Dear First Unitarian Community,
After much discernment, Rev. Pamela Wat has offered her resignation as Senior Minister of First Unitarian Church so that she can continue to serve as the primary caregiver for her father who suffered a stroke and to support her husband Erik’s role as primary care for his mother who has Alzheimer’s Disease. In the linked video attached here are messages from each of us about this decision and our plans for moving forward.

Know that your Board of Trustees, along with other lay leaders and staff, are working to map out a path forward for the congregation. We have contacted the UUA Transitions Office to understand our options, and we expect to move quickly to stabilize our leadership team. We understand that we will be able to interview candidates from the interim minister pool, and we plan to hire a minister who can be with us for our planned re-opening in September.

In that regard, we are grateful to Reverend Tracey Robinson-Harris
for having served us remotely as our temporary minister while Reverend Pam was on leave. Your Board of Trustees believes that with Reverend Pam unable to return, and with the pandemic lifting, we need to hire a minister who can be present with us here, in Wilmington. Reverend Tracey will be with us through the end of June, and she has committed to help us with the transition. Reverend Pam also has committed to do everything she can to assist us.

Reverend Pam will be present for our Zoom coffee hour on Sunday, May 2 after the worship service. She will lead a final service on Sunday, June 6 followed by a Zoom coffee hour. She will also host an in-person book give-away on Saturday, May 8 from 10:00 a.m. to noon in the church parking lot (weather permitting) to give away books from Karel Toll’s library. All are welcome to participate in those events.

We will continue to share updates as they arise. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to Travis Laster, Leslie Dickerson, or other lay leaders with questions. For emotional support you are also invited to contact Rev. Tracey Robinson-Harris (tracey@firstuuwilm.org) or a member of the Pastoral Care Team. The pastoral care contact for April is Giovanni Maiorano at GiovanniM@firstuuwilm.org and for May is Lydia Robb LydiaR@firstuuwilm.org.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to First Unitarian. What a gift to have one another in the ups and downs of life. Be sure to reach out to one another as we all take in this news.

In faith,

Rev. Pamela Wat and Travis Laster