• Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – March 26th

    As we write to you on this Tuesday morning, our hearts are heavy with news of famine and fighting in Gaza, worry for the Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas, the impact of the collapsed bridge in Baltimore, a mass shooting in Moscow, and the difficult situations and challenges that are being faced by folks we love and serve.

    This coming Sunday, we will gather to celebrate Easter. While most Unitarian Universalists, Christian or otherwise, do not take Biblical stories literally, we can learn important lessons from these ancient texts as well as recognize the cultural significance of this Holy Week. It’s complicated. Perhaps you can identify with a story of sorrow and loss. Perhaps you can be moved by the possibilities of rising anew after devastating news. Perhaps you might find some healing in being part of a religious community buoyed by hope and saved by love.

    Our Christian colleagues, remind us that, There is no Easter without Good Friday. That hope and love doesn’t just happen. It takes cultivation and attention to building community. It takes being willing to go through hard things together, putting in the effort and showing up. We have weathered some hard things together. There will be more in the near future. This Unitarian Universalist faith can inspire hope, belonging, and love. Our living tradition reminds us that we need one another. Know that you are not alone whatever challenges you may be facing. Know that you are not alone when you exclaim words of triumph and joy.

    In faith~ Rev. Lynn and Rev. Wendy

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – March 19th

    This past week we drove over the Mohawk River…. a river with so much history. A river that bends and curves around and weaves through many of the places that folks at UUSS live, attend school, work, and/or play. You may pass by or over this river regularly.

    The stoles that we were given at our installation as your called Co-ministers in 2018, include a representation of this river. We minister in the context of this community, and this particular place on the beautiful Earth.

    Rivers, like Our Living Tradition, are created by their banks and all that flows within. We want the whole ecosystem to be strong and healthy. Each of us is a part of the river that is UUSS as we have connected at a particular time and place even as the past flows into present… into future. we want this ecosystem to be strong and healthy, too.

    Celebration Sunday was vibrant and joyful! Thank you to those who attended, to those who pledged, to those who can not afford a pledge right now but pledge to support the congregation in other ways, and to those who are exploring whether this just might be your spiritual home. Let’s keep Living Love Out Loud TOGETHER!

    With thanks for all that keeps the river flowing,

    ~ Rev. Lynn & Rev. Wendy

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – March 12th, 2024

    All year we’ve been visiting the suggested new language for the Article II work of the UUA Bylaws. This month we are exploring the value: Transformation

    “We adapt to the changing world.

    We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect.”

    There is so much happening in the world right now that we don’t have control over or that feels too overwhelming to do anything about. And so, we pause, we breathe, we remember we are not alone. Together, in religious community, we can let go of perfectionism and support one another’s transformation as we grow spiritually and ethically.

    This past Sunday, inspired by the chalice lighting words of the Rev. Kim Mason, we asked, ‘How might we embody Unitarian Universalism that we become alchemists-Turning loneliness into connection, Pain into comfort, Anger into solidarity, Faith into action?’

    The subtle magic of church: Combines love with justice, Creates hope out of fear, Transforms individuals into community.”

    As UUSS moves more fully into Stewardship season and we prepare to make our pledges to this religious home that offers us a place of connection, comfort, challenge, care, hope, spiritual deepening, and transformation, let us embody Living Love Out Loud supporting and sustaining this institution into a bright future.

    In faith,

    Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – March 5th

    This month’s theme invites us to consider ‘Our Living Tradition’ and the reality that parts of this faith have been changing all along and with those changes there are times we have let go gracefully and others when we have clung too tightly.

    What do we need to imagine is possible in order to help it become? What does fear have to teach us about preparing for change? Many of us know from experience that from brokenness, there’s wholeness that can come forth when we do our inner work and our collective work to heal, to engage in the process of transformation. The choir is going to help us sing about those this Sunday. And there might be some reflecting at Wonderful Wednesday, too! We hope to see you soon!

    Rev. Lynn and Rev. Wendy

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Feb. 27th

    An intention for this tender day:

    We call forth the tenderness that moves us to care for children, to be good stewards of institutions we care about, to yearn for an end to violence, to want to matter.

