CHRIST CHURCH QUAKER FARMS OXFORD, CT.
The Rev. John Donnelly, Rector
August 4, 2015
Dear Family & Friends of CCQF,
It is with deep regret that I announce that our
beloved Minister of Music, Ralene Goff, is resigning her position with us at CCQF. Her last Sunday with us will be Sunday,
August 23. She has accepted a similar
position at Zion Episcopal Church, North Branford, CT.
All of us
will truly miss Ralene, and her husband Fred.
Ralene joined us two years ago, first as Director of Contemporary Music,
and then as our Minister of Music in November of 2014. Her professional skills, her loving heart,
gracious smile, and joyful faith will be missed by us all. Under her direction, our choir and music
ministry has expanded in many ways.
In her letter of resignation to me, she said the
following (shared with
permission):
This
has been a very difficult decision because I truly love serving CCQF and
working with you. This new position will allow me to continue to use my gifts
in music as I have a CCQF, and it pays more than double what I am making
now. …This whole process has happened very quickly… I appreciate your support,
friendship, prayers, and laughter over the past two years. You have been such a
blessing in our life, and we will miss you and CCQF as we move on to serve
another part of the body. In Christ, Ralene
One of the challenges
of our CCQF music ministry is that we all want excellent professional musicians, but locally they are in high demand, mostly
receiving higher compensation than what we are able to pay at
current budget levels. It is our hope
and prayer that as our stewardship,
numbers, and faithfulness grows, that we will continue to attract strong music
professionals as we go forward.
CCQF will honor Ralene on her last
Sunday, August 23, with a Festive Reception.
Although we will miss her, we give thanks to God for her life, ministry,
and all the gifts that she has shared with us for the past two years. (If you
would care to bring some finger food for
the reception that day, please call the Church Office at 203-888-4936). Thankfully, Ralene and Fred will continue
to be our good friends and neighbors in
the Episcopal Church in CT.
Ralene was attracted to CCQF
because she, like we, are committed to JOYFUL WORSHIP.
Over the past 4 years as your
Rector, the Lord has provided us with wonderful
& faithful musicians. I know
that Jesus will continue to provide for our needs for strong music leadership
as we continue to “Shine the Light of Christ’s
Love through our church, and into the world.” Our Music Committee
(Michael Bawlick, Chair) will meet later this month to begin
the process for securing new music
leadership.
Meanwhile, I am very pleased to
announce that during this time of transition, I have appointed Polina Mann as our Interim Minister of Music.
Polina joined us our music ministry this spring as our new
Organist. As you may know, Polina will bring
excellent skills and training to her new ministry. She has earned : a BA in Music: a Masters of Music in Performance Practice
& Music History; and a Certificate
in Music Education. During the week ,
she is a music teacher & director at the St. Thomas Episcopal Day School,
New Haven, CT. Please welcome and
encourage her when she comes back to be with us on Sunday, August 23.
So let us join together in thanking
Ralene, and trusting and praying that the Lord will provide for our music
leadership needs.
Faithfully
yours in Christ Jesus, Father John+
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