[Choir] news

[Beth Damon]

Thank you Dick ��

You have changed my life over these last three years, since I joined the
choir and got to know you.

You have helped me to reach out of pain and to have a new kind of voice
which helped keep it in check.

I love the music you have chosen to challenge us with.

I love how you set the bar for all of us and held high expectations while
helping us to achieve them.

And I have loved getting to know you and Susan, both personally and through
the lens of music.

I am so sad, and I also understand.

These are times of shifting sands and deep refection for each one of us, in
a new world we are desperately trying to comprehend.

In case it helps, what I have come to know through my near 25 years at the
church now, is that it feels wonderful to fill different roles at different
times.

There are always others who step into the shoes I once filled.

This experience has shaped my adult life and moved it in deep and
meaningful ways. I am a much better person because of it.

I have let myself fall back into the loving arms of all of you, and I have
learned to trust that there is some kind of divine process which always
shows up and intervenes, carrying me into a new chapter and life experience.

I believe that is what is waiting there for you and hope to provide a few
of the loving arms at your side.

With great love, and also tears of gratitude,

*Beth*

Beth Damon

Educator | Designer | Facilitator

80 College Street, Montpelier, Vermont 05602

802 . 272 . 3108  txt | cell





On Sun, May 24, 2020 at 12:39 PM Richard Riley via Choir <
choir at unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org> wrote:

> Dear Choir,
>
> As I enjoy the energy that has come from you as we Zoom in on Music Sunday
> next week, I have some difficult news to share. The work required by a
> music director at UCM at this unusual time is no longer a good fit for my
> passion for in-person music making. The church needs someone with the
> energy, motivation, and flexible skill set to address the challenging times
> we are now in. Now is the right time for me to end my tenure as your music
> director.
>
> My greatest value to the church has been the opportunity to work with
> *you*: to engage you as members of the congregation to sing in the choir,
> and to ensure that the choir’s level of performance is high enough to
> always be a positive element in UCM services. It has also been wonderful to
> work with Eliza, and to bring in guest musicians.
>
> I will miss doing all that, and I am sure that I can’t totally know what
> it will feel like to not be involved in the way I have been but, hey, time
> marches on - however strange time is these days.
>
> I'm writing to you now because Joan has just announced my decision at the
> Annual Meeting. I'm writing with tears in my eyes, but with the hope that
> Music Sunday will help me express my appreciation for my time with you.
>
>
> With love,
> Dick
> Unitarian Church of Montpelier
> Choir email list
> unsubscribe at www.unitarianchurchofmontpelier.org
>
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