Sunday, June 16th will be Rev. Kristina’s last day in the pulpit as she concludes her four-year stint as our part-time minister in Tarpon Springs. Please join us in expressing appreciation for her contributions to UUCTS and extending congratulations and best wishes.
We come together to make our communities better, our organizations better, our lives better. We are enriched when we engage with people who are different than we are. Unitarianism, Universalism, and Unitarian Universalism all have rich histories of pluralism, which we’ll be exploring in worship.
The spiritual theme we’ll be reflecting on for April is Interdependence. A proposed new value in our bylaws invites us into deeper relationships with each other, the world, and That Which is Greater than We are (the sacred) by reminding us not only of what’s important to us but also by asking us to keep our relationships central to our practices. This includes holding one another accountable as we all strive to live into our covenants.
The spiritual theme for March is Transformation, and our worship services are working out to be engaging in the related ideas of listening, growing, and health, and how those connect with the practice of covenant.
Our spiritual theme for the month of February is Justice and Equity, following with the other themes this year taken from the proposed Article 2 Values under consideration.
Moving into the new year lets reflect about celebrating our accomplishments and honoring our losses? What about letting go of what’s been holding us back and making space for what’s yet to come? What possibilities are we looking forward to? What commitment will you make to helping build a more just, more beautiful, more peaceful world?
The spiritual theme we’ll be reflecting on together this month is Mystery. (Another thing I look forward to is whatever theme is designated for December — I have loved them all!). Mystery in a spiritual and religious context for me is a little different than a science context — I think of mystery as an appreciation for what we do not, and sometimes cannot, know or understand. There can be something deeply beautiful and vital to our humanity in that.
The spiritual theme for November is Generosity. It seems like generosity is often discussed in the frame of “time, talent, and/or treasure,” which is a helpful way to think about it. But generosity is also about time in the sense of what and who came before us and what and who will follow. That is, the generosity of our ancestors and the generosity we will leave as ancestors.
This month, our congregation will be reflecting on the theme of Heritage. We’ll be celebrating our Water Ceremony and Ingathering, a long-standing tradition in our faith. We are so fortunate to have Lynn Whitelaw coming to share about the history of the Inness paintings. We will also be kicking off our stewardship drive while thinking about the many people who have made this congregation possible.
Our spiritual theme for September is Welcome. Every year when the church’s program year begins again, the energy shifts. This year is no different, although the energy is different. On the other side of sinkholes and the worst parts of the pandemic, this congregation is digging into who it is and what it loves. It’s a kind of blossoming and a delight to witness.
