Rev. Dena’s Retirement Celebration
May 30, 2025 | 4:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Everyone is Invited!
May 30, 2025
4:30 – 7:00 p.m. with a program at 5:15 p.m.
St. John’s on the Lake
1840 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee
North Cultural Arts Center room (NCAC)
Dena’s Retirement Party
Join us Friday, May 30, at St. John’s On the Lake, anytime from 4:30 – 7:00 p.m., to celebrate with Dena. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and desserts; also a cash bar – beer and wine (no credit cards), tea and lemonade. Program at 5:15 p.m. will commemorate Dena’s ministry with our congregation. Our First Church Jazz Quartet will provide music. No reservations required. A map can be picked up in the Leenhouts Common Room or can be found HERE. Dena requests we avoid wearing scents, and offer virtual hugs only.
Send Us Keepsake Memories for Dena
Join the congregation in saying farewell and thanks to Rev. Dena. Share memories and good wishes! Tell Rev. Dena what her ministry has meant to you. You can write a note (there’s stationery in the Common Room) and drop it in the box in the Common Room. Or you can send your message in an email to Joan Hansen.
Joan Hansen and the party team will compile all our messages as a gift to Dena, and portions of them will be read aloud during the program. Please keep your email to no more than 150 words, and put DENA RETIRES in the subject line. We need to receive your email or hand-written message by May 23.
Contribute to a Gift for Dena – an Internship Fund!
Many have been asking how to contribute to a retirement gift for Rev. Dena, and here is your opportunity: you can contribute to an internship fund in Rev. Dena’s name. We are establishing the “Rev. Dena McPhetres Internship Fund,” which will endow funds for future interns at First Church.
Establishing an internship fund ensures the opportunity to nurture future ministerial interns here, who will then go on to shape the future of UUism. As a lifelong UU, I can think of no better retirement gift than to know that this beloved congregation made a commitment to contributing to the growth of future generations of UU ministers. — Rev. Dena
To contribute to the fund, you can make a check out FUSM with “Rev. Dena McPhetres Internship Fund” in the memo line, or donate at https://onrealm.org/FUSM/give/Intership.
We hope you will give generously to this legacy gift for Rev. Dena and the church, which will honor her service for years to come, and establish First Church as a teaching congregation in Unitarian Universalism. Together, we can grow Unitarian Universalist values for generations!
