These are mighty busy days at QUUF. The new(ish) program year is up and running. Just ask the good folx serving the congregation in Family Ministry, Pastoral Care, Music, and Advanced Learning and Spiritual Opportunities (ALSO). And these a but a few of the amazing ministries going on with your fellowship.
Same with your dedicated, talented staff. Especially with your staff, because all the ministries would be total chaos were it not for their work. They are QUUF’s nexus.
Me, I’ve “joined the system” – ministry talk for getting to know a new congregation from the inside out: Lots and lots of meetings, listening and throwing some ideas and best practices into the mix. It’s a draining part of interim work, but reading minutes and returning emails won’t always cut it given the ratio of one minister for roughly 280 members, 25 friends, and the number of other persons connected to QUUF in less formal ways.
Now that I have a basic sense of where things have been, and where they are today, I’ll be cutting back on my meeting time. (I don’t recall when I wasn’t working 30, not 20 hours per my current contract. (That’s on me…) I’ll be depending more time with your five councils, where teams and committees report about their particular ministries. This will keep me in loop, even though I’ll still sit in with some committees, teams, and task forces.
This Sunday’s sermon will touch on moving into this second phase of interim ministry. Same with the second installment of the Zoom-only town hall, Congregations 101 (at 1pm) where we’ll explore the difference between technical and adaptive change.
So, know as always, how proud I am to be a part of the “system” known as Quimper Unitarian Universalist (don’t forget the Universalists, friends) Fellowship. I know from direct experience not every UU congregation is up for the rigors of interim work, but that’s not where you are. Better yet, that’s not who you are.
As a current and 10 year member, and former BOT member of QUUF, and also an active member of the new Salish Sea Fellowship formed by QUUFers, I would like to invite anyone who truly wants to know what our new SSF community stands for, who we are, and what we value, to visit our website, and come as a visitor to experience the love, acceptance, joy, democracy, and openness we offer. And Mr. Morrissey, I especially hope you and friends will visit us. From your judgement above, I see that there’s room for clarity about how SSF formed, and what SSF is all about. I assure you that as we welcome you, you will find that we are nothing at all like the current national administration as you suggest we might be, and that loving acceptance and group process thrives among us.
Thanks for your message, Don. Im especially grateful that you mentioned Universalism. Todd Eklof led our schism group put the door , as you no doubt know. From what I know of NAUA & Eklof, they extoll exceptionalism, individualism & questioning authority – kind of like our current national administration. We really need to look toward group process as the more egalitarian Universalist faith did. But I do question the “authority” of this administration.
I look forward to more on UU 101.
Thank you for agreeing to lead us out of a difficult recent history .