Staffing Updates--Topeka First UMC

Greetings Topeka First UMC,

I hope your week is off to a good start! Over the course of this week, we will be sending an email each day for the rest of the week. Here are the topics for each email:

Today: Staff Changes

Wednesday: Be The Bridge capital campaign updates

Thursday: Simplified Accountability System (SAS) Leadership Council updates

Friday: The weekly email

Today, I am focusing on an upcoming staff change. David Blackman is officially retiring on April 26, 2026. We are happy for David and deeply appreciate all that he has done for the church! 

David's job is complex! However, we can really split it into two parts: 1) Director of Operations for the church 2) Worship Production. To fill the first part, Director of Operations, two staff members are being elevated effective April 1:

1. Shawna Heien will become Director of Operations and Connections.

2. David Hutchinson will become Director of Maintenance

To assist both of them in this transition, we have created three part-time positions & have linked the job descriptions.  If you or someone you know would be interested, please forward this email of the job description. 

1. Bookkeeper (10 hours per week)

2. Custodian (10 hours per week)

3. Director of Media & Technology (20 hours per week). The Media and Technology position is to help with social media, website, and electronic sign. The other part of this job is worship production.

If you have any questions, please let us know. We will have more information at the State of the Church meeting on Sunday, February 1. A chili dinner will begin at 5 pm and the meeting itself will begin at 6 pm.

Blessings,

Pastor Brad