Skip to main content

Stewardship: a Bridge to Belonging

By

The message of inclusiveness [is] central in this spiritual community of diverse thinkers and believers.  [Yet] I can partake only as much as I am willing to give of myself – of my love, of my time, of my skills, of my resources. -- Carol Gregory


 How wonderfully unexpected! My experience here at First Unitarian during the last four years has been just that – wonderful and unexpected. Sitting in the pew with Wendy during the first service I attended, I had to keep reminding myself I wasn’t attending a great concert listening to gifted musicians and vocalists in a magnificent venue. Enchanting as that experience was, I didn’t expect the music to draw me in so powerfully and so often.


I began attending our church during a transition. When The Reverend Tom Shade moved on, both The Reverend Tracey Robinson-Harris and The Reverend Gary Kowalski helped us rise to the challenging work of refocusing ourselves to call M12, The Reverend Sarah Stewart, to be our minister. What a wonderful time for me to become acquainted with who we are. Even in the struggle to speak from a place of love when people didn’t necessarily agree with a decision and even when the work yet to do looked larger than the group’s ability to get it done, the message of inclusiveness remained central in this spiritual community of diverse thinkers and believers. I could find a spiritual message playing out almost everywhere I looked. I didn’t expect that spiritual experience to stay with me so well or bring me back so often. I didn’t expect the people of this community to be so welcoming and inclusive while struggling to navigate such a substantial change.
Maybe you’re like me.  The music drew you in. The message brought you back.  The community welcomed you and invited you to stay.  I’m now part of this community, this gana, in both my heart and soul.  You are my spiritual family, and I welcome my role as a part of you.  As with my family of origin, I know I can partake of my life only as much as I am willing to give of myself – of my love, of my time, of my skills, of my resources.  Partnering with longer-term members and our new minister on the Mission and Values Committee, becoming a member of the Stewardship Committee, learning to play bridge with the sisters of the church, speaking with a young person I’m just getting to know, adding to the brunch options after the service, and fulfilling my annual pledge have become both welcome opportunities and welcome responsibilities. My experience at First Unitarian has truly been wonderful and unexpected. For me, these acts of stewardship are the price I gladly pay to realize my place in this spiritual community.
Carol Gregory

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hearing the Call: Rudy Cepko, YRU2 Mentor and Advisor

By
“I believed that my day job as an RN in the Pediatric ICU at UMass would make it easy for me to handle a bunch of teenagers.  However, I was surprised to encounter teens willing to gain more knowledge in their spiritual quest and to learn how to use this in their everyday lives.”   Rudy Cepko   For many years I had not stepped into a church except for weddings and funerals.  In the mid-1990s, my wife, Alesia, started attending church to sing with UU choir.  She was impressed by the message that she heard from Barbara Merritt and suggested that I try the church.  I felt I was in a place that spoke to me, and our son Stefan was enrolled in the Sunday school programs. I had some involvement with church stewardship as a volunteer in the Garden committee.  Mowing the lawn, pulling weeds, planting and laying yards of mulch were part of my contribution to the church. Then when my son, Stefan, was in YRU2, he asked if I would be interested in be...
2 comments
Read more

A Message from Lee Reid of the UU Sisterhood

By
We see ourselves in the faces of our sisters; we hear our stories accepted , we hold each other in our hearts. We have found the meaning of community. What does it mean to enter a room where you are immediately welcomed and appreciated? What does it mean when others are genuinely interested in your well-being? It means you are valued. It means you are a part of a wholesome community. It means you are a part of something larger than yourself that feeds your spirit in a most fundamental way. These are the enriching threads that weave the UUSisterhood together. We see ourselves in the faces of our sisters; we hear our stories accepted , we hold each other in our hearts. We have found the meaning of community in this church. In my earlier years, I found meaning teaching Sunday school, working with the youth and working on numerous committees. It was work that helped support the values we share as a faith community. It enriched my life and kept me returning to fin...
1 comment
Read more

A message from Laura Kirshenbaum, Chair of the Lay Leadership Program Council

By
2013-2014 Objectives Setting Workshop, LLPC First Unitarian: We are in the Right Place I urge you to take stock this month of all the opportunities for spiritual growth afforded to you by the church.   When programming serves the multitude of spiritual needs within the congregation, our church is robust and growth is inevitable.       As Moderator Scott Hayman reminded us in last week’s blog, our stewardship pledges provide funding for the various programming within the church.  This programming is why First Unitarian is my family’s choice for a spiritual home.  It serves to sustain our connection to the spirit of love and mystery that some people call God; it unites us in a web of community greater than our routine lives of work and school; and it provides the affirmation that comes when we connect with families that share similar values and face similar challenges.      When I take stock of the programming the church provides...
Post a Comment
Read more