Nancy Gruendyke
What do you do?
The office staff at UCC are servants who love to work with the various ministries of our church. We are the center of communication for our church family – getting information out through the bulletin, website, emails and more! We try our best to free up our Pastors, Directors, and ministry leaders to do the face to face work of the ministry while we handle the behind the scenes tasks. We also coordinate the use and care of our facilities. As Office Coordinator, I get to orchestrate this support work.
What do you love most about your job?
I love being involved a bit with every ministry that is going on here at UCC - from the youth and children to the Elderberries, we have a small hand in it all! It is so wonderful to see how God puts together a body with all its parts to do the work He has set out for us to do. We get to see work of the parts that are rarely seen, as well as those who are up front and very visible, and it is a joy.
A little bit about your background?
I stepped out of Children's Ministry and into this job as Office Coordinator, following 4 rich years with the kids. My education is a B.S. from Wheaton College in Chemistry. My ministry training came through the years of youth work while on staff with Youth for Christ in Wheaton, IL, as volunteer staff with our church youth group, and as College Pastor's wife. My husband, Randy, begins his 10th year at Taylor University as Campus Pastor, and we enjoy being partners together in ministry to college students as well as to the high schoolers here at UCC. Randy is an Elder here at UCC, and I serve on the Children's Board. We have three teen girls, Margaret, Kelly and Abby.
What are some of your personal favorites?
Books: The Bible! I'm also enjoying praying through the old Puritan prayers in The Valley of Vision, compiled by Arthur Bennett. I'm currently reading a novel by Wendell Berry, entitled Hannah Coulter; however, my all-time favorites are Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.
Movies: We discovered the Horatio Hornblower series as well as Elizabeth Gaskill's North and South, Wives and Daughters, and Cranford. Love them!
Things you like to do?
I like to walk my dog, read and garden (flowers, mostly – I'm not much of a vegetable farmer, yet!)
