Dear Rocky Mountain Conference,
It is with both joy and gratitude that I share an important update about our Conference staff. We have filled two new part-time positions that I believe will strengthen our shared ministry in meaningful ways: Youth Coordinator and Director of Operations.
Although these are two very different roles, they grew out of the same discernment. Through conversations with Conference staff, the Board of Directors, the Stewarding Our Future listening sessions, La Foret staff, and many of you across our Conference, we listened for where our Conference could make the greatest difference in the life of our churches. Those conversations surfaced a number of important hopes and needs—from strengthening youth ministry and clergy support, to creating more opportunities for connection, collaboration, resource sharing, leadership development, and shared ministry across our Conference.
As we reflected on those conversations, it became clear that these two positions offered an opportunity to respond in ways that could have an immediate and lasting impact.
The Youth Coordinator position emerged at a timely moment, as La Foret was also reimagining its own staffing needs. Through an intentional evaluation of our shared Director of Transformational Programs position, we were able to reshape that partnership into two complementary positions—one serving La Foret and one serving the Rocky Mountain Conference. The result is a role that better supports our shared commitment to retreats, camps, leadership development, and relationships with youth and congregations across the Conference.
The Director of Operations position addresses something even more foundational. Again and again, we heard a desire for stronger connections among churches, leaders, volunteers, and ministries across our Conference. We also heard a need for practical support around governance, finances, personnel, and building stewardship. Building relationships and networks requires more than goodwill; it requires the organizational capacity to support communication, coordination, administration, and collaboration.
One of the most important lessons of this transition has been that our Conference is often most effective when staff provide the support, coordination, and resources that empower volunteers and local leaders to carry ministry forward. The Director of Operations role strengthens that foundation, creating the infrastructure that allows many other ministries and initiatives to flourish.
I am delighted first to introduce our new part-time Youth Coordinator, Rev. Brooklyn McBride:
Rev. Brooklyn McBride (she/her) currently serves as Associate Minister of Youth & Congregational Connection at First Congregational UCC in Greeley.
Prior to her call there, she served as Director of Christian Formation at Plymouth Congregational UCC in Fort Collins. She grew up in northern Colorado, and she is passionate about empowering students and the adults who love them through transformative spirituality and community-based Christian formation. Brooklyn earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Media Communications from Colorado State University, and holds a Master of Arts in Pastoral and Spiritual Care from Iliff School of Theology. She was ordained this past May.
Throughout the interview process, we were consistently impressed by Brooklyn’s creativity, collaborative leadership, and deep commitment to helping young people discover both their faith and their place within the church. Many of you have already experienced these gifts through her volunteer leadership of the youth track at our 2024 and 2026 Annual Celebrations. She brings energy, vision, and remarkable relational skills that will strengthen connections among youth, youth leaders, and congregations throughout our Conference.
As Youth Coordinator, Brooklyn will provide leadership for our spring and fall youth retreats and our summer camps at La Foret, cultivate relationships with youth leaders across the Conference, resource congregational youth ministries, and create leadership opportunities that nurture young people’s faith and sense of belonging. In just her second week on staff, Brooklyn served as a keynote speaker at the Marshallese Youth Gathering in Ogden, Utah—an early glimpse of the thoughtful and inspiring leadership she brings to this ministry.
If you would like to welcome Brooklyn or connect with her, you can reach her at brooklyn@rmcucc.org.
I am equally excited to announce that Laura Gurney has accepted the role of our new part-time, temporary Director of Operations:
Laura Gurney (she/her) is a lifelong Coloradan and a longtime member of the Rocky Mountain Conference. She is passionate about helping communities navigate change and create systems that support their larger mission.
She has served for many years as the Administrator at First Congregational UCC in Greeley, where she has developed extensive experience in church administration, financial management, organizational systems, and operational leadership.
Throughout the interview process, Laura consistently demonstrated the gifts this position requires: deep administrative experience, exceptional organizational skills, strong communication, financial acumen, and a genuine commitment to strengthening the ministry of our churches. Her references described her as a trusted colleague, an effective systems thinker, and someone who leads with both integrity and kindness. What impressed me most was not simply what she has accomplished, but how she accomplishes it: bringing people along, communicating clearly, and keeping the mission at the center.
Because Laura previously served on the Rocky Mountain Conference Board of Directors, we also carefully considered questions of governance and potential conflicts of interest. After consultation with Conference leadership, Laura resigned her Board position when she applied for the position, ensuring a clear distinction between governance and staff responsibilities. I appreciate both Laura’s and the Board’s commitment to handling this transition with integrity.
The Director of Operations is a temporary, renewable, bridge position designed to strengthen the operational life of the Conference during this season of transition. Laura’s work will help support our churches, authorized ministers, volunteers, committees, and staff by providing greater coordination, organizational capacity, and administrative leadership so that all of us can focus more fully on ministry.
If you would like to welcome Laura or connect with her, you can reach her at laura@rmcucc.org.
I am deeply grateful to the Board members who served on the interview committee: Paul Heintzleman, Rev. Derek Krehbiel, and Martha Jones. Their thoughtful questions, careful observations, and faithful discernment were invaluable throughout this process.
Please join me in welcoming both Brooklyn and Laura to these important ministries. I am excited to see how their distinct gifts will strengthen the work we share together as the Rocky Mountain Conference. Neither of these positions exists simply to add staff. They exist because we believe the Holy Spirit is already at work in our churches, and our role as a Conference is to better connect, equip, and support one another in being a courageous church. I look forward to seeing how Brooklyn and Laura’s gifts strengthen the work we share together.
Grace and peace,
Rev. Erin Gilmore (she/hers)
Transitional Conference Minister
Rocky Mountain Conference, United Church of Christ
