A big Thank You to Rev. Dr. Greg as he departs after serving as our sabbatical minister for the past three months. I appreciated his heartfelt, thoughtful, and inspiring sermons as well as his gentile guidance for the Board of Trustees and the staff. I am sure he will do well wherever his life journey takes him next.
And a big Welcome Back to Rev. Sharon as she returns after her 4 month sabbatical. Although we did just fine in her absence, it is comforting to have her back, rested and refreshed.
The “Powering the Future” fundraising campaign for solar panels and technology hardware is underway. Chalice has received matching grants, so your contributions go twice as far. I encourage everyone to give generously to these projects that will help lead us into the future.
As mentioned in a previous column, the Board is reading a UUA publication “Mistakes and Miracles, Congregations on the Road to Multiculturalism” by Nancy Palmer Jones and Karin Lin. I encourage those of you interested in promoting and advancing our newly approved 8th Principle to join along in discussions of this topic.
As a UU atheist, I am also reading (at a congregant’s suggestion) “The Sacred Depths of Nature” by Ursula Goodenough. It discusses how religions address two fundamental human concerns: How Things Are and Which Things Matter. A goal of the book is to present an accessible account of our scientific understanding of Nature and the suggest ways that this account can call forth appealing and abiding religious responses. The author is one of America’s leading cell biologists, and has served as President of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science. If nothing else, you will get a very interesting and up to date overview of biology! I look forward to discussions with you on the patio.
Inspire, connect, act.
Blessings,
Tom Carlstrom, Board President