This is a reflection on the hopes and dreams for our future that you shared with me in May and June of 2023 at the Community Conversations. Read on to see what we’ve been able to accomplish in the past year. Thank you for all you shared. We couldn’t have made it to where we are today without your ideas and your help in furthering many of our goals.
You asked for better communication.
We expanded the role of our communications coordinator from half-time to full-time with Nikki Beezley in the role. She has already made several improvements, and I hope you have noticed. Here are a few snapshots of the progress. Our Children and Youth Community’s weekly email is now linked to the weekly Front Steps newsletter. There is a new website development team that has started to meet and plan for a redesigned website. There are a greater number of posts and new types of posts on Facebook and Instagram. And a bonus: Nikki brings her talent as a professional photographer.
You asked for a broader range of spiritual growth and learning opportunities for adults.
The Community Circles – focused on our spiritual theme of the year, “Love is at the Center” – have deepened our connection to the six values in the new proposed covenant for the wider UUA. We held monthly opportunities to walk the labyrinth and participated in World Labyrinth Day. We hosted a Day of Mindfulness Retreat, antiracism documentaries, a memoir writing group, opportunities to learn about what is unfolding in Gaza, and much more. We also welcomed six new lay leaders onto the Lay Ministry Team. These are just a sampling of what’s happened.
You asked for more opportunities to get to know others and be known by them.
We hired a new Membership Engagement Coordinator, Jen Thomas, who has initiated a number of efforts to connect new people and longtime members to one another. She has launched a new Membership Engagement Team. We are hosting First Steps (a newcomer and new member class), First Connections (a monthly meetup), and have a new name tag printer. (Let us know if you need a name tag, and please wear it on Sundays!) Coffee hours are becoming more and more social, with many planned activities and more frequent tasty treats. Our Auction offerings were plentiful this year with many opportunities for social gatherings and meals together. Again, these are but a few of the positive changes in motion.
You asked for an increased number and variety of multigenerational experiences.
Here are some of those highlights. The Time for All Ages with our children helping to tell the story with Rev. Leah Ongiri and others. The festive Christmas Pageant and the meaningful Youth Worship. The Community for Earth multigeneration Earth Day festivities offered an opportunity to learn, commit to doing better, and have fun in a community of all ages. Our ukulele troupe for 3rd graders up to adults of any age which graced our worship several times this year. Parents and children could often be found having lunch together on the second Sundays from January through June before their circle time. There is much more we could share.
You asked for greater emphasis on collaborative justice efforts, both interfaith and with the wider UU community.
We welcomed the Executive Director of the UU Service Committee, Rev. Mary Katherine Morn, and the Executive Director of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Frank So, to our pulpit this year. Rev. Alison Miller was one of two keynote speakers at the Oregon UU Voices for Justice Annual Meeting in Eugene and several of our members went as delegates from our church. We kicked off the UU the Vote efforts leading up to the presidential election, and we will be partnering with UU Justice Arizona. Dana Buhl, our Director of Social Justice, participated in the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity (SACReD) gathering in New Orleans as a part of our efforts to equip ourselves to support reproductive health access and gender-affirming care in our region of the country. We opened the 13 Salmon Shower Project to be a healing presence in the lives of houseless neighbors, offering hygiene, clean clothing, and a chance to rest and renew.
You asked for improved transparency.
We held more updates this year from the Senior Minister and from the Finance Team. We also included a greater swath of the membership in budget conversations and identifying priorities. The Board of Trustees published a monthly column in the Front Steps newsletter and held open meetings, which members could attend online or in person. We decided to move towards a Mission, Vision, and Strategic planning process at the end of 2024 and throughout 2025 to include the members in reflecting on the questions of who we are, how we are called, who we serve, and how we hope to become and change in the following five years. This will be an excellent opportunity for our whole community to shape the direction of our future.
These are but a glimpse of what is happening here at First U. Many, many thanks to all the staff and all the volunteers who helped us to accomplish what I’ve shared above and so much more.
With gratitude,
Rev. Alison