’s ministerial search.

Kathryn Whitfield (she/her) has been attending the UUCC with her two kids, Jacob (14) and Ally (13) for 11 years and has been a member for approximately 10 years. She has been active in our CYRE program as an advisor for SpiritPlay, Elementary, and High School and has served on the CYRE Team. During her time on the Intersectional Justice team, she introduced two of our current partners (and one past partner) to the community. She has also served in other volunteer roles, including as a greeter. She takes advantage of the adult programming, especially social justice offerings. She attended all four Core Groups and the Undoing Racism workshop, and most recently, the programming around how to make the UUCC a Beloved Community and conversations regarding changes re: the Proposed Article II. Outside of the UUCC, her career in Design and User Experience requires many skills that will be helpful during this process, including interviewing, leading teams, and managing a wide variety of personalities and demographics. She is skilled at working toward deadlines with varying types of deliverables and has a proficient understanding of marketing. Kathryn says, “I’m interested in serving on this team because I’ve seen first hand how the minister impacts the culture and values of the congregation and I’m invested in making the UUCC a place of integrity for me, my kids, and the community overall.”