Dear Ones, My calendar tells me I’m writing this on Erev Yom Kippur – the day before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We explored the concepts of repentance, atonement, and forgiveness in our service this past Sunday. In that service, we also showed a video with my late colleague, Rob Eller-Isaacs, who said the […]

Dear Ones, Can you believe we’re at the end of September already? Time is flying by. Our theme for October is “Leaning In.” We’re going to lean into a variety of ideas, beginning with an exploration of repentance/atonement/forgiveness. Our members, friends, and neighbors who are Jewish just celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, and are […]

Dear Ones, I hope you’re all enjoying reading a Banned Book this week! As I said last Sunday, ideas are important. Books can be challenged, banned, and burned, but ideas can live on. Our very existence as a faith tradition depends on once-reviled ideas – Unitarianism and Universal Salvation. I promised to post the books […]

Dear Ones, Very soon we will be in the midst of the Annual Stewardship Drive. You’ll receive the official stewardship email, and letter, and pledge packets. I am not a member of UUFB. Some of my colleagues choose to join the congregations they serve while they’re serving them, and believe that this creates an “I’m […]

Dear Ones, It is SO GOOD to be back! I’ve begun meeting with committees and teams again, beginning with the Worship Team. Our Fabulous Worship Team™ did a fantastic job during our sabbatical. Many thanks to them for all the hard work and great services. During sabbatical, a few changes were made in the liturgy, and I’m […]

Hello Everyone! Today is my “official” return from sabbatical, and I am so glad to be here! We begin our seventh year of ministry together – can you believe it? There’s always a lot happening at the beginning of the program year. I’ll be returning to the pulpit this coming Sunday, September 4th, which is […]

Hello Everyone! I’m not *officially* back from sabbatical until September 1st, but I did want to quickly say “hi,” and let everyone know that I’m around and working on getting things ready for the beginning of the program year! I’ve made a few phone calls, and am having some small meetings toward that end as […]

Dear Ones, I am on sabbatical now through the end of August. Email sent to me will be archived, though I do not guarantee I’ll read it. As I’ve shared in the sabbatical brochure, this weekend we will hold a memorial service for our son who died in December. That will be on Saturday, April 2 […]

Dear Ones, This coming Sunday will be my last in the UUFB pulpit before going on sabbatical. While on sabbatical I will not be keeping office hours, attending services or meetings, making pastoral calls or visits, or writing this column. A sabbatical is a time for a complete break from ministerial duties. So, who do […]

Dear Ones, Some days it seems the COVID saga will just go on, and on, and on… Your Reopening Task Force met last week to update how we’re working together to be safe. As you know, we recently returned to in person worship services. The Task Force has the following recommendations: On Sundays it is […]