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This past fall we began offering a new class called Unitarian Universalist Wings. The purpose of the class is to offer participants the opportunity to expand their understandings of spirituality and reverence, identify the spiritual practices they already have in their daily lives, and become more intentional about nurturing those practices. One memorable night our session was called "Who are your people?" We started by identifying those people that are easy to see as "our people." Then we made the circle wider and wider to include those who are not as easy to connect ourselves with and talked about how even the most insignificant of encounters, when viewed with an expansive understanding of "our people" could be experienced as spiritual. The next day, I received two emails from participants in the class, both of whom signed off as "one of your people."
Who we consider to be in our circle is no small thing. Families are broken, wars are fought, marriages end and friendships falter over struggles about who belongs and who doesn't. Alternatively, hearts are healed, souls are freed and spirits are reunited when we seek to move beyond those debilitating struggles.
Unitarian Universalism is an intentionally inclusive faith. Unitarian Universalists have a wide diversity of beliefs about God, human nature, good and evil. But we are united in our belief that the connections between us are stronger and truer than the differences. We uphold and treasure the differences SO THAT we can see what unites us. This is why our congregations are places where hearts are healed, souls are freed, and spirits are strengthened. We strive to be crucibles of community where we come to trust and learn that we can leave behind old divisions and survive. We learn how to stand together.
We are coming to the time of year in our church calendar when we are very mindful of the very real resources we need to be this crucible of healing and trust. Everything that you experience at Emerson happens because of the time, talent and treasure of everyone who loves this Chapel. We are who we are because countless people give of their time. They clean the church, teach Religious Education, serve on committees, make the coffee, volunteer for worship, take care of the gardens, collect for food banks, and so much more. We are also who we are because every single person in this Chapel contributes financially to the best of their ability. This is an exceptionally generous congregation. This generosity pays for the utilities, the Sunday school supplies, the mortgage, staff compensation and much more. Emerson Chapel is completely reliant on the generosity of its people for its financial security.
We have a strong team of wonderful people who have committed to serve Emerson for the purposes of identifying the gifts of our chapel. Thank you Linda Gidday, Dorothy Newell, Barb Brown and Lisa Parnell. They will be communicating with you via our newsletter, the weekly emails, and mailings about what our priorities are for the coming year and how we can stand together to meet those priorities. When they reach out to you, see them as your people, serving you so that we all stand as one, each doing our part in that crucible of hope, healing, and trust..
One of your people,
Rev. Krista.
We invite you to read sermons delivered by Rev. Taves at Emerson, in particular, you may wish to learn more about Unitarian Universlist Theology through a series of sermons Rev. Taves delivered at Emerson Chapel during early 2009.
For more about Unitarian Universalism, check out this link: Visitors to UUism and if you like what you've seen here, and on our website, we hope that you will come be our guest this next Sunday morning.
For a concise summary of the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism, click here.