Before moving to Portland, I had been here only once. In the summer of 2015, I was an intern at the UUA Side With Love offices in Washington, DC, and we had business in Portland because our denomination’s General Assembly was here. As always, I appreciated the chance to be part of this big reunion of our faith community. It was here that we celebrated the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, something that so many of us had been fighting for so many years. I remember the tears of joy streaming down my face at that impromptu mid-morning party, as couples whose partnership now had nationwide legal recognition flooded the convention center stage.

And now, here I am again, preparing for another General Assembly in Portland. It is a new and different joy to live in the host city, one that I hope you will take advantage of! This coming June 22-26, thousands of Unitarian Universalists from across the continent will descend on Portland, our first in-person GA since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many folks at First Unitarian are already hard at work coordinating this big local event. From organizing volunteers to planning music for worship to ensuring a lovely ambiance, and more, our congregants are supporting this important gathering.

Many of you will serve as delegates, too, playing a role in our democratic process. If this is something you might be interested in, you can learn more here. There are opportunities for off-site virtual participation as well.

And, many of you may take part just to enjoy the myriad workshop and community-building opportunities that General Assembly affords. GA is a place for connecting with UUs from all over, sharing ideas, strengthening leadership, and participating in some big and ongoing conversations as a faith community.

It is my hope that, as a congregation, we can continue these conversations even after the convention center is packed up and cleared away. That’s why, in late July, I would like to invite you to help me lead a worship service on what we are carrying away from General Assembly. What new ideas will we learn together? How will our identity as Unitarian Universalists evolve? Which sparks do we want to give fuel to in our own congregational context?

If you are planning to attend this year’s General Assembly and think that you might like to take part in such a service, please reach out to me.

For all of you, I leave you with Steve Crump’s “Song for the Unsung”:

You make the coffee, set up the tables, and organize the cleaning when the rest of us have gone home.

You know where the brooms and the supplies are kept.

You run to the store in the nick of time.

You find the great stuff to sell at the fundraiser.

You remember to use “I” language.

You speak passionately with a clear voice and listen with open-mindedness.

You consider your tone when you speak.

You say you want to be part of the solution, part of the healing, by hanging in there.

You come up with new ideas.

You gracefully accept the group choosing someone else’s idea.

You move in to make the extra contribution.

You make welcoming room for others.

You know that community life is all about relationships.

And because you know this, your spiritual discipline of forgiveness is always at hand.

You, with your presence alone, offer a holy companionship.

You accompany others in their dark night of the soul.

You do what you do because you can.

You often wish you could do more.

You labor not for praise or for a song but for the good in the doing of the work.

But we sing this song of praise for you–the unsung in our church.

And our hearts are glad in the singing because we know the many things you do.

We appreciate you very much.