Sharry
Nyberg">
Sharry
Nyberg, Program and Christian Education Coordinator During her 15 years as a church member, Sharry has taught
church school and completed two 3-year terms on the Christian Education Board,
twice serving as chairperson. As a
result, accepting the CE Coordinator job has been an easy transition for
her—she describes it like “being with family all week long and on Sunday
morning.” From “Day 1” she
has felt like she belongs, both with the staff and with the entire church
family. A new church school curriculum was adopted by the CE
Board this year. Bible Quest is a
Bible story-based program for preschool through high school.
The story cards that children take home each week allow parents to better
interact with the material their children are experiencing in the classroom.
One of Sharry’s first tasks was to order the new curriculum materials.
She has also instituted a beeper system for the nursery. Each Sunday morning all available space is used for
church school with nine classes currently meeting.
Some classrooms include combined grade or age levels.
The preschool is a particularly large class this year, and they use
adjoining classrooms so that one area can be a “bouncy” space and one a more
quiet space. Sharry looks forward
to having more space available after the building project—11 classrooms would
be better for current needs. In addition to serving as CE Coordinator, Sharry is also
the part-time Program Coordinator as well as the Wedding Coordinator.
The Wedding Coordinator is a pay-per-wedding position that involves a
pre-meeting with the bride and groom, the rehearsal, the wedding, and answering
questions as they arise. No weddings have been held since Sharry took over this job
from Jill Seamens, but one is currently on the schedule. The 12-hour-per-week Program Coordinator position was
first filled last fall and is described as follows: In seeking “to bind together followers of Jesus Christ,”
the Program Coordinator works with the Pastoral Team and Boards to provide staff
support for the adult programs of the church.
Responsibilities include assisting with planning and coordinating
programs and activities of the church, organizing and scheduling, recruiting
volunteers for specific needs, and preparing publicity for church programs.
In this position Sharry has been involved in the coordination of the
men’s retreat, the mother-daughter retreat, the hospitality task force, the
college-age group, and other activities. Sharry tries to interweave the CE and Program Coordinator
jobs, often spending time with both tasks during the day.
So far it has worked well for her doing both jobs, and she appreciates
the support she gets from the CE Board, the staff, and the congregation. Sharry grew up in Bellingham. She and Joe have two children—Eric, a senior at Squalicum
High School who enjoys tennis and golf, and Lindsay, a senior at WWU who plans
to go to Boston after graduation to serve in an AmeriCorps project.
Sharry likes walking their dog, reading, gardening, and being with
family.
Receiving
“wonderful hugs” from little children running down the hall—against the
rules, of course—is just one of the things Christian Education Coordinator
Sharry Nyberg loves about her position. Sharry
accepted the half-time Christian Education position with us in July 2000 after
spending many years in retail management. 