It’s Earth Day, again!
My first sermon at OCUUC was commemorating Earth Day last year. Earth Day is always a good reminder that every day, we can do something to contribute to the health of the amazing planet that is our home. I know it’s hard to imagine how our individual actions can play a part when the changing climate, and poor practices continue to impact the planet our communities. We can and do make choices that make a difference, however. Every time you…
April Updates
Getting to a building permit is an exercise in patience and is full of frustration for me. We continue to make progress at a snail’s pace. At this point, there have been so many missed expectations by both the city and our architect, I truly don’t feel confident in any promises. I do know the ball is back in the city’s court. We are waiting for a response to our fourth submission. I am committed to keeping everyone informed and…
Enough
“When is enough, enough?” This question ran through my mind when in a business meeting in my 30’s, when the president of the company complained that a competitor was charging more than we were. And yet we were quite profitable, we did good work helping people, and we were respected (they were not). I asked the question to the president, and he looked annoyed and never answered. One of the challenges with capitalism, as Eric N. recently reminded me, is…
Friendship
I spent the first week of February in Chicago for a week of intensive study at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago. It was a week of learning, but also a week of deepening my connections with my cohort. Some of the best conversations I’ve had in my life have been in the community kitchen of the school during class breaks. Currently, I’m a few weeks into my 4th semester of seminary. Much of the work I do there is…
Looking Ahead
As February comes to a close my role as a choir director starts to ramp up. The 2024-2025 choral season as I like to call it is quickly approaching. But how does that affect me? It simply just means that I need to start finding music! This article will give a little preview of what’s to come for my first Music Sunday in May as the Director of Music Ministries. It will be titled: Rise Up! Music by Women Composers.…
Traveling a Path Together
March promises to be a busy month again with the kickoff of our annual operating pledge drive and hopefully some great progress on getting to construction. It is a great time to contemplate what it means to be in community and traveling our paths together. Our operating pledges are the annual commitments we make to the programs and impact of our congregation. It funds our staff salaries, routine building costs and all the programs we create and support. It only…
Transformation
Butterflies have always intrigued me. I mean, they start out as a caterpillar, a weird long bug with a bunch of stubby legs that eats leaves, and then transform into this winged creature with only six long legs that drinks nectar. In fact, caterpillars get put in a kind of blender that jumbles them all up and has them coming out differently. That can’t be painless or easy. It’s not hard to find the human equivalents, let’s be honest. Who…
Chicago
It’s hard to believe, but I’m starting the second half of my first year as the intern minister at OCUUC! I think it’s gone so quickly in large part, because of how welcoming you have been. It’s a joy to be in Beloved Community with you. I have been on a short winter break from my studies at Meadville-Lombard Theological School, but just started back at the end of January. During the second week of each semester, I have been…
Significance of Black History Month on Choral Music
In the music world, so much of the musical influences and genres that we have today have come from Black composers and musicians, but how has that shaped the way we look at and perform choral music? Let’s first look at the world of spirituals, some of the earliest songs of those who were enslaved. The spirituals provide us with raw emotion, whether it be joyful or sorrowful. These songs were how they communicated with each other, how they knew…
Passport to Spirituality
Our Elementary Religious Education Class for Kindergarten through 7th grade has been participating in the Passport to Spirituality curriculum every other Sunday this church year. So far they have explored Shinto, Catholic, Unitarian Universalist, Mormon, Pagan and Baha’i religious traditions, holidays, and spiritual practices. One of the best parts of teaching in religious education classes is that you get to learn right alongside the children and youth and reach new understanding by witnessing how they experience the world around them.…
Membership and Engagement
We had a growth spurt in December with eight new members. That is eleven since July. Welcome! We held a membership and engagement workshop January 20th with 14 people to talk about how we grow, and not just in numbers of members. Many great ideas and volunteers came out of the workshop. Specifically, Melanie Malaviya and Craig Preston are the new co-chairs of the (perhaps to be renamed) Membership Committee. They have great ideas; give them your support when they…
Justice and Equity
In “Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith,” the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is elected and declares the emergence of the first Galactic Empire. Palpatine is elected by the galactic senate and given absolute power to deal with what people assume is a threat to the Republic, but don’t realize that Palpatine is actually a Sith Lord (bad guy) and created the threat. Senator Amidala, who is mourning the death of her beloved Republic, whispers horrified, “So this is how liberty…