In March, the Adult Growth and Learning task force began to meet to plan how to move forward with what was next. Having launched an interim semester of classes in January, it was time to get to work. Paul Loubere brought the team together: Dean Carr, Mary Tucker, Kathryn Wadsworth, David Deardorf, Henry Amick, … Continue reading ALSO
Last Friday at the end of Emma’s Revolution’s concert, I was lingering in the sanctuary, chatting with a few people who had been sitting with me. After introducing the duo at the beginning of the concert, Peter and I had sat near the front, and as we got ready to leave a woman approached me. … Continue reading Thankful
The State of the Fellowship and business meeting to pass the revised by-laws meeting was filled with cookies and snacks, some lovely beverages, and a buzz of community. And that was before we did anything other than arrive. The evening unfolded thoughtfully thanks to the guidance of our President, Sarah Walker with the support and … Continue reading Building a New Way (and a getaway)
At the two meetings about our new Adult Growth and Learning Program, I shared a list of characteristics of mature spirituality that were compiled by the Rev. Dr. Kendyl Gibbons, senior minister of All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church in Kansas City MO. The short list was drawn from these remarks offered by Rev. Gibbons when … Continue reading Characteristics of Mature Spirituality
Did you know that there’s a Unitarian Universalist congregation that consists entirely of incarcerated people? Could you imagine that there are nearly 2,000 Unitarian Universalists in prisons across the country? If you’re not surprised, then you already know about the prison outreach, Worthy Now, that the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) has been … Continue reading Strengthening Each Other
On November 26, I talked about what it means to be part of our community. Just days later, my colleague Kimberly Debus wrote a bit more about it. You can see what she had to say here. I also stumbled on a bit of writing I did some years ago that resonates with that same … Continue reading Doing Church
When I lived in Chicago, I was connected to a community that included folks who were part of an improvisational dance collective. They led contact improv dance sessions and occasionally held performances in an old church that had been minimally maintained over years of closure, but was well suited as run-down performance space. I loved … Continue reading Expecting the Unexpected
I know that many of us are missing the usual array of classes that engage us, allow us to share ideas, spend time together and build community. In our Shared Governance Model, Adult Programming is part of the Growth and Learning Council. Religious Education, AHA, and the Library are also part of this Council. Frank … Continue reading Adult Growth and Learning at QUUF
The state of the world: it might just be grief and fear. A few weeks ago, as a part of the time of Joys and Sorrows, I shared the last stanzas of Warsan Shire’s poem “What They Did Yesterday Afternoon”: later that night i held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the … Continue reading How We Find Hope
At the service this past Sunday, we got to hear the words of poet Andrea Gibson: “I know most people try hard to do good and find out too late they should have tried softer.” Since I first heard the poem a few years ago, I have repeated that mantra to myself: try softer. It … Continue reading Keep Trying
