March 21, 2022

Hello Countryside:

Congregational life is getting busier and that is a good problem to have. Please try to get announcements in ahead of time for the e-news and to put on social media. Please, let others know what you are planning and have it on the calendar. Email Laurie for any of those things.

You can help yourself feel calm and help services on Sunday flow well by arriving early. Announcements start at 9:55am. Please be seated by 9:50am. I want you to have ...

Wondering about Article II? Or our UUA President-elect? Perhaps you wonder about forming your own theology?  Did you experience Rev. Sofía Betancourt’s sermon A Hard-Won Hopefulness: The Journey to Liberation preached at the Church of the Larger Fellowship last month? People have asked what she thinks, inquired about her theology, well this is a lovely service and meaningful reflection. Well worth your time.

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March 1, 2023

Yesterday, the staff and I had our final staff lunch with Mary Shelden. It was a day full of the fun conversations, the heaviness of goodbye, and the continuation of church business. In the last month since Mary announced she would be moving on to new adventures, I have felt joyful she would be getting a break and I will miss her warmth and the ways she helped me add so many children and youth to our services. I do plan to continue that tradition. This last month has been a ...

If you are like me, hearing that UUs could have LENT might be shocking. I was shocked when I first heard of this way of both honoring where our spiritual ancestors came from and also holding that philosophically and theologically a time of reflection for a metaphorical 40 days, is a good thing.

This year, I am following the #UULent hashtag on social media and using the chart below as a guide for my own 40 days to commit to a different spiritual practice. I am using these 40 days to center on my own ...

As you prepare for a called minister, consider that the diversity of ministers who are coming into congregational leadership and parish ministry. When I left seminary, my last classes had more people who held marginalized identities (including but not limited to: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), people with visible and invisible disabilities, LGBTQ and more and more come from families of origin that were not upper middle class. Ministry is changing and it is wonderful to see how our faith leaders are changing too. It also means continuously learning about how to be radically welcoming (that ...

Sunday, Feb 19, after service, approximately 11:20 am – 12:30 pm, in Atherton Hall
ALL are welcome. Childcare available.

“Telling our stories is not an end in itself, but an attempt to release ourselves from them, to evolve and grow beyond them. We tell our stories to transform ourselves; to learn about our history and tell our experiences to transcend them; to use our stories to make a difference in our world; to broaden our perspective to see further than normal; to act beyond a story that may have imprisoned or ...

Being an interim minister is a lot like being an archeologist, but less dusty and with more public speaking. I am constantly unearthing treasures and using clues to find out why things are how they are. One of those topics I am digging into here, is the culture of money and finance. Here at Countryside, I often have been pleasantly surprised that something that perhaps is industry standard, a best practice, or a great idea, is something that used to be done. Some of these great ideas need to come back into practice. Maybe they were let go ...

Join us February 19 after service for another all-church conversation about stories we recall about Lifespan Religious Education, affinity groups, and our favorite clubs in our history. Bring your stories and your memories and think about things you loved or used to do. CCUU dedicates ourselves to learning and study. Our covenant and Unitarian Universalist principles ask us to constantly be learning and changing our point of view. We purposely evolve.

I mentioned in my column this month that being an interim minister is like being an archeologist. We need your help to dig into ...