Roberta and Dennis Haskin,

UUCP 2007-2008

By Charlotte Carl-Mitchell with photos by C-M, Dale Fisher, Bill Snowden and Kate Otting

The negotiations to bring the Rev. Roberta Haskin to UUCP started way back in March 2007.

Marshal Smart, Sharon Hise and I were the interim search committee. On May 9th Roberta accepted our call. We were very excited and looked forward to having her and Dennis join us. They came from the UU church in Las Vegas to UUCP in mid August 2007 but Roberta was officially “in the pulpit” for the first time at our ingathering ceremony on September 9.

Photos from the water ceremony on September 9. Left, Susan Morris at mic; right, Smoot

In her first newsletter column for Horizons in Sept 2007, she said her main goal was “walking together” with us, which she certainly did. Our administrator, Heidi Parmenter started her maternity leave on Aug 24 and wasn’t back to her job until Oct 30 so Roberta had volunteer office administrative staff. She also had a brand new volunteer coordinator, Kate Otting. We welcomed the Haskins to our desert home, a building designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s original apprentices, Blaine Drake and built in 1961.

Photos from Holy Houses, Midcentury Modern Churches from the Iconic Age of Phoenix by Walt Lockley, http://www.modernphoenix.net/churches/uu.htm

Almost immediately Roberta had to deal with a tragedy, congregation member Nick Erfle’s death and the intense publicity around it. She led the televised memorial service at the huge and packed First Assembly of God church on September 24. The audience included the governor and many other important people in addition to our own congregation members. We were so glad and lucky to have her during that trying time. According to board president, Gary Ezzell, “My strongest memories are of Roberta's handling of Nick Erfle's funeral. That was absolutely outstanding. She conducted a UU ceremony in a manner that was inclusive and comforting to all present.”

She settled into her new position and became involved in all aspects of the congregation. We at UUCP are proud of our many well established programs including the music program; adult, youth, and young adult religious education programs; and children’s ministry. She became familiar with all of those, in addition to her preaching and pastoral duties. According to Gary, Roberta “also has been a good administrator and leader of the staff. For example, she did personnel evaluations for the entire staff, which had not been done for some time.”

We were lucky to have Dennis too. He got involved immediately. He joined the membership committee and in October started the STARS program, training 39 congregation members in skills of listening to guests and helping them connect with UUCP after the Sunday service. It was a great success and a big part of why we added 54 new members, a 22% increase from last year! Also thanks to him we have a comprehensive membership manual. He joined the buildings and grounds committee and helped it create the B&G Manual, as the Strategic Plan recommended. He also joined the publicity committee and helped us think of new ways to get the word out about UUCP especially through the website. (And forced us to standardize our letterhead!) He also acted as an unofficial liaison between Membership and Publicity, a position that we’re going to make official. He has an amazing skill understanding, documenting and streamlining process, something every congregation can use!

On Sunday, October 28, we celebrated the Day of the Dead with an elaborate altar. The next day, October 29, Dennis and Roberta came to our house for dinner. It was fun getting to know them better. Smoot was delighted to learn Dennis played golf and they ended up playing together several times. R&D also came to our After Christmas Holiday Party on December 29.

<> Roberta did so many things while she was with us – taught classes, married, buried, ‘baptized,’ and preached thought provoking sermons. The one on stewardship on March 30th helped us reach our financial goals. She attended innumerable meetings, all of which are necessary for the smooth running of the congregation. In her quiet way she challenged the board and come up with very useful insights. She brought a warm and welcoming presence to UUCP. She offered us “the opportunity in each Sunday Celebration to meet and greet each other, which helps foster a habit and mood of reaching out to one another,” according to Carolyn Allenby, chair of the membership committee.

The pet blessing on February 10 – left, Paula; right, l to r, Joanne, Charlotte, Carl, Diana, Barbara and Kim.

Roberta and Dennis joined staff and congregation members of UUCP at the UUA Pacific Southwest District Assembly in Del Mar, California, April 25-27. The theme was “Weaving the Tapestry of the Beloved Community.”

Above, Jane Truran, Sarah Henkel, Heidi Parmenter and Kim St. Clair with R&D at District Assembly in April 2008.  Heidi has said repeatedly how much she enjoyed working with them . “Rev. Roberta and Dennis have only been here for a year, but what an impressive one it has been!  It has been a joy working with them both.  I will always be grateful for Rev. Roberta’s patience and understanding as I adapted to my new role as a working mother.”