    We, with gentle courage, lean into the tenderness of this day as we consider the losses we humans experience, and still somehow we choose to open our hearts to a larger love.

    We breathe in peace… and breathe out peace… that we might open to one another and ourselves with the tenderness our hearts and souls need.

    May we be held this tender day.

    With peace,

    Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Feb. 20th

    Dear ones,

    When things are hard, what sustains you in your UU faith? Is it knowing you are not alone? Is it being part of this religious community? Is it the Spirit of Life? the sounds of children playing? raising our voices in song together? a spirited discussion about things that matter? recognizing our interdependence? engaging in the work of equity and justice? remembering tenderness in our interactions? deep listening and being really heard?

    Maybe it is story? or prayer? or meditation? feeling connected to the Earth? Perhaps it is working for peace, practicing compassion, stretching in generosity, opening to the transformative power of Unitarian Universalism? or is it remembering that you are held in Love?

    Maybe it ‘depends on the day’… Whatever it is that sustains you, we hope you find it here in this congregation, with these people. Life can be so hard, leaving us feeling tenderhearted or overwhelmed. Perhaps consider breathing in peace and breathing out gratitude for the gift of building beloved community together and let that practice hold your tenderness.

    With peace,

    Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Feb. 13th

    To what are we paying attention and from what are we being distracted? As millions prepare to engage in the practice of lent, what might we consider letting go of? What might we consider embracing?

    In her book, This Here Flesh, Cole Arthur Riley wrote in her first chapter called Dignity, “What does evil have to gain in tricking us into believing we are anything less than glorious? I would venture to guess it swallows our belonging first; after all, a person does not wish to be seen if they believe they are ugly. We hide our faces and settle down in the treacherous place of nowhere. And then it colonizes our body, knowing we will flee from it out of deep shame and embarrassment. Self-hatred moves in. It makes a mockery of our limbs, twisting and contorting them for its own means. And last, I believe, it steals our love. For who can accept love that they do not believe exists for them? Those who believe love is a scarcity are less prone to give it away freely.”

    For many of us, it is hard work to claim an inner love with the inundation of messages to the contrary. What might be you do today to offer yourself a little tenderness? What might your family dinner conversation include or leave out if tenderness for each other was the aspiration? Living well can be hard work.

    There is much that is broken in the world and so many of us want to be able to do something to stop the violence, to change systems of oppression, to usher capitalism towards its end with a more holistic economic strategy, or even just to make the hurting in our own hearts stop.

    Riley also wrote in that same book in the same first chapter on dignity, “Our liberation begins with the irrevocable belief that we are worthy to be liberated, that we are worthy of a life that does not degrade us but honors our whole selves. When you believe in your dignity, or at least someone else does, it becomes more difficult to remain content with the bondage with which you have become so acquainted. You begin to wonder what you were meant for.”

    May vision, justice, and mercy lead you into this tender day. May they speak through you in all you do and say.

    In faith,

    Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Feb. 6th

    greetings.

    Our lives are filled with once in a lifetime opportunities. Each day, we miss an opportunity. Each day, we miss a road we will not travel. Each day, a road we could travel, misses us. As democracy continues to erode under white supremacy at the border, may we lean into 30 Days of Love (see below). As retribution and violence continue in the Middle East, may we lean into repentance and repair (see below).

    As we realize just how little control any of us really have, let us be willing to lean ‘into this tender day’ with open minds, loving hearts, and compassionate hands. Whether you are working the 12-steps of recovery or the journey of healing your physical health or choosing to support your mental health through therapeutic endeavors or simply and fully striving to face the fullness and complexity of this moment, know that you matter.

    May our UUSS Mission and Vision, Justice, and Mercy be our guide as we make our way into this tender day…

    – Rev. Wendy & Rev. Lynn

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Jan. 30th

    Over the past couple of weeks we have heard folks express gratitude for being part of an intergenerational community, and others express that they wish that they had more interactions with people in generations other than their own. This coming week we have several opportunities to do just that!

    Friday night will be an online Trivia Night, with people of different ages, and even from different congregations. No trivia experience needed, just a willingness to play! Next week is Wonderful Wednesday, with opportunities to share a dinner conversation and be in a post-meal small group discussion with kids, youth, adults, and/or elders. Lastly, