Governing Board Candidates
Meet the potential Governing Board members! We also invite you to connect with any of them in person. At a Special Members Meeting on 2/8 at 12 p.m. the Members of UHC will vote on these candidates.
Glen Trowbridge
To my Union Hill Church family,
As a nominee for the role of Elder, I would like to share a bit of our story with those of you I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting. My wife, Joyce, and I became members of the Ames Lake community in 1978 after building our home there. Shortly after, we began attending Union Hill Church (UHC) with our two oldest daughters. In 1985, we moved to Duvall; our daughters joined the local youth group, and we began attending the Duvall EMC church in the fall of 1986. During our time there, I was elected to the Board of Stewards and had the privilege of serving as Chairman for three years. Following a change in that church’s denominational affiliation and our own retirement, Joyce and I felt called back home to Union Hill Church. My foundation is rooted in a Christian upbringing. My grandfather was a bi-vocational pastor for 40 years, and I have fond memories of attending summer tent revivals in the South. I made my profession of faith and was baptized on November 30, 1969. Recently, I have felt God’s urging toward increased service, and I am excited at the prospect of fulfilling that calling here at Union Hill. I believe deeply that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to meet the needs of our community, and I am fully committed to following the Lord’s leading in that mission.
His will be done,
Glen Trowbridge
Daniel Dudugjian
Hello Union Hill Church,
My name is Daniel Dudugjian. I first started attending Union Hill Church in 2014 (with my wife Laruen joining me after our marriage in 2015). I first became a Christian in 1st grade, after a particularly fiery sermon from my pastor. I heard that Hell was bad and Heaven was good, so as many a young child in my church did, I decided I wanted to go to Heaven. I spent the next decade of my faith in anxiety and worry, wondering if I said the right words, believed the right messages, did the right things to ensure my place in heaven. It wasn’t until I attended a spiritually powerful youth retreat that I finally felt and understood that God truly, actually, loved me. The theme of my faith journey since then has been about learning to grow in understanding of God’s love for me, for God’s people, and for God’s creation.
Over the years, I’ve served in many different teams and ministries at Union Hill. This has cultivated in me both a love for the community and a love for practical administrative work (of all things). When the nominating committee reached out to me to start the process, I felt the prompting of the Spirit to further use my gifts in service of this church. I see a need to improve some of the processes and procedures that undergird how this church functions, and I hope that by doing so I can help make smooth some of the hurdles volunteers and members run into.
I feel that Union Hill comprises of multiple smaller, strong communities, with all of the benefits and drawbacks that that brings. I hope to work with the board to envision practical, tangible ways that our community can be about the work of the Kingdom together.
~Daniel Dudugjian
Brenda Nakashima
Hi Everyone!
It’s been a very interesting couple of months talking with the nominating team about the possibility of me (!) being one of those put to you all for a vote as a board member. My experience has been a gentle moving forward through processing the idea of this role for me. In doing so, I found myself warming to what “could be” with the collection of skills and gifts represented by the potential board and the opportunity to serve this church I love. For my part, I humbly look forward to the chance I might receive to tend UHC toward continuing to extend the welcome Jesus show us to each person we encounter - maturing as we do in with-ness (or I could say ‘community’) and reflecting the love of God.
I was 5 or 6 when I noticed someone changing because of the new-found presence of God in their life, leading to my coming to believe in Jesus and be baptized at age 7. My childhood was characterized by an active church life, Bible study and memorization, and I am grateful for those years. I found a deeply refreshing perspective in my young adult years when the love of God came alive for me. Trusting the character of God and my belovedness- each One’s belovedness- even in the mysteries we can’t understand has become the story arc of my adult life. Knowing that I (We! All of us!) belong with God fills me with wonder, reliance, and confidence in my design and Holy Spirit in me for the good of the Kingdom.
Being ourselves and choosing to be with God yields beauty. I am cheering for what will be formed and continued in and around the people of whom this church is composed as we believe in and rely upon the three-in-one God. It is my prayerful hope that as this community remains centered on the truth of God as seen in the life of Jesus our inner peace will grow even as we face complexities head on, we will move in faith to be with the vulnerable, and we will experience our love expanding.
Brenda Nakashima
Stephanie Bauer
If elected to the governing board I would be honored and humbled to grow in my skills as a servant leader. I'm looking forward to reaching out to those I don't know as well, and those I do, to understand the needs of this church body better. I'm prayerfully hopeful that this governing board can collaboratively bring direction, care and guidance and I'm excited to be a part of that process.
My own faith journey started at 23. Having grown up in a non-Christian household I came to Christ at a time of great struggle. I have been amazed at the work of Christ in my life through the years to turn tragedy into deeper faith, struggles with sin to faithful obedience and the mercy he gave me for others into faithful service. I currently serve as the lead Chaplain for Redmond Police and Fire. I have spent the last year creating and implementing a training program for the Chaplaincy and just recently graduated two new Chaplains. When I was asked to consider a position on the governing board it certainly seemed like God's perfect timing now that the Chaplaincy is well covered. I've been married for almost ten years to the most wonderful Josh Bauer.
My prayer for our church is that we can have unity as one body, unity in our purpose and continue to grow in our faith together.
Blessings,
Stephanie Bauer