Strengthening UU Connections
It was a great joy to join a congregation so hungry for connections with other Unitarian Universalist congregations and to our Unitarian Universalist identity. Because of my strong relationship with other Unitarian Universalist congregations and colleagues, I was able to respond to this interest with invitations to connect and build relationship with other UUs.
Every invitation easily found 30 people ready to join a District gathering or attend a justice training. Eleanor and Ryan both said yes to leading worship at MDD events, and members our community of all ages showed up for collaborative witness events and workshops of all kinds. This is a new strength for this congregation that has been isolated from other UU congregations - to realize that we could be a leader and resource for other congregations. This was underscored last summer when three incoming Board members to Russell Lockwood Leadership School realized they represented the largest UU congregation at the gathering. These enhanced UU connections sowed the seeds for our partnership with Greeley - a partnership that was recently lifted up by UUA staff as an inspiring example of cross-congregational collaboration. When I look to the future for Foothills, there is so much more we can do to live into the potential of our faith embodied in a great network of interdependent congregations, a vision I laid out in a sermon in June 2013. Our congregation has a significant unrealized potential for leadership and connection with other UU congregations - so much potential and desire still unleashed. If I am called as your senior minister, I look forward to leading the way in establishing these partnerships. As I said in my recent sermon for the MDD Annual meeting, I believe strongly in the power and potential of Unitarian Universalism in the mountain west. In working together, we can grow the power of our faith not only for our own community, but across the entire UUA. |