FAITH: How Spirituality Shapes the RCMA Community
We are so grateful for the planners and suppliers that create RCMA's rich community. As we often say, we’re more than an association, we’re a family. People are what make us who we are; people of remarkable depth and character. Spirituality is our common thread that flows into authentic relationships and genuine care for each other. We hope you enjoy getting to know more about some of our members and the faith that guides their life and work.
Chianti C. Cleggett
National Sales Manager
Greater Birmingham CVB
Describe your faith journey, from past to present:
As a child, I was excited to learn about Jesus. In fact, one of my favorite memories of church is being a helper for my grandmother Annie Mae’s Sunday School class. Over the years, I have grown in my faith, and who I know God to be. God is faithful, forgiving and loving, above all. One of the most impactful things that my faith has revealed is that God created each of us on purpose for purpose.
How does your faith shape your work as a meeting professional?
With integrity as my goal, I aim to make sure guests in Birmingham view our CVB staff and other locals as friendly, honest, and helpful. On a deeper level, I credit our deep faith as a major reason that our city has come together to conquer much of our turbulent past. It’s not by happenstance that God made Birmingham a beacon for the world. So I invite everyone to see how we overcame, who we are today, and what we are striving towards for tomorrow.
What helps you to grow and strengthen your faith?
Prayer has been the biggest influence in the growth and strength of my faith. This includes my personal prayer life, as well as having others pray for me. We actually have a Bible study group at my office! During the pandemic, reading the Bible more consistently and hearing the Word from my pastor helped me learn more about God’s love for me, which gave me strength to endure.
Fiona Nieman
Deputy for Convention & Meeting Planning
Executive Offices of the General Convention, The Episcopal Church
Describe your faith journey, from past to present:
I was born into the Church of England. While growing up in South Africa, I attended an Anglican school where Bishop Tutu would occasionally deliver the sermon! I have always had a solid spiritual foundation. However, as can often happen while navigating through life, faith can be tested in many ways, as was the case for me in August 2005. I experienced four life changing events in the space of one month: a divorce, the death of my father, living through the devastation of hurricane Katrina, and losing my job. This was a pivotal point in my faith journey. The strength of prayer, acceptance of the things I could not change, and embracing the things I could, was the catalyst for shaping me into the person I am today.
How does your faith shape your work as a meeting professional?
I have always done my job from a place of patience, goodness, and understanding. When challenges arise I simply pause and take a moment, sometimes even 24 hours, before I respond with an answer.
I find that giving myself time for pause and prayer helps me to process the situation at hand. I have always lived by the virtue “Do unto others as they would unto you.” I strive to treat my colleagues, peers and partners with courtesy and respect in everything I do. It makes life so much easier to work in harmony together!
What helps you to grow and strengthen your faith?
I am fortunate and truly blessed to work for The Episcopal Church, where I am surrounded by religious and ecumenical leaders whose faith and spirituality is a tremendously positive force in my life. I am forever reminded of the presence of God in everything I do—in the day-to-day activities of my work, in planning meetings, and in the tireless work of our Church in the country and the world. My faith is strengthened by seeing the extraordinary impact our work has in our communities.
Joel Weinbeger
Senior Meeting Manager
Star-K Kosher Certification
Describe your faith journey, from past to present:
During World War II my father and his family escaped persecution in Austria, saved from certain death. From this experience, it was easy for my father to see G-d's hand. He lived his life as if each day could be his last. He came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1948, and later became a tenured Professor of Social Work at San Diego State University.
I was born into a family that strongly believed that a future of faith is built on a foundation of comprehensive, rigorous religious education. I lived in Israel as a child and benefited greatly from 'seeing' the Bible come alive on its home turf. I attended and dormed at a religious High School and continued to dorm at a religious college while attending and graduating from the University of Maryland. That immersion in religious life helped to create the comfort and clarity I have with my faith and religious practice.
How does your faith shape your work as a meeting professional?
For me, one of the fundamental building blocks for a solid relationship with G-d is the ability to accept life challenges as interactions with G-d. This helps frame my work as a meeting planner; I can see my role is that of a problem solver, where faith is lived out through prayer and professionalism.
Humility and care are also virtues to be embodied. I seek to show respect to all of G-d's creation, as the Talmudical saying states, “Just as He is merciful, so should you be merciful.” This includes a willingness to learn from everyone as appropriate, and realizing and living within my limitations.
What helps you to grow and strengthen your faith?
I grow though several practices:
Daily prayer, Bible and commentary study.
Listening and reading less to tales—true or false—about other individuals.
Looking for and supporting individuals and communities of faith that might be isolated from the mainstream by geography or circumstances.
