Dear Church, Late summer greetings to each of you! I hope this finds you well and you have been enjoying these final weeks of summer. I am back full-swing at church and have enjoyed slowly reconnecting with a number of folks. I wait with great anticipation ... read more. The post Late Summer Greetings appeared first on Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church ..read more

Greetings, all – I hope you are enjoying this gorgeous early summer weather and have had a chance to get outside this week! As we approach Memorial Day weekend we begin to turn toward summer and there is much summer energy in the air. Yesterday I put my day on pause mid-afternoon and drove over to Kettle Cove to take a dip! A fully body plunge in the ocean… not typical for me to do in May. It was a practice in caring for my body and connecting with Earth amidst a busy season of reflecting and wrapping up. May you find such practices of pause and connection in the coming days, too. I’m very muc ..read more

Dear church, How is it with your spirit these May days? For me, because my body and heart seem to follow the ebbs and flows of the church year, late spring always pulls me into a reflective space as I prepare for the end of our program year and time away. And then a new beginning come fall. And I know I’m not the only one! Many of you have been working on annual reports. Our children and youth spent their RE session last week reflecting on what they learned and how they’ve grown and deepened. Your Board and I completed an evaluation on our shared ministry just last night. This taking stock of ..read more

Greetings, Church To start… a big thank you to those of you who planned last weekend’s fabulous Ferry Beach retreat! I had a wonderful time connecting with people and relaxing in a rocker on the porch on Saturday. I know putting an event like that together takes many hands and much planning. Unstructured time together in community is holy ground… that’s for sure. Those of us who attended worship at A2U2 on Sunday had a lovely time, too. If you didn’t catch the service on The Laziness Lie, give the recording a listen! This week in service we’ll turn our attention to the natural world ..read more

Dear ones – I hope this finds you well and enjoying the sunshine this week. It was wonderful to see many of you Sunday at church, and we were sorry that the technology did not cooperate with our ability to Zoom. If you haven’t yet seen it, I re-recorded the sermon and reading on being a wetland, for those who tried to Zoom and couldn’t hear. Feel free to watch and share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5fQ9Kuw39o. It’s a busy time of year here at the church. There has been a hum this week of folks coming in and out to prepare for the yard sale, drop off items, work on building projects ..read more

Greetings, church – How are you faring in this post-eclipse world?! If you traveled, I hope you are home safe. If you stayed home, I hope you got out to see what even outside of the path of totality was pretty wonderful! We even had a Spiritual Enrichment Group viewing here in the A2U2 parking lot. I had a volunteer obligation on Monday afternoon so stayed here in Portland, missing the totality viewing, but I was amazed by a few different things. First, of course, was the eclipse itself and the way the sun looked through those magical little paper glasses. Equally amazing to me, though, as som ..read more

Blessings to you, A2U2 community! What an eventful spring-in-Maine weekend we just had. I hope you all fared OK without power. And a big shoutout to those involved in the get-the-word out about canceling service on Sunday as well as those who checked on the building, pump batteries, etc, to prevent flooding. Thank you!!! I traveled South last weekend with stops in Connecticut and Delaware and led worship on Sunday at the UU Congregation of Southern Delaware. I always enjoy visiting other UU churches to see how they do things. UUSD sends their greetings to you! I also love coming home and retur ..read more

Dear friends, May this spring weather find you well! I saw the first flowers of spring in my new neighborhood earlier this week and the sunshine has been a delight. Yesterday, Wednesday, brought perfect weather for an outdoor rally outside the State House for housing justice. As our lawmakers are making decisions about budget proposals, we gathered in support of funding for eviction prevention, rent relief, and emergency shelter funding. We gathered, believing that we have the resources in Maine to keep our neighbors and their children housed and fed. As it always is, it was an inspiring morni ..read more

Dear friends, I hope this finds you well on a rainy spring-like Thursday. Mud season in Maine is upon us! As some of you know already, I spent a chunk of the last week moving and settling into my new long-term home in Portland. This has invited me into the spiritual practice of dealing with STUFF. Furniture. Boxes. So. Many. Books. The apartment I chose to be my new home is very small. This was a purposeful decision. I want to practice simplicity in my life… and I’m hoping to feel a bit less controlled and encumbered by my belongings. If you’ve ever been in my office at A2U2 (if you haven’t, p ..read more

Dear friends – This past Sunday after worship we held the final membership class, New to A2U2. Church leaders from various areas of congregational life joined us to share about what they do and what it means to them. The room was full, and it was a delight to hear from so many people about the spiritual practice of doing church. At the end of our session, 7 newcomers signed our membership book. A few others couldn’t be there in person or plan to sign at a later date. So please join me in giving a warm welcome to Tim Schick, Shirley Curry, Sally Littlefield, Bill Burge, Dale Reynolds ..read more