Bread Not Stone: Pondering the Principles

Hello friends,

It is such a full time for us in our congregation. We’re kicking off our pledge drive to plan for next year’s budget. We’re working to create new possibilities for moving from contract ministry to settled ministry. We are beginning to read and explore Mistakes and Miracles together as a congregational read.

And there’s lost happening in our larger movement as well, including exploring how we describe and envision our faith tradition through Article II of the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

If you don’t know, Article II of the UUA bylaws contain the formal statement of our UU Principles and Purposes: saying what the purpose of our association is, what are the principles around which we live our faith out in the world, and what the sources and inspiration are for that work and that faith.

It is intended that we revisit this portion of our association’s bylaws to see how they reflect the actual lived reality of Unitarian Universalism. There has been an appointed commission working for the past few years on a revision of Article II. They have engaged in forums, surveys, small-group conversations, and meetings throughout the year and at General Assembly. They have received thousands and thousands of pieces of feedback: suggestions, concerns, imaginings, possibilities.

And they have crafted a revised Article II which they have presented to the UUA Board this past month. You can find their full report at the link below. It describes their charge, the process, and the proposed new language.

This proposed language will be explored at gatherings before General Assembly in June and possible amendments may be added. If the proposal is approved (by simple majority) at GA this year, it will need to be approved again with a 2/3 majority at GA in 2024 in order for it to be officially adopted into the UUA bylaws.

Please read it. When you do, you will see that it is quite different from our current Principles and Sources. It highlights our shared values and the promises/covenants we make with each other as we live these values out in our lives and communities.

I encourage you to read it with curiosity. I encourage you to read it, notice you first reactions, and take some time to think and ponder. And then read it again.

We will have opportunities in the coming months in our congregation to discuss and explore this proposal. And I’ll be preaching about it. I hope you’ll engage in these conversations with love, curiosity, and open hearts.

Here’s the link: Article II Study Report 2021 – 2023

In peace and love,

Rev. Ian

Minister’s Message Recent Posts

Bread not Stone: Crafting Relationships/Coming Together

Dear ones,

Our theme for the month of September is Nurturing Sustainable Relationships. As we live into our value of Interdependence we commit to create and nurture sustainable relationships of care and respect, mutuality and justice.

As this month goes along I’ll invite you to ponder and consider your closest relationships and your more casual relationships. How do you choose to nurture these relationships? Do you pay active attention to how they’re going? Do you check in with your partner, your friends, your acquaintances and figure out together how to make your relationship stronger, richer, and more sustaining?

Bread not Stone: A Year of Covenant and Celebration

Dear ones,

As we settle into the deep heat of the summer the life of the congregation quiets a little and gives us some brain space to ponder the year ahead.

2024-2025 is a double anniversary year for the congregation. In October we’ll be celebrating our congregation’s 65th anniversary. And in late March of 2025, we will have been in our own church building for 20 years. What a year! What joy it is to celebrate our past and envision what the future can be. In the early months of the fall, we’ll be engaging in conversation and discernment together as we seek to reimagine the vision and mission of our beloved community. Keep your ears and eyes out and I hope you’ll jump into those conversations with intention and commitment.

Bread not Stone: Transformation

This month in worship and in our chalice circles, we are exploring the. Last of the values expressed in the UUA’s proposed new description of our central values: Transformation. This value is shared with these words:

Transformation. We adapt to the changing world. We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect.

Bread not Stone: Envisioning the Future

Hello Friends,

And the wheel of the year turns and December becomes January and a new year begins. In some ways it’s an arbitrary shift—a flip of a page in a calendar. But so many of us see this shift as an opportunity to imagine new possibilities in the year ahead.

Dear ones, in many ways, the life of the congregation continues: we worship together, we learn together, we raise the money we need to help our beloved community thrive, we grapple with the painful realities of the world and how we can understand and make change, and we engage in the work of moving ourselves and the world toward justice, kindness, and love.

Bread not Stone: Minister’s Message

This is the time of year when the days get shorter and shorter and the night gets longer and longer. When it feels like we live more in darkness than we do in light. And so the festivals and celebrations of this time are all about light: the light of candles, the...

Bread Not Stone: Pluralism

This month we continue our exploration of the values that unite and inspire us as Unitarian Universalists. A reminder that individuals and congregations across the Unitarian Universalist Association are exploring these values in preparation for deciding on adopting new language in our UUA bylaws that express our shared values and covenants with each other. We’ll be sharing conversation and reflection together, including in our Chalice Circles each month.

For November, we’ll be looking at Pluralism.

Bread Not Stone: Interdependence

Hello friends,

This month we begin our exploration of the values that unite and inspire us as Unitarian Universalists. A reminder that individuals and congregations across the Unitarian Universalist Association are exploring these values in preparation for deciding on adopting new language in our UUA bylaws that express our shared values and covenants with each other. We’ll be sharing conversation and reflection together, including in our Chalice Circles each month.

For October, we’ll be looking at Interdependence.

Bread Not Stone: How Can We Help?

Hello friends,

We see in the news so many stories about hardship and abuse of immigrants and refugees and those seeking asylum in our country. It’s often difficult to know how we can help.

A small group in our congregation has been meeting and having some conversations about ways in which we can help and have an impact on the situations of people in our valley and area.

And we want to explore ways our congregation and its members can help in more ways, especially with people experiencing struggles with our immigration and asylum systems.

Bread not Stone: We hear you. We love you. You are not alone.

The past weeks in our country have shaken many of us to the core. The revelations of the congressional hearings, continued gun violence, the attacks on trans youth and their families, and the Supreme Court’s removal of the protection of the rights of women and many trans folks to control their own bodies and choose how and if they want to bring life into the world.

I’ve heard from so many of you about the fear and anger and confusion that you are feeling—and your fierce call to act to bring change, to ensure health and fairness for all, to help the most vulnerable among us to access the health care they need to keep themselves and their families safe.

Bread not Stone: Everyone is Connected to Something

In her novel Akata Woman, Nnedi Okorafor writes, “Everyone is connected to something. Connection brings you benefits, but it also makes you responsible.” It is a reminder to one of the characters that she is responsible for the health and safety of her community.