Roberta and Dennis were both supportive of our music program, thanking the choir for its role in making the Sunday Celebration special. And speaking of special, Roberta participated in the Music Sunday presentation of the UU cantata Sources on May 4, serving as our narrator.

Our choir was joined by members of the Valley UU church and an orchestra. It was a big deal!

Sources is “a multi-movement choral work which engages our theological diversity through a musical exploration of the six sources of our living tradition. It is a celebration of Unitarian Universalism, a statement about who we are today and where we are headed in terms of our self-understanding as people of faith,” according to its composer, Jason Shelton who created the work in 2006. We were one of the first groups in the nation to perform it.

R&D went to the post Sources party at Connie and Richard’s on May 17. We watched a recording of the Sources service and ate blackberries!

On May 28, the UUCP staff, Heidi, Kate, Connie, Kim and Jane, took Roberta out to lunch at Arcadia Farms.

In summary, Smoot and I agree with Gary who said, “UUCP was fortunate not to call a settled minister last year. Roberta has helped our congregation grow in spirit and in numbers. She has been an excellent presence in the pulpit, a compassionate pastor, and an effective administrator and leader. Roberta and Dennis together have supported the congregation in so many ways. If Roberta had just been a good preacher, that would have been enough. She has been so much more than that, and it has been a blessing.”

We’ll miss them both but hope they’ll have a happy and successful time in their new church in Santa Monica. They’re lucky to have them. To close, I want to share something from Libby Walker. “A little story here: My parents lived in the south. My mother tended to exaggerate, but their Black maid always confirmed her ‘rave reviews or complaints of whatever’ with the following statement, ‘And ever word is GAWD'S Truth.’..sort of an extended "Amen." So that is my comment as well because I enthusiastically agree with everything you said about Roberta and Dennis!”

And now some photos of the buildings and grounds and from Roberta's last service on June 8.

"That Which Might Have Been," a garden sculpture created by John Henry Waddell, as a memorial to the four girls who died in the Birmingham church bombing in 1963. The Memorial Garden is a “spiritual and sacred space, one of meditation, reflection and solitude.”

Roberta and Dennis with the UUCP choir

The farewell service began with a rousing banjo-guitar-violin-piano band playing “So Long, It’s been good to know she.” Above left, l ro r: Richard Plattner, Connie Jarhmarkt, Bill Snowden, Rich Staats, Dave Bellama and Lynne Haessler.

The choir listens attentively.

Leading the service

Together Time

Making a point

<>Roberta and Gary led the responsive reading of farewell.
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Left, Heidi and Beau. Right, the interim search committee, Sharon, Marshal and Charlotte with Roberta

At the reception – a special cake; Carolyn and Dennis with new member, Linda.

Left, a farewell poster; right, Joan presenting her beautiful Sources montage. (Btw, it's available for purchase for $50, a great deal!)

Libby presented a storyteller figure (that had been Julie Smart’s idea, not mine even though I was given credit for it by Libby!)

Carolyn presented Dennis a star shaped box to thank him for his STAR program and all the other things he did while at UUCP.

Sarah Carlson and Gary Ezzell reveal the decorated skin board made by Rita van Alkemade.

Diana Saylor presented a stole made by Libby for Kim and the children’s program. It features the one word version of the seven UU principles on the outside. The lining has an inscription and children's handprints representing a hug!

People rushed to sign the back of the skin board. What a special day and year!

And then on June 13, after Dennis and Smoot played a very successful round of golf, we got together for brunch at Mimi's. We gave Roberta the UUCP notebook and Dennis the book, Golf in the Kingdom.

Tragedy struck on June 16 when Nikki Murphy, Ellie and Bob's granddaughter died from an accident on a water slide. The family was devastated and Roberta was kind enough to do the service, the day she and Dennis were to drive to LA.

Just a month after Roberta joined us, she had to preside over a difficult memorial service and now the final thing she did for us was another one. Gary said again how lucky we were to have her.

Nikki was Ellie and Bob's only grandchild. She was 19 when she died, having completed her first year at U of A.

The sanctuary was standing room only, with other 300 people packed into the room. The service included a moving photo and music slideshow by Kim, touching comments from some of Nikki's friends and family and a duet by Rita Hamilton and her husband Steve singing James Taylor's Fire and Rain.

Afterwards there was a very nice lunch in the Johnson Room. Julie Smart deserves big honors for all the work she did putting the event together.