'Board of Trustees' Tagged Posts
Announcing a New Coalition for People of Faith in Chester County
Many folks in our congregation have felt the call, over the past few years, to take a more active role in our local community – lending strength and support to each other, and to our neighbors. We see how our political climate is only growing more volatile by the day, and we long to be reminded of the strongest power there is: the power of Beloved Community. The power of showing up, to love and care for one another. WellSprings…
Save the Date for WellSprings’ First-Ever Installation
Save the date for September 29th, 2024, when WellSprings will hold a milestone event in the life of our congregation: our first-ever ministerial Installation! Earlier this year, our congregation held a vote to officially “call” and affirm the Rev. Lee Paczulla as our settled minister – the first time we’ve gathered in this way to choose our own minister, in the 17-year history of our community. WellSprings has been host to three ministerial Ordination ceremonies, all for previous Interns within…
WellSprings at Pride!
We showed up for Chester County PrideFest in force this year, WellSprings! This was the second year in a row that WellSprings served as a sponsor for the annual event, held along Bridge Street in Phoenixville, during the month of June. We were packed with volunteers at our booth, and dozens more from our community dropped by to say hello – whether they were there tabling for another organization, or just out at PrideFest enjoying the gorgeous weather. This year,…
Farewell Jessica, Congregational Meeting Recap, & A Report from Stewardship…
This past Sunday we celebrated Jessica Heichel’s last day on Staff as our Membership & Communications Coordinator – and, our Board of Trustees led our annual Congregational Meeting, after the service! You can watch all of Sunday’s events at the link above – including a special New Member Welcome for Jessica and her husband Dan! The Heichels decided to become members of our congregation, following Jessica’s time on Staff. We also gave Jessica a parting gift to thank her for…
A Final Report, From Stewardship
Greetings WellSprings! The Stewardship Ministry is wrapping up our annual pledge campaign, and we would like to thank everyone who generously made a pledge commitment to WellSprings for the fiscal year July 2024 to June 2025. Our pledge campaign, Building Our Beloved Community, supported the following stewardship goals: 1. to increase member pledge participation from 70% to 90% 2. to increase the overall pledged amount by 16% to meet the planned budget of $250,000. To measure member pledge participation, we used a base…
Announcing Rev. Lee Paczulla as our First Called Minister at WellSprings!
This afternoon, the Board of Trustees is thrilled to announce the results of the special election for Calling Reverend Lee Paczulla as our Settled Minister. In January, we made a momentous decision to call a vote and then conducted several listening circles, both in person and on Zoom, to ensure all voices were heard. Voting commenced two weeks ago on April 7 and closed Friday, April 19, at 11:59 pm. Yesterday, the Board formally certified the results of the vote.…
Don’t Miss Our Big Belonging Sunday, this Weekend!
You won’t want to miss this Sunday, as WellSprings observes three big events in the life-cycle of our congregation: the welcoming of new members, the final day of our 2024 Pledge Drive, and the announcement of results in our congregation’s vote, to call Rev. Lee Paczulla as our first-ever settled minister. It all happens during a special, annual service we call “Belonging Sunday” – a celebration of our WellSprings community, where we also recognize and formally welcome all the new…
Calling a Minister, FAQ
A Message and Guide from the board of trustees Since we announced at the January congregational meeting our intention to hold a congregational vote, to call Reverend Lee as our Settled Minister, we have held listening circles open to all congregants to enable further discussion and education on this important milestone for our community. Please see below for a list of questions most frequently asked, during those listening sessions. Our vote will open on Sunday, April 7th, so watch your…
A Welcome to Some New Leaders
Welcome New Leaders! We are grateful to have some new leaders joining our Senior Leader Community at WellSprings in 2024! In January the Board announced that Chris Rieder has been appointed as a Board Trustee to fill the seat recently vacated. Chris is also a member of the Tech Team. Sarah Costa also recently joined our Stewardship Ministry. Sarah has volunteered in YouthSpirit, and you may recall that she led an “Off the Fence” Soul Bite, this past fall. Jenn Nettingham and Samantha Weber have also been actively participating in our YouthBridge Ministry – as…
A Recap Of Our Congregational Meeting on 1/28
A Note from the board… Our hearts are full from our Special Congregational meeting on Sunday, January 28th, in which we discussed the process of calling a minister. Calling a minister is a matter of deep significance to a congregation, and we hope to approach it with the requisite reverence and love as we ask ourselves to more deeply commit in our relationship with Reverend Lee. It is fitting we started this process on the same day we mark our 17th birthday! …
Special Congregational Meeting on January 28th
A Note From the Board… Greetings WellSpringers, We are writing to provide notice of a Congregational Meeting to be held on Sunday, January 28, 2024, after Sunday service. The purpose of the Congregational Meeting is to share information about calling Reverend Lee Paczulla as our settled minister. The Meeting will also be live-streamed, just like previous Congregational Meetings. When Reverend Ken retired as our Founding Minister, it sparked many conversations and questions in our congregation. One question that arose was…
A (Sun)Day in the Life of YouthSpirit
A Note from Board Member, Tonie Scullion… Almost every Sunday during service, we hear the familiar words: “Now is the time for the children to join Ms. Carol for YouthSpirit.” As we watch those ages 5-12 head to the back of Bell Hall and then leave the building. Ever wonder what comes next? I had the opportunity to sit in and observe what our younger WellSpringers do — the six attendees’ time together started by introducing themselves so everyone knew…