Attending Synagogue as much as possible, wherever that may be.
Fellowship with like-minded people.
Charles Artis, Jr.
Religious Sales Manager
Greensboro CVB
Describe your faith journey, from past to present:
My faith journey goes back to my early childhood. When I came home from church each Sunday,
I would try to emulate the sermon I just heard from my pastor out in our yard! In my teenage years, my family instilled in me the importance of having my own relationship with God. As I grew from boyhood into manhood, so did my desire to have to have a strong Christian foundation.
How does your faith shape your work as a meeting professional?
My faith empowers me to be authentic with the planners I work with each day. I have the privilege
of exercising my faith in every interaction. I don’t hide the fact that I fall short daily; but God’s grace covers me. Being open about who I am, a person of faith, makes for better working relationships. Serving the faith-based market also gives me an opportunity to learn a lot about other denominations and faiths.
What helps you to grow and strengthen your faith?
The two things that strengthen and grow my faith the most are overcoming life’s tribulations, and being a father. Looking back on the challenges I’ve faced is a reminder of how God always comes to my rescue even in the moments where I doubt God. Being a father strengthens my faith because I desire
is for my children to look at me and see a Man of God. I want them to see that I live my life as a living example of God’s Word.
LaTonya Richardson
General Assembly & Conference Services Director
Unitarian Universalist Association
Describe your faith journey, from past to present:
I was raised Baptist. What I valued most about attending church every Sunday was time together with my family. We had generational history in our congregation and so my identity was as tied to my own uniqueness as it was to our family’s name (i.e. reputation).
Once I left home for college and graduate school, with no family or friends to accompany me, what
I sought in a place of worship shifted. The content of the preaching became as important as feeling welcomed by the congregation. I experienced challenges with both, and eventually my spiritual journey led me to the bookstore and library for broader and more positive wisdom. Technically, I am agnostic, meaning that I have no answers to the big questions about God, or life’s purpose, or what happens when we die. I am content with being happy, feeling joy, and knowing that I am connected to a source or energy that creates whole worlds!
I joined a Unitarian Universalist congregation almost twenty years ago. It is a living tradition of wisdom and spirituality drawn from many sources. As a faith community, UU’s promote equity, inclusion, and justice. The fourth of our faiths seven principles encourages a free and responsible search for truth and meaning and I find that both liberating and satisfying. I am also fond of the Centers for Spiritual Living and, even pre-COVID, was drawn to their online worship services for positive, appreciative messages and meditative practices.
How does your faith shape your work as a meeting professional?
My faith sustains me in my work as a meeting professional by reminding me that regardless of what is going on, all is well. Others might say “Don’t sweat the small stuff” or “God is in control”. We are all acknowledging that positive expectation is better than worry and angst any day.
What helps you to grow and strengthen your faith?
I discovered joy in meditation and have maintained a daily practice for almost ten years. Clearing my mind leads to an openness or ability to receive, and the wisdom and guidance that results is enriching and rewarding.
What helps me grow and strengthen my faith are reminders of all of the joy and happiness I experience in life. I keep a little book in which I jot down things that make me happy. Some days it can be as simple as pulling into a perfect parking space, a song that calls me to dance, or a delicious meal. Other days, it’s the realization that bills are paid and there’s money leftover, family and friends who make me laugh until I cry, or being physically and mentally healthy enough to enjoy travel. It all reminds me that good days far outweigh the bad, so have faith and carry on.
Jeffrey F. Perrin
Global Director of Sales– Americas
Hyatt Sales Force, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts
Describe your faith journey, from past to present:
I grew up in church, but it never clicked. It wasn’t until college when I got involved in a student group that my faith became more personal. When my wife and I started a family, we made it a goal to bring our children up knowing the Lord. That’s when I really deepened my commitment. When we moved to Florida, I started attending a men’s Bible study group and Christian men's retreats. That's where I really got involved and started to grow.
How does your faith shape your work as a meeting professional?
What is great is that I oversee the faith market and so many of my clients have shared beliefs. It is wonderful to work with others where you can be open about life and faith, and even offer to pray for people—and then actually pray for them! I approach my job and life each day with a different purpose because I walk in faith.
What helps you to grow and strengthen your faith?
My wife and I have been a part of a couple’s Bible study with our church for about 10 years. Our church intended for the group to stay together for 2 years, but we've just kept going! It is such a great group of people of different ages and a wide range of experiences.
What also strengthens my faith is working with so many clients who are friends, who are also strong in Christ. They build me up. I am also so blessed to see my college-aged children have a strong faith and walk in Christ. It's humbling that they attribute it to what my wife and I instilled in them. This makes me feel that we did something right and makes me want to keep growing in my faith.