Happy to be back!

It has been wonderful to see everyone again, as I've come back from sabbatical and we've all come together again into our autumn church life! I have been a little overwhelmed by emails, so if you have emailed me and not heard back yet, please try again. I want to connect! I have appreciated your welcome back messages, and feel happy to be with you all again.

I am so terribly excited about our funding campaign, “Walking With Care on This Earth.” After our long process of sorting through ideas and principles and options for our building and land; after our permaculture design process in which those ideas were brought together in a plan; after hours of research by many church members about sustainability and costs and feasibility—now we are actually raising the money to do it! Our consultants say we can do this. There are great leaders involved in the work. Now they just need all of us to participate in whatever we are able, and we will be able to begin work next spring.

Thanks to Connie and Dave for co-chairing this effort. Thanks to all the members of the group working on it. If you weren't in church when they made an announcement, I will mention that they are organizing one-on-one visits for all church members, in two waves. Margy and I were visited recently by a member of the team, and he answered any questions we had about the project, we had a chance to chat, and then Margy and I made a confidential pledge for our contribution to the projects. It was really fun to connect, and I was blown away by the brochure that they created for the campaign.

The first wave of visits will conclude by mid-October, and then the second wave of visits will happen between mid-October and mid-November. So if you are a member you'll be getting more information soon. And if you don't get information, but would like to participate, contact the church to make sure your contact information is all up to date, or to pass a message along to Connie and Dave. Non-members are welcome to be involved too. This is one more way we can bring our mission alive.

I also wanted to mention that this year I will be serving as a teaching pastor for a first-year student at Meadville-Lombard Theological School. His name is Israel Buffardi, he is a member of First Parish, and is beginning to follow a call to UU ministry. This year he and I will meet once a month, for mentoring and reflection on ministry. Then, if all goes well, he may serve as a half-time intern for A2U2 during our next church year starting in Sept 2016. The Board and I were happy for our church to continue on a path of helping to teach our next generation of UU ministers.

All the best, Rev. Myke

Our Relationship to the Earth

Today is daffodil blooming day at our house! Those bright yellow spring flowers are finally peeking out of their green casings. I am always interested in how micro-climates change in significant ways even by ten miles. The daffodils at church bloomed over a week ago. And this year our flowers are a couple weeks later than they were a few years ago—as evidenced by dated photo records on my laptop.

Thinking about the climate makes me think about climate change, and the activists who are working to change our relationship to the earth from that of “maximum extraction and destruction,” to that of “mutually beneficial partnership.”

This week in Washington DC, a group of ranchers and indigenous people from western states, called the “Cowboy Indian Alliance,” are bringing a message against the Keystone XL pipeline which would transport Tar Sands Oil from Canada down to Texas for processing. When I was a kid, we played battles as cowboys and Indians—though in our family we thought it was funny because my dad was sometimes a cowboy and my mom was part Indian—but now they are working together to protect the earth. Aside from the environmental hazards of a pipeline, the message is that we can't take that oil out of the sands if we want to preserve a climate that can support human life. You can find out more, and see photos of the teepees on the mall at http://rejectandprotect.org/

It was recently announced that President Obama is delaying his decision about KeystoneXL, probably until the fall, so that gives us more time to keep working against it. Some of us at A2U2 have signed on (with 100,000 others) to the Credo Pledge of Resistance. It says, "I pledge, if necessary, to join others in my community, and engage in acts of dignified, peaceful civil disobedience that could result in my arrest in order to send the message to President Obama and his administration that they must reject the Keystone XL pipeline."

I have participated in civil disobedience before in my life, though it was a long time ago. I was inspired by the groundswell of resistance to KeystoneXL, and the terrible importance of this work on behalf of the future of our planet and all its creatures. I am attending a training on the morning of May 3^rd (before coming down to Ferry Beach for our retreat days) to participate in the civil disobedience, should it be necessary. If you are interested, email me at revmyke at a2u2.org if you'd like more information.

In the meantime, work is continuing at A2U2 on our own relationship to our land and its structures. Tonight is the final meeting of the group of 20 or so members of A2U2 who have been part of the Permaculture Design Short Course with Lisa Fernandes. Mini-groups have been doing research about various areas that were identified as priorities in the congregational survey a few months ago. Issues like how to fix the parking lot, improve our air quality, and improve the bathrooms, along with hopes about how to use more renewable energy, increase energy efficiency, and how to create earth friendly habitat in our landscaping. I am sure that work will continue, and you'll hear more about it as we come up with some viable ideas. But you don't have to wait—if you want to get more involved, you are always welcome. Contact me, or even better, contact Harold McWilliams, at haroldmcwilliams at gmail.com, who has been doing a great job of coordinating our efforts. A great big thank you to Harold!

Happy Spring,

Rev. Myke

Spring is Coming!

Hard to believe that spring is coming on such a cold day as I am writing, but I know it is. In four weeks, we will be surrounded by green. April is a lovely month, and I look forward to the unfolding of life all around us that it brings. Meanwhile, here at A2U2, many good things have been happening and are moving forward.

About twenty of us have participated in a Permaculture Design Course led by Lisa Fernandes during February and March. We explored the principles of permaculture, and began to think about how we might apply them to the needs of our buildings and our land and our people. The group worked with some of the priorities that were expressed in the Permaculture Survey that took place in January and February (remember that?) Just like the wintry season in Maine, much of the work has been hidden “underground” but soon you'll be hearing more about it.

Another “underground” activity is that the Committee on Ministry has been reading through all the notes taken during the small group meetings for the Review of the Ministry of the church that took place in January. The Committee is now at work converting that huge amount of information into some common themes and they hope to send you a report about it this Spring. Stay tuned.

Our church Auction has also been going on “underground”—(or rather online)--at Bidding for Good. You can still participate in bidding on items there until March 30^th. Check it out. The full-fledged--appetizers/dinner/and a great time to be had by all--A2U2 Spring Fever Auction is coming up on Saturday April 5^th from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. There will also be activities, popcorn and pizza for children, so it will be a fun night out for the whole family. There is a cover charge of $10 per adult, but if you are not able to afford that cost, please let me know, and it can be waived. We want everyone to be able to attend.

I am looking forward once again to teaching my Spirituality class—Spirituality for Searchers, Skeptics, Activists, Mystics, and All Broken-Hearted Lovers of Earth. I so much enjoy this chance to go deeper with a group of people into our diverse spiritual journeys—talking and listening about how we define spirituality, how we connect with the earth, and each other, how we wrestle with the mystery of existence and the idea of God. If you want to be part of that conversation, please sign up by April 9^th, so I can send you reading materials in preparation for the first class on April 16^th. We will be meeting on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and there are readings to complete each week between classes. If you want to register, you can sign up on the Adult Enrichment board, or email me at revmyke a2u2.org.

May the spring bring abundance and life to all of our dearest hopes and dreams!

Rev. Myke