Dear youth and parents,
I'm excited to share with you that this Sunday UCC will welcome Jessica Vacketta as our new Assistant Minister for CYF (grades 9-12). After taking several months to put together a job description, advertise the position, and receive resumes from candidates, an interview committee quickly zeroed in on Jessica as the best fit for the job. After conducting an in-person interview, the committee unanimously agreed to offer the position to Jessica. We're thankful that she accepted after taking some time to discern God's calling.
Jessica is a native of Danville, Illinois and a life-long Disciple. She received her BS in May of 2005 from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana where she majored in Telecommunications and minored in Marketing. After graduation, she moved to Indianapolis where she worked as an Account Executive, Local Account Coordinator, and National Sales Assistant for WXIN/WTTV (the local Fox/CW affiliate). Jessica has been wrestling with a call to ministry for some time, and this fall she decided to answer that calling by enrolling in the Master of Divinity program at Brite Divinity School where she started classes last week.
In addition to her professional experience, Jessica also brings a wealth of church experience to UCC. Over the last few years she has volunteered with elementary, middle, and high school youth at Allisonville Christian Church, counseled and led small groups at regional church camps and retreats, helped plan and implement Allisonville's contemporary worship service, and even directed a church production of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that included ages 8-80.
Jessica is excited about joining our staff and eager to begin getting to know our congregation, especially high school youth and their parents. I will be introducing her at the conclusion of all three worship services this week, and I encourage you to come say a word of welcome after the service. We will also be providing time for youth to get to know Jessica in Sunday school classes and at CYF youth group on Sunday evening, so this is definitely an important week for high schoolers to be present. I will be sharing more information about Jessica, including her contact information and office hours, in the next UCC Youth E-news. In the meantime, you're welcome to take a look at what she'll be doing by checking out her job description
here.
As we welcome Jessica, it's also important to note that we will be saying farewell to Isaac Varner this Sunday. Isaac has s
hared his gifts with us in an
interim capacity as Assistant Minister for CYF since
August. Having a seasoned youth minister like Isaac at the helm of our
high school ministries gave us the time we needed to conduct a quality search (as a opposed to a hasty one). You will also have an opportunity to thank Isaac for his ministry here at the conclusion of each worship service this Sunday, and I encourage you to e-mail him at isaac@uccftw.com as well.Grace and Peace,
Russ
