The Ohio Conference Board of Directors made several decisions at its May meeting that will support anticipated staffing transitions in 2017.
Interim Conference Minister John Gantt’s contract is open-ended and depends in part on the work of the all-conference visioning team. The board voted to extend his contract through the end of the 2017 so as to continue the visioning work that is in process.
The contract with Nicole Havelka, who has served as Minister for Resourcing, Networking and Creativity and, for the past year, also as the Curator for Youth and Young Adult Ministries on the National UCC Faith Formation Team expired at the end of May. Because the national setting elected not to continue with the shared staff position, the Ohio Conference has extended Havelka’s half-time position through the end of 2017. Her work will focus on building volunteer teams and transitioning staff.
A portion of her work, which has focused on outdoor ministries administration, will be transitioned to a new staff position — a part-time Outdoor Ministry Volunteer Coordinator to begin in late summer or early fall. The board also approved the creation of this new position at the May meeting.
Long-time Conference Administrator Pam Brown retires at the end of September. Havelka and Gantt will work with Brown and others to develop a new job description and focus for this role. The board authorized employment of a new full-time conference administrator to begin in mid-August, to ease their transition while Brown is still part of staff.
Gantt observed that someone wise once asserted that change is a constant. “In the Ohio Conference we are proving the validity of that insight!”