Dear Friends,
The Administrative Manager Search Committee and I are please to introduce S. Grady Deaton. Grady literally threw himself into our church and our vision on Friday and will be with us (save for a few pre-scheduled commitments) beginning this week on Tues—Fri, 10 am to 2 pm. Our Temp staff member, Nancy Avella will work with Grady for a few days helping to get him acclimated and maybe back to fill in during vacations. We are grateful to Nancy for her steady hand these past four months. I could not be more excited about the gifts and graces, skills and experiences that Grady brings. He knows church, he knows communication, he knows technology and he knows how to connect with people. We are truly blessed to have him on board. We will find ways for Grady to meet you and be a part of our ministry—but please take the time to say hello! Your very relieved and happy pastor—-Rev. Wendy
From Grady:
Greetings Sanctuary UCC.
I am very excited to be introducing myself to you all and for it to coincide with your congregational meeting feels auspicious. I was fortunate to have met a handful of your number during the interview process and look forward to meeting the rest of you as our paths cross in the future. I’d like to take this moment to let you each know a bit more about me.
I come to you from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where I was raised. I have two daughters there and they are one very big reason I still call Texas home. There in Brownsville, I also steward a small Unitarian Universalist congregation to which I have made a lifelong commitment. I have a deep calling to organizing and community building there and everywhere I may roam.
Here in Massachusetts, I teach technology at Cambridge Center for Adult Education, manage a Boston Housing computer lab,, and maintain a small list of computer consulting clients. You might also find me doing seasonal work on occasion at Mahoney’s Garden Center in Brighton so I can support my gardening habit.
I volunteer with Veteran’s for Peace and serve on the executive committee as board secretary. I work, on occasion, at the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry as an administrative volunteer. I chaperon urban youth on farm tours with theMove.org, serve meals at the Friday Night Supper Club in Boston, and tutor GED and ESL students in the Charlestown Community Adult Education Center. I attend Arlington Street Church downtown, and as an active congregant, I teach Sunday school in the children’s religious education program.
Coming on board to work alongside Rev Wendy, and on behalf of each of you, is extremely path affirming. I look forward to being an integral part of your office administration and organizing efforts going forward. How exciting it is for me to be a part of this redefinition and community building endeavor we are now engaged together in. I can’t wait to find out how each of you will engage with me and our mission as we collaborate towards realizing the vision of “Being Sanctuary”.
Honored to serve,
S.Grady Deaton
