Curt and Nancy Ackley
For the 2024 season, Curt Ackley will be serving the CUCCS as Facilities Manager. While Curt will not be standing on ladders and lifting heavy objects, he will be making sure that building issues are being addressed by the right people in a timely fashion.
Curt is retired from serving the UCC in many ways – as a local church pastor, as a staff member of the Council for Health and Human Service Ministries at the National setting, and as Association Minister for the Western Reserve in the Ohio Conference.
He has been coming to Chautauqua for many years, first as Chaplain of the Week for the UCC. He and his wife Nancy served as Hosts for both the Mayflower and Reformed Church House.
Curt’s favorite activities (past and present) include sailing, travel, sudoku and word games, and making really good/bad puns!
Nancy Ackley will be the beta test for a new CUCCS position – the third host. She will primarily assist wherever needed at the Mayflower, but will also help out at Reformed Church House. Since she and Curt were hosts at both houses over six seasons, she will not need much orientation!
Nancy spent most of her working career as a fundraising professional, first with secular non-profits, and then with the UCC where she focused on capital campaigns for local congregations all over the United States. Her passion is music, especially choral music. She has sung in church choirs since childhood, but singing in the Chautauqua Choir and the Motet Choir are by far the most fulfilling experiences in her musical life. She also enjoys crossword puzzles and other word games, travel, dining out and having wonderful conversations with friends and family.
Curt and Nancy reside at Uplands Village in Pleasant Hill, Tennessee.
Fred Childers and Maureen O’Brien
Fred Childers and Maureen O’Brien will be the hosts for the RCH the second half of the season. They have stayed a few times at the RCH and are looking forward to being a part of the CHQ UCC community for more than one week next summer. Being able to settle in and take in all that goes on at the UCC houses as well as the wider community is exciting to them.
As first-time hosts, they understand their role to be a ministry of hospitality, so they hope to be a part of creating a welcoming environment for all who stay with them at the RCH as well as those at the Mayflower. Floors will be swept, the sheets will be clean, and the porch light will be on! They plan to bring their bikes and maybe find time to take a class or two.
They both retired in late 2021. Since then, they have hiked in Olympic National Park, canoed in the Okefenokee Swamp, spent time with friends in Western North Carolina, and entertained four year grandson, Wyatt. They are members of Central Congregational UCC in Atlanta (40 years for Fred and 23 for Maureen) where they volunteer with the Mission & Action committee. Maureen has just ended her term as Deacon and Fred was a part time staffer (organist) at the church for 30 years. They will begin volunteer work with the Carter Center and Presidential Library in January 2024.