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 in community with small groups online. As time has gone on, some deep friendships have formed in those small groups. It got me thinking about small group ministry and how l ..read more

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. Below I’ve highlighted some of my favorite pieces and why I picked them. O Quante Volte in Van Cor Mio Ti Chiamo- Vittoria Aleotti (1574-1646): During the time that Aleotti was alive ..read more

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 happens because we make it happen. Please listen closely to the upcoming testimonials and pledge materials. We have a culture of gener ..read more

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 hasn’t been jumbled up in the blender of life and gotten transformed, even a little bit? I just can’t help but wonder - why does it have to be so painful? Tra ..read more

This year, the federal holiday commemorating the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated on 1/15. Barack Obama proclaimed the third Monday of January to be MLK Day in 2017, with the call to all Americans to participate in civic and community service projects. As Unitarian Universalists, we are called to care for each other and the wider world. One of the ways we live our values is through volunteerism. I know many of you participate regularly in community volunteer work, and therefore, I have an ask for you. I see all the work you do for OCUUC, Rea Elementary and supporting ..read more

It has been a joy to be part of this beautiful congregation. Thank you for making me feel so welcomed in your community. It’s a busy time coming into the month of December -- I know. Before I received my call to ministry, I worked for Starbucks Coffee Company and sometimes that was really fun. But towards the end I found myself longing for January -- that time when I could stop thinking about it for the next 10 months. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the anticipation and expectations of the holiday season. It can bring memories of joy and sadness, sometimes in equal measure. It’s importa ..read more

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 that possibly someone was there to come and set them free. Spirituals also provided direction; songs like “Wade in De Water” and “Follow the Drinking Go ..read more

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. The children were dismayed to learn that only men can bec ..read more

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 ask. Thank you all! All this has me thinking about what it means to be an engaged member of our congregation. I sent a letter to all ..read more

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 dies – with thunderous applause.” I feel strongly that our liberties are dying – the erosion of women’s reproductive rights ..read more