UULTI by the Lake
was held July 24-27, 2011
Notre Dame Retreat House
Canandaigua, NY
2011 Tracks:
Adaptive Leadership
Develop leadership skills to learn how to face our toughest challenges: the ones we don't have ready answers for. The "Adaptive Leadership" framework pioneered by Harvard's Dr. Ronald Heifetz is more than a toolbox of tips. It will change the way you think about the internal and external components of leadership and equip you to lead through any change—welcome or unwelcome.
This track will require some advance reading and/or other preparation. Details will be emailed to participants early July.
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The Rev. Renee Ruchotzke is the Regional Consultant for Leadership Development, providing consultation, programming and training material (including webinars). Those who know her say that leadership development is a passion for Renee. Renee is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School where she received the Faculty Prize for Religious Leadership. She co-authored a Tapestry of Faith curriculum, "A Chorus of Faiths." She served on the Leadership Development Committee and as an adjunct consultant for the Ohio Meadville District for two year leading various workshops and trainings. She was the 2007 recipient of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Seminarian Award for Excellence in Social Justice and the 2010 recipient of the Commission on Social Witness sermon award. She is the affiliated community minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent, where she has been a member since 1996. |
Mission Based Growth
Learn how to lead your congregation to become a growing and vibrant faith community. Using tried-and-true methods from highly successful congregations, this track will help you create a sustainable path for committed and diverse membership while finding ways to serve your greater community.
This track will require some advance reading and/or other preparation. Details will be emailed to participants early July.
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The Rev. Joan Van Becelaere serves as the District Executive for the Ohio-Meadville District. She has served in this position since July 2007. Previously, she was Vice President for Student Services at Iliff Theological School in Denver, CO where she also taught Unitarian Universalist history and polity classes. She has extensive experience with Unitarian Universalist congregations including serving as the Settlement Representative in the Mountain Desert District. She has been teaching leadership development for almost a decade including service at two of our Unitarian Universalist leadership schools. Her BA is in Theater and Communication Arts from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO, her MPA in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Colorado - Denver, her M.Div from Iliff Theological School. In her spare time she loves to perform Dr. Seuss stories. |
Practical Theology
How does our liberal theology inform how we live in the world? This track will provide interactive experiences and deep reflection to help give direction and meaning as we face issues of injustice, environmental exploitation and racial intolerance.
This track will require some advance reading and/or other preparation. Details will be emailed to participants early July
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Rev. Douglas Taylor is a fourth generation Universalist. He grew up in the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY and is a graduate of Meadville Lombard Theological School ('99). He and his wife have three children. Douglas is serving our UU congregation in Binghamton, NY. Douglas is president of the Iroquois Chapter UU Ministers Chapter, co-leader of the Spiritual Deepening Advisory Council for the Saint Lawrence District, and his districts representative for the UULTI Design Team. Douglas has been involved in UULTI as a presenter three years now. Douglas is the author of two meditations in the 2005 Skinner House Meditation Anthology, For All That Is Our Life, and has several sermons and essays published in various locations. Also, he has a vast array of interesting socks. |
2011 Lenses:
Participants will further enliven their personal growth journeys by applying different "lenses" to each track in the areas of:
Faith Development
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Patricia Infante serves as the Regional Consultant for Faith Development. Pat has served in the same arena for the Joseph Priestley District for the past two years and before that had the portfolio for Growth for two years. She has been a Director for Religious Education at the Cherry Hill, NJ congregation for nine years before joining the JPD staff. She brings a wealth of experience in all aspects of faith development to assist our congregations in growing in faith. Pat is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist. |
Transformative Multicultural Sensibility
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The Rev. Melissa Carvill-Ziemer is a member of the Allies for Racial Equity Steering Committee and an occasional Transforming our Whiteness co-trainer with the Rev. Bill Gardiner. Melissa has been active in anti-racist leadership for many years beginning while a student at Smith College and continuing in a variety of community, congregational, workplace and educational settings. She currently serves as the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent in Kent, OH where she lives with her partner Ellen, their foster daughter Meghan and two dogs, Migo and Zoey. |
Healthy Systems
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Karen LoBracco is in her third year as Program Consultant for Lifespan Faith Development in the St. Lawrence District. She is a graduate of 2008 UULTI, as well as a 2001 graduate and 2002 staff on the Leadership School for Religious Educators. Karen served two congregations in Georgia as Director of Religious Education as well as member of the Mid-South District Board of Trustees and Religious Education Committee before moving back to New York State. She is a Credentialed Religious Educator, and graduated from SUNY Cortland with a BS in Health Education and from Pace University with a MBA. Karen lives on the Erie Canal in the historic village of Brockport, NY with her husband Bernie and three cats. |
Musician
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The Rev. Mary Grigolia was ordained a UU minister in 1992. She served for 16 years as parish minister in Northeast Ohio and in Durham, NC. She served as a new congregation minister, consulted with a "phoenix from the ashes" congregation for seven years, served for a year as Extension Minister for the Ohio-Meadville district, and ministered to a large congregation for seven years. She serves as a consultant to congregations and committees, facilitating workshops, and retreats focusing on team building, goal setting, and change work, as well as programs specific to pastoral care, social justice, and adult spiritual development programs. She leads programs in spiritual development (locally and nationally) and is a singer-songwriter with eight songbooks, and three recordings of original music. Her hymn I Know This Rose Will Open (#396) is included in the hymnal Singing the Living Tradition. She and her partner live in Lakewood, OH. |
