Join us to welcome to the Fellowship Peter Betjemann, the Executive Director of PRAx at OSU. The new Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts aims to spotlight intersections between the arts and all other disciplines at the university. It focuses on connections, both classical and innovative. Patricia Reser herself understands it this way: “The arts invite us to see, to think, to listen, to feel, and to reflect. I can’t imagine a more urgent path for humans and for humanity.” Peter Betjemann will reflect with us on this first year of PRAx and the vital role of the creative arts in these times in the world.
Jill McAllister
“In the Middle of a Gloria” 5/18
The UUFC choir, under the direction of Steven Evans-Renteria, presents a service of beautiful music with readings and contemplation, to nurture us inside and out. With the added artistry of Lauren Servias at the piano and George Beekman on percussion, and Rev. Jill McAllister in support. Come ready to indulge and appreciate, then stay afterward for our Annual Meeting – all UUFC members are needed and encouraged to attend.
Our Annual Meeting is this Sunday May 18 at noon. In it, all members present participate in the essential business of sustaining the Fellowship. This is one of the main ways we live up to and live out our commitments to democratic ways of governance. And, it is one of the primary responsibilities of membership. What are some of the other responsibilities of membership?
Membership means taking your religious life seriously, helping to sustain the life of the Fellowship, and supporting it with time, talent and money according to your own means and needs.
Membership means being present and accountable in this vital, dynamic congregation, joining hundreds of others as we work for justice, nurture freedom of thought and religious expression, advocate for the worth and dignity of every human being, and dedicate ourselves to environmental stewardship.
Membership is required for taking part in the governance of the Fellowship – electing the Board of Directors who are charged with overseeing policies and finances for the health and wellbeing of the congregation, renewing and changing bylaws when needed. Membership is required for serving on the Board and for being eligible to vote at official congregational meetings. Members receive the UUA World, the bi-annual journal of the Unitarian Universalist Association.
In all of these ways, and more, being a member of the Fellowship is a source of fulfillment, of learning and growth, and of making a difference. I look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting.
To help one another….
My decision to retire from the ministry has set in motion a huge transition for me. I’ve worried about the fact that it has set in motion a huge transition for the Fellowship as well. I’ve worried, but I’ve also begun to be very encouraged by this time of change for all of us. The life of the Fellowship is a story in chapters – and new chapters are about to begin! For those of you who are relatively new, I can’t think of a better time to be part of this congregation and its movements and growth. For those of you who are not new, I have so much faith that making changes will be enlivening and inspiring for you as well.
As part of these movements, the Committee on Ministry and I invite all leaders of teams, councils, projects, tasks (and the Board) to gather together for the next Leadership Supper, which is scheduled for Thursday May 29 at 6 PM. Leadership Suppers have been happening here for more than 10 years, to help leaders remember and recognize that all the work we do, we do together. At the coming gathering, we’ll talk about how the transition affects all of us, and what we need to do to be able to manage it well by working together.
The familiar words of James Vila Blake can be our guide: “Love is the spirit of this church, and service is its law. This is our great covenant: to dwell together in peace, to seek the truth in love, and to help one another.”
“Still Growing Up” 5/11
Parenting (from mothers, fathers, siblings, others) is an important part of the process we call “growing up,” though it is only one part, and perhaps not always the most important part. If we have received good enough parenting to have survived to adulthood, what are the further steps and sources for growing up? (It’s pretty clear that many so-called adults still have a long way to go… for example, most current US government leaders?) Let’s consider religious learning and growth as the next steps.
With Rev. Jill McAllister
PS – Come greet and welcome visitor Rev. Lynn Gardner, former UUFC member.
Daily Practice
In the pandemic years, in our isolation and worry, the daily practice we shared was a lifeline for me. I needed to connect – to myself, to others and to the Earth. Here is one of the musings of that time, from May 2021:
“Morning comes early in this season, and I’m surprised how easy it is for me to awaken, to join in the unfolding beauty of these days. I need the beauty. I need to be reminded of the vitality of life. I often need to be lifted above the continuing challenges of navigating the human world. I need help with the mixture of fear and anger which weighs on me – at people and their selfish, short-sighted ignorance. (And meanness). I need help as I remember that I am one of the people too. And that we all have egos which lead us astray.
I’m pondering a Buddhist teaching – I don’t know the source. It is two definitions side-by-side: “An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the non-living components of their environment, interacting as a system. An ego-system is a community of old outdated voices in conjunction with the desire to make the moment other than it is, generating a false reality.”
I’m not sure I quite agree with the first definition – some would say that every component of the world is alive in some way. (But yes, some are not breathing). The second definition is definitely worth pondering. I’ve learned enough to know that we are always influenced by old outdated voices, within us and around us. Today I’ll try to identify some of my own.
I pause to breathe. I remember that nurturing inner nobility and steadiness requires time and space and willingness to acknowledge where I am. With thanks for this part of the path, and this day on the journey, I’m sending love to you all.”
Sunday Services This Month
May 4 “Grateful For The Winding Road”
Rev. Jill McAllister
May 11 “Still Growing Up”
Rev. Jill McAllister
May 18 “In the Middle of a Gloria”
Steven Evans-Renteria, Lauren Servias, UUFC Choir
May 25 “Art Works: Reflections on the First Year of PRAx”
Guest: Peter Betjemann
“Grateful For The Winding Road” 5/4
We sing this every Sunday: “We are here together in this holy moment, and we’re grateful for the winding road that brought us to this place.” They are lovely words, and they are more important than most of us can imagine. They speak to the profound human need for gathering, for collective wisdom and encouragement, for being a worshipping community – a congregation. “Worship” is a word, and an idea, that has taken generations for UUs to return to. We need a shared understanding of the movements and the consequences of worship, now more than ever.
With Rev. Jill McAllister
I caught my breath and sighed deeply at the news of the death of Pope Francis this week, another seismic change in the world. Then I picked up a book I very recently received – his autobiography, published only a few months ago, titled “Hope.” Day by day I have begun to read it, as I consider both the gifts of Christianity and its horrible perversions. We are living in this country with the perversions, writ large. Pope Francis had a much different perspective.
This is what he said in the introduction: “People often say ‘wait and hope’ – so much so that the word esperar in Spanish means both ‘to hope’ and ‘to wait’ – but hope is above all the virtue of movement and the engine of change. It’s the tension that brings together memory and utopia to truly build the dreams that await us. And if a dream fades we need to go back and dream it again, in new forms, drawing with hope from the embers of memory.”
Last Sunday we heard similar perspectives from climate activists such as Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Terry Tempest Williams, Leah Penniman, and more. Hope is the motion, the movement, that keeps us aiming and working for our highest goals. Even when we think all is lost. Love is the motivation.
I also received this quote from the writings of Tennessee Williams this week, with gratitude: “This world is violent and mercurial – it will have its way with you. We are saved by love – love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share; being a parent, being a writer, being a painter, being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.”
Beltane: Rhythms That Hold Us 4/27
On the wheel of the year, Beltane comes between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. Spring is in full bloom, new growth is all around, and the days continue to lengthen. The Earth calls us to give attention, to rejoice in beauty, to keep moving with the season. Join us for a Beltane of Homecoming—not to the past, but to relationship. When the world feels uncertain, Earth still turns. Let us turn with Her.