Saying Goodbye to a Staff Member and Hello to a Friend
This is a Word not only with the pastor, but also with your Staff Parish Relations Committee. It is bittersweet for us to share that after 10 years of ministry alongside our congregation, Matt Edey is moving on from their role as Office and Communications Manager at First Church in order to explore the next phase of their journey.
We are excited to see what the future holds for Matt, even as we are counting the many, many ways that Matt supports our shared ministry every day. Their longevity with us and their knowledge of the quirks of First Church will be especially missed.
Here’s a word from Matt:
“Hello, my friends and ministry partners at FUMC. It’s the end of an era! It’s hard for me to summarize all the emotions and memories I have working alongside you this past decade. What I’ll say, is that I’m forever grateful to FUMC for being a safe place for me to land shortly after I moved to Portland. I will always hold FUMC of Portland in my heart as a special place in my life, and I count you all as part of my faith family, wherever I am. I am hopeful for new things, both for myself and for FUMC.”
In the time that First Church has known Matt, they have grown tremendously in both their office role as well as the footprint they’ve made upon our church.
Our community overall has benefitted from Matt’s patience and compassion with all the souls who have wandered through the life of our church. When you walk past their desk, they are inevitably on the phone with someone who has dialed the church lost or weary, or perhaps someone unsure of how a new technology or system works (those darn online giving platforms are a struggle for many)! More recently, you can also find them exercising their design muscles to develop the engaging graphics you see in our online and print publications.
Their impact is not limited to the office. They have also sung for United Women in Faith programs, special worship services, and have led the organization of worship services hosted by First Church such as the 2024 Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Matt is certainly not replaceable! To cover some of their responsibilities, SPRC will substitute this full-time role with a part-time Office and Schedule Coordinator who will schedule events and manage the office with reduced office hours. Matt’s communications work will be divided amongst current staff. If you know someone who would do excellent coordination and administrative work for our office, please contact Pam Mitchell (pam.mitchell.62577@gmail.com) or Paul Cosgrove (pcosgrove@pscosgrove.com).
We will celebrate Matt on Sunday, February 16. Matt’s last day will be Friday, February 28. Even as that will be their last day as a staff person with us, Matt will always be a friend of First Church. Let’s send them off with joy, gratitude, and ‘hope to see you soon’s!
With gratitude,
Kent Mallory, Staff Parish Relations Committee Chair
Matt Edey, Office and Communications Manager
Karyn Richards-Kuan, Senior Pastor
