History of the Sarah Elizabeth Insch Church Youth Leadership Program
Sarah Elizabeth Insch (1959-2010) was a life-long Unitarian Universalist and a member of The Community Church of Chapel Hill for almost 20 years. She was active with the children’s and youth ministry programs at the church for the last dozen years of her life, including serving as co-chair of the Children’s Religious Education Committee for 5 years. In 2006, Sarah was awarded the Gertrude Willis Lifespan Religious Education Award honoring her many contributions to our church.
Sarah was born in July 1959 and raised in Winston-Salem, NC. She attended Duke University, earning a degree in Slavic Linguistics, and attended graduate school at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She co-founded a translation firm based in Chapel Hill. Married to Dan Pelletier, Sarah was mother to Will and Julia, who have grown up in our church and who inspired her involvement in our religious education programs. In addition to her work in our church, Sarah was also extremely involved in the wider community. She volunteered in the CHCCS schools and on political campaigns. Sarah was also active with the Girl Scouts of America, leading her daughter’s Brownie and Junior troops.
When Sarah died in March, 2010, the Children’s and Youth Religious Education Committees began thoughtful discussions about how we could honor and remember her. This yearlong process has led us to the establishment of the Insch Youth Church Leadership Program in memory of Sarah. The program promotes Sarah’s leadership vision and connects all of us to the values she demonstrated during her life. These include:
1. Young people are vitally important. Sarah was deeply committed to young people. She felt that they were important to the members of the Children’s and Youth Religious Education Committees, to our church community, and to our Unitarian Universalist faith. For more than a decade, she dedicated her energy to making the church a place that is welcoming and nurturing for children and youth. This mirrored her dedication in the wider community through her service in our schools and with Scouts.
2. Volunteer lay leadership is a critical contribution to the church community. Sarah provided leadership to the CRE Committee during a pivotal time in the church’s development when there was rapid growth in the RE program and the building renovation and expansion project was undertaken. Beyond RE, she also was involved in the service auction and the ministerial search and candidating process.
3. Sharing our Unitarian Universalist faith is significant. Sarah’s faith was central to her and she embraced UU principles and values in her everyday life. She was dedicated to actively involving our children and youth in our UU faith and to inspiring a new generation of UUs.
Sarah provided an example of leadership that was exemplary in terms of dedication and also in personal and institutional integrity. She set a tone of deep respect which impacted all aspects of our work together. We were more serious, honest, and dedicated together because of her example. She helped to create an environment in which people wanted to serve, felt like their contributions were important and where things grew and thrived. She brought intelligence, insight, and steadiness to her leadership.
The Insch Church Youth Leadership Program fills an important gap in our ministry for youth. It offers an opportunity for older youth to deepen their connection to our church and the UU faith after the Coming of Age Program. It prepares them for adult leadership in a UU congregation, ours or others. It tells our youth that we value their leadership potential and we believe in their future leadership role within our faith.
By developing this program in Sarah's honor, we continue her ministry among us by honoring the leadership gifts she gave to us – a deep commitment to young people and to thoughtful lay leadership in our congregation. Insch Church Youth Leadership Program is enthusiastically endorsed by Sarah’s husband, Dan Pelletier. Dan has generously pledged $1000 to start the fund for this program. Future fundraising efforts will include collecting other pledged donations and soliciting donations from people who knew and loved Sarah, both within and outside our church community.
For more information contact:
Marion Hirsch, Director of Lifespan Religious Education
hirsch.communitychurch @ gmail.com
Sarah was born in July 1959 and raised in Winston-Salem, NC. She attended Duke University, earning a degree in Slavic Linguistics, and attended graduate school at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She co-founded a translation firm based in Chapel Hill. Married to Dan Pelletier, Sarah was mother to Will and Julia, who have grown up in our church and who inspired her involvement in our religious education programs. In addition to her work in our church, Sarah was also extremely involved in the wider community. She volunteered in the CHCCS schools and on political campaigns. Sarah was also active with the Girl Scouts of America, leading her daughter’s Brownie and Junior troops.
When Sarah died in March, 2010, the Children’s and Youth Religious Education Committees began thoughtful discussions about how we could honor and remember her. This yearlong process has led us to the establishment of the Insch Youth Church Leadership Program in memory of Sarah. The program promotes Sarah’s leadership vision and connects all of us to the values she demonstrated during her life. These include:
1. Young people are vitally important. Sarah was deeply committed to young people. She felt that they were important to the members of the Children’s and Youth Religious Education Committees, to our church community, and to our Unitarian Universalist faith. For more than a decade, she dedicated her energy to making the church a place that is welcoming and nurturing for children and youth. This mirrored her dedication in the wider community through her service in our schools and with Scouts.
2. Volunteer lay leadership is a critical contribution to the church community. Sarah provided leadership to the CRE Committee during a pivotal time in the church’s development when there was rapid growth in the RE program and the building renovation and expansion project was undertaken. Beyond RE, she also was involved in the service auction and the ministerial search and candidating process.
3. Sharing our Unitarian Universalist faith is significant. Sarah’s faith was central to her and she embraced UU principles and values in her everyday life. She was dedicated to actively involving our children and youth in our UU faith and to inspiring a new generation of UUs.
Sarah provided an example of leadership that was exemplary in terms of dedication and also in personal and institutional integrity. She set a tone of deep respect which impacted all aspects of our work together. We were more serious, honest, and dedicated together because of her example. She helped to create an environment in which people wanted to serve, felt like their contributions were important and where things grew and thrived. She brought intelligence, insight, and steadiness to her leadership.
The Insch Church Youth Leadership Program fills an important gap in our ministry for youth. It offers an opportunity for older youth to deepen their connection to our church and the UU faith after the Coming of Age Program. It prepares them for adult leadership in a UU congregation, ours or others. It tells our youth that we value their leadership potential and we believe in their future leadership role within our faith.
By developing this program in Sarah's honor, we continue her ministry among us by honoring the leadership gifts she gave to us – a deep commitment to young people and to thoughtful lay leadership in our congregation. Insch Church Youth Leadership Program is enthusiastically endorsed by Sarah’s husband, Dan Pelletier. Dan has generously pledged $1000 to start the fund for this program. Future fundraising efforts will include collecting other pledged donations and soliciting donations from people who knew and loved Sarah, both within and outside our church community.
For more information contact:
Marion Hirsch, Director of Lifespan Religious Education
hirsch.communitychurch @ gmail.com