Year: 2022 (Page 10 of 11)

Music Newsletter: March Choir

March 11, 2022 /

We are joyful that with slowed spread and decreasing case numbers of COVID-19, live music and singing together are slowly returning as a regular part of our church life. Live music fosters a unique spiritual grounding, comfort, and sense of connection.

We are grateful that the choir will perform at the memorial service of beloved long-time church and choir member Wayne Phillips on Saturday, March 26, at 1 pm. 

The choir will perform two songs at the celebration of Wayne’s life: “You are the new day” and “Dirait-On.” The choir will rehearse these songs in the following rehearsals at the church:

  • Tuesday, March 15 at 5:30 pm
  • Thursday, March 24 at 5:30 pm 
  • Friday, March 25 at 5:30 pm (Dress Rehearsal, everyone attends)
  • Saturday, March 26
    • 11:30 am rehearsal
    • 12:15-12:45 pm lunch break
    • 1:00 pm service begins

If you cannot attend the rehearsals on March 15 and March 24 but are already familiar with the two songs, we would still welcome your participation in the dress rehearsal (required to perform) and the service!

If you have any questions, please email Foothills’ Music Coordinator Jennifer Jolly at jenniferj@foothillsuu.org.

Music Newsletter: March 2022

March 2, 2022 /

We are excited to update you on what’s been happening in the Music Director Search since our last newsletter! Most excitingly, we’ve convened our Music Search Team (meet the members below) and posted the job.

Before convening the search team, Rev. Gretchen Haley and Kelsey DiAstra (acting as project manager for the search) drafted a job description that incorporates the congregation’s input from the music survey and listening sessions.

On February 10th, the Music Search Team met with Gretchen and Kelsey to review and discuss the job description. Then, over the week of February 13th, the Music Search Team made additional revisions to the job description, which represents a full-time key leadership role for our congregation.

We posted the job on February 25th through the Association for Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries, the Unitarian Universalist Association, the American Choral Directors Association, and our Foothills Unitarian job page. Over the next few weeks, we will be receiving and reviewing applications to identify a first round of finalists.

We are putting all these things in motion, aiming for a start date of August 2022, with an assumption that we will be able to pull together the funding for a full-time position. However, we still have quite a ways to go for that to happen. If you have already given to the Music Ministry Special Collection, thank you! If you haven’t but want to make sure that we are able to move forward with this hire, we ask for you to make a gift as soon as you are able using this link.

Music is a huge part of congregational life for all of us, and for all ages. We have been grateful for the leadership of our interim music staff over the last five years – Chris Reed, Melissa Monforti, Christopher Watkins Lamb, and currently Kloy Intawong and Jennifer Jolly – for all of their incredible gifts. 

And, it will be transformational to have a permanent full-time music director leading all of our music, integrating different styles and inviting in more people in different ways, and joining our staff team in this key ministry role. Especially as it is directly aligned with breaking ground on our new sanctuary, this marks a wonderful new beginning for our congregation as we look to the future and all we will do and be together.

In partnership,

Gretchen, Kelsey, and the whole Foothills team 

Give to the Music Ministry Special Collection!

Meet the Music Team!

Chris Hutchinson
My family and I have been involved at Foothills for almost five years now, and we were members of Our Saviour’s Lutheran for 12 years before that. I’ve had a lot of different experiences with music at Foothills, and I have enjoyed them all! I took the Music Leadership training and led some singing during services, sang with the Madrigals and a few smaller groups with Sally Lee, Juley Sobson, Gretchen O’Dell, and others. I’ve also been part of the tenor and bass sections of the choir. I believe music is one of the elements that can connect us all, and I look forward to supporting finding and hiring someone who can lead nurturing that element alongside everyone in the congregation.

Jack Morgan
Teresa and I have been coming to Foothills for about 12 years now, and we joined the congregation ten years ago. After listening to and enjoying the choir for years, I decided to join several years ago, singing tenor. I’ve also enjoyed participating in small groups, including the Madrigals, and have enjoyed opportunities to contribute my guitar and voice to the mix. Music has been important to me all my life, and I’ve always gravitated towards music in various church venues. I am excited and look forward to helping find a new music director.

Gretchen O’Dell
I’ve been involved with Foothills since 2010, and my kids are involved in Religious Education and OWL. We’ve met some of our dearest friends through church. I’ve been in the choir for years, played djembe in church, and been a part of many small groups. I LOVE singing in harmony and connecting with people through song! I’m really excited to find a talented, inspirational music director!

