Forward. Together.

After a whirlwind few months here at UUCC*, I am eagerly anticipating some of what the next few months offer. I am taking time to remember that our community is first and foremost a worshiping community, but also that we are so much more than that—we gather to do the work of the institution and to support one another interpersonally, and we gather to play and to learn and to grow together, too. And we have planned some excellent upcoming opportunities for youth and adults—I hope that many of you will choose to share in these experiences.

I am perhaps most excited about the February 8 & 9 weekend of workshops and worship with CB Beal, whose visit we’ve been anticipating since last spring—Preemptive Radical Inclusion, Mind Your Ts & Qs, and worship about Spork and their friends! CB has an excellent reputation for being wise, engaging, funny, and accessible, and I know we’ll benefit greatly from their work with us. Please click here to read more and to register—adults and youth are welcome! (You may choose to participate in all the weekend’s programming or only selected sessions.)

But also, Robin Slaw and volunteers have planned several other great offerings under the auspices of Adult Religious Education (RE):

• Reading and discussion groups exploring books about race, racism, and anti-racism—one just for men and one open to all. (These groups begin meeting the first week of February. Register now!)
• Parents and Caregivers as Sexuality Educators starting the second weekend of February.
• Our Whole Lives (OWL) for Older Adults starting at the end of March.
• Jubilee Anti-Racism Training weekend at the end of May.

Our third UU principle states that “we affirm and promote acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations”. One of the best encouragements to growth—and also how we grow more understanding and accepting of one another—is gathering together to learn in community.

So, to read more about, and register for, any of these upcoming offerings, visit the Adult RE page on our website.

Let us continue to move forward—learning and playing and growing. Together.

With love,
Paige

* Newcomers may not know that, since July, we have returned to my being the only clergy on staff (a planned change); we have reorganized the operating budget and some of our staffing responsibilities; we have experienced several anticipated and unanticipated staffing transitions; and we are giving ongoing attention to a simmering conflict that is both interpersonal among some congregants, and also institutional. We are exploring what it means to be persons of Unitarian Universalist faith in the 21st century and striving better to understand how the legacy of White Supremacy Culture in America affects us all. There is some (not comprehensive) documentation that offers information about this conflict on the Racial Justice page of UUCC’s website, under the heading “Read or listen to more about the philosophy behind UUCC’s commitment to racial justice.”