September Starts a New Year

I am looking forward to seeing all of you on September 8th as we begin a new church year together. I am excited about what is emerging for this church year ahead of us. First of all, our environmental focus has gotten off to a great start. There has been much enthusiasm during the summer beginnings of our collaboration with Permaculture activists in Portland. You may have heard me say this before, but I think of Permaculture folks as the happy environmentalists—not just looking at problems, but learning from the earth to design solutions. In that spirit, I plan to offer a sermon series, “Lessons from the Earth,” which I have introduced in the worship description for Sept 15th. These will be part of the spiritual side of our commitment to focus as a congregation on the environment during the next few years. I hope you will find your own way to be a part of this adventure.

I am also excited about our new Director of Religious Education. If you haven't been reading the Eblast over the summer, let me introduce her briefly. Laura Messenger is a young adult who grew up UU, and has been active in the UU Church in Concord, NH. She has been a third grade teacher, and also has experience coordinating education in a refugee camp in Africa. She is finishing a Masters Degree is Educating for Sustainability—which fits so well with our congregation's theme for the next years. She has a three year old daughter, Bella. The Search Committee chose her because of her depth, her friendliness, and the conviction that she has the right experience to become a really good DRE—Laura wanted to be involved in religious education so she could bring her UU values into her passion for education. We will be helping her learn to apply her skills to this new career, and she will be helping us to create a vibrant and fun program for our kids. Please come to our welcome reception for Laura on September 8th after each service, in Room 7-9 in the RE wing.

Another new things for the coming year will be our Triennial (every third year) Review of the Ministry. The Committee on Ministry will lead us in a whole church reflection on how we are doing as a church, in our programming, in our ministries, in our staff, in our committees, etc. They are still designing just how we will do that—for example, perhaps a survey will be part of it, perhaps a worship service? I hope everyone will participate in giving the feedback that helps us grow, and helps us really become what we hope to be as a church—or maybe even further clarify what we hope to be as a church. Experts suggest that the church of the past will not survive in these times--we will be learning from each other to find creative solutions for the future.

As I write today, I am thinking about our lives, what we carry of joy and sorrow, the deaths among us, the illnesses we have faced, the challenges in work and family, some of which I know about, and some certainly that I do not. I am thinking about what we carry of joy and sorrow as a nation and as a world, too often broken by war and violence and greed. I look forward to being all together again, so that we can better help each other to carry our joys and sorrows. I am thankful for the Pastoral Care Team, and the Caring Connection, and our summer worship leaders, and all our members who have been caring for each other's joys and sorrows during the summer. You give me a chance to replenish my own spirit and my connections with family and friends. One highlight this summer was a family reunion—all my siblings (nine of us) were together for the first time in 13 years, with our partners, spouses, children, parents, grandchildren—a blessing to be sure. 

With love,  Rev. Myke