Georgia Peeples
I have been involved with Foothills since we moved to Fort Collins almost seven years ago, coming to church the first Sunday we were in town. I was a member of the Akron (Ohio) UU church for twenty years before our move. Currently, I accompany the Foothills choir, but I have also sung in the alto section. Playing for our children’s choir during the Christmas season has also been a joy of mine. Foothills is a dynamic church, with members active in service and involved in community affairs. I would like us to have a music program that feeds the spirits of my beloved congregation.

Kara Shobe
I have been coming to Foothills for about seven years and have been helping with Children’s Music choir and other children’s music for about five years. I have helped lead music for worship, led the Children’s Choir and Children’s Worship music, and participated in other small vocal groups over the years. Singing together with all ages has always been my favorite part of making music at Foothills. I’m a bit of an introvert, but I love our Foothills community and the magic that happens when we create music together. I am so excited to help find a Music Director who will continue to foster this atmosphere for all generations.

Give to the Music Ministry Special Collection!

The Building Bulletin: February 2022

February 21, 2022 /

There’s been a lot of activity on the building front this month. If you attended services in person on Sunday or have driven past the church lately, you may have noticed that we have started removing trees to make room for our new sanctuary. While we are all sad to see them go, rest assured that they will be replaced – some of them by multiple younger trees. The trees in the excavation area have been left with tall trunks rather than grinding down the stumps. This makes it easier for the construction crews to dig them up later. We saved a truckload of mulch located at the east end of the upper (east) parking lot. Some people may want to take home a bucket of mulch as a memento. Others may want to take a load home for spring yard work. Help yourself!

We have passed several other major milestones this month. We submitted our application for a building permit. We have a permit number and are in line for review. We have completed the second round of review for the Final Development Plan. Submission for the next round (and final, we hope!) will be February 16th.  After site plan approval, it will take several weeks for recording.

We have also begun working on three preconstruction projects: moving a gas line that runs under the excavation area, installing a new electric transformer, and performing some asbestos remediation in the existing social hall. Our contractor is coordinating with Xcel energy and the City of Fort Collins to accomplish the first two tasks. The current estimate is that work will be completed by the end of April. The BET has selected an asbestos remediation firm. This will be scheduled at a time convenient to the church schedule.

The BET has been working on finalizing the contract with Pinkard Construction. In the meantime, Pinkard has been collecting bids and choosing subcontractors. Finalizing bids has been challenging as economic conditions and supply chain conditions change frequently. Pinkard has some ideas for protecting us from future increases in the cost of some materials and will work hard to keep costs under control.

After our pandemic lull and the long Planning Department review process, we are excited to see the pace of the project picking up. Currently, we are expecting to break ground at the end of April.    

The Building Expansion Team is Peg MacMorris, Jerry Hanley, Chris Bettlach, and Margaret Cottam. Katie Watkins is our member from the staff. You can reach us at buildingexpansion@foothillsuu.org.

Sign up for the building expansion newsletter!

Music Newsletter (January 2022)

January 26, 2022 /

Welcome to the first Music Newsletter! Over the next six months, we will use this newsletter to share the process of hiring a new Music Director and updates about what’s currently happening in the music ministry (keep reading to meet our newly hired interim Music Coordinator!). Sign up to receive all future Music Newsletters here!

We hope to hire a full-time Music Director by August 2022. We prefer to and prioritize hiring a Music Director who also serves as the Choir Director to suport an integrated and comprehensive music ministry at Foothills. To make this hope of a full-time combined Music and Choir Director a reality, we need to raise $30,000 early in 2022 beyond our current budget and receive additional pledges of about another $30,000 (for a total of $60,000) for 2023. The capacity to fund and offer a full-time position is crucial to attracting the strongest candidates who possess the musical skills and personal qualities prioritized by our congregation. 

In Fall 2021, we worked with Periscope Theory, a Fort Collins-based firm, to develop a music survey that would help us understand the congregation’s priorities for the Music Director position and Music Ministry at large. Since then we have hosted several listening sessions, each with groups of 3-8 congregants representing every aspect of music at Foothills. Based on what we learned from the survey and listening sessions (summaries of which you can find below), we will convene an inclusive search committee to write the Music Director job description. We will announce members of the search committee in an upcoming newsletter.

Introducing our new Music Coordinator!

We are thrilled to welcome Jennifer Jolly, who many of you may recognize from her guest performances on Christmas Eve and in one of our fall 8:30 services, as our Music Coordinator!

Jennifer is a classically trained singer with a Master of Music degree, a Bachelor of Music, and experience as a performer and teacher. She will provide and coordinate music for worship services through July, while the search for our Music Director is underway. Jennifer is especially excited to involve the talented Foothills community in worship and is continually grateful for music’s ability to bring meaning and connection to our lives.

Learn more about how Jennifer will be supporting music by reading the full Music Coordinator job description.

Music Survey Summary

102 Foothills community members shared their priorities through the music survey.

Survey participants named strong musicality, effective communication, interpersonal skills, demonstrated leadership, and enthusiasm as the most important qualities for the new Music Director to possess.

Survey participants were evenly split on the most important role of the Music Director, with 20% of participants each selecting:
  • Helping develop, plan, and execute worship services
  • Through many different year-round options for people to engage in music
  • Spreading creativity, innovation, and joy
  • Collaborating in every possible way
  • Through a choir that is both a covenantal practice and a service to the congregation

Music Listening Sessions Summary

We hosted several 75-minute listening sessions, each with groups of 3-8 congregants. Participants in these in-depth conversations represented the full range of involvement in music at Foothills, from choir to congregational singing to children’s programs to participating in online services.
 
In these sessions, a shared vision emerged for a Music Director who possesses the following qualities:

  • Ability to maintain regular, transparent communication.
  • Musicality and training to provide high-quality worship music, offer a variety of musical styles, and excel as a choir director.
  • Understands music is a ministry and spiritual resource that should be accessible to all – across generations, skill levels, and musical styles. 
  • Possesses the heart of a teacher who can facilitate varied experiences for engagement with music.
  • Understands WE are the church and can develop a program that brings everyone into the fold.
  • Can facilitate opportunities for children of all ages.
  • Has the professional maturity, self-awareness, and sensitivity to hold clear boundaries.
  • Approachable, accessible, and inclusive. 
  • Ability to organize and showcase talent from the congregation and larger Fort Collins community. 
  • Invested in learning about and is aligned with the culture and values of our church.

If you have any questions about the Music Director search process so far or moving forward, please hit reply or contact Kelsey DiAstra, our Creative & Communications Manager who is acting as the administrative facilitator for the search process. You can email Kelsey at kelsey@foothillsuu.org.

Thank you for your investment and collaboration in this exciting process!

In partnership,

Rev. Gretchen Haley, Senior Minister
Kelsey DiAstra, Creative & Communications Manager

With Gratitude for the Life of Bob Molison

January 14, 2022 /

Dear Foothills friends and members, 
 
We are writing to let you know that beloved long-time church member, Bob Molison, died this past Saturday, January 8, at the age of 86. Bob passed away peacefully in his sleep. He is survived by his beloved wife, Ann, their daughter Laura, son Chris, and their grandchildren Kayla, Ally, Alejandro, and Javier, as well as his sister, Mary, and many other extended family members.
 
Bob and Ann have been active members of Foothills for three decades and were connected in Unitarian Universalism since the 1960s when they were married by the Rev. Jack Mendelsohn at the historic Arlington Street Chapel on the Boston Commons. Since arriving in Fort Collins, Bob has been a centerpiece of the Foothills choir, including serving as interim choir director on more than one occasion. He helped find and hire a number of our music staff, and he was always willing to jump in and help support and guide Foothills’ music ministry over the years. Bob has also been a dear friend to many in our community, and will be especially missed by his Tuesday lunch crew.  
 
Bob has a long history as a teacher and renowned choral director. His influence spans generations and across the continent – with a career that has taken him from Hawaii to Maine, and everywhere in between. His loss will be felt just as expansively.  
 
You can find Bob’s full obituary (featuring a fabulous photo of Bob conducting choir) here. Please do take a minute to share memories about Bob on the linked site, as we know it will be meaningful to his family and to the many others who have known, loved, and learned from Bob.  
 
Although we have known of his health challenges, Bob’s death comes as a shock to us all. Adjusting to this new reality will take time. At the family’s request, we have waited until today to share this news with you in order to allow them some needed space with their grief and overwhelm. At this time, emails or cards are the most helpful way to express your care to Ann. Mail can be sent to: 
 
909 Centre Ave Unit 220
Fort Collins, CO 80526
 
Bob was beloved at Foothills and will be deeply missed. It’s hard to imagine Foothills without him, and especially hard to imagine the choir without him. Ann is committed to holding an in-person memorial with as many people who would like to be there as soon as such a large gathering is safe. We all hope that will be some time this spring or summer. As you can imagine, it will be important to have music, and choir, as a part of this service in honor of Bob’s legacy and his love of and passion for music. We will let you know as details about this service become clear.
 
With love and gratitude,
 
Revs. Gretchen, Sean, and Elaine

f you are holding grief and would like a listening ear, please do not hesitate to reach out HERE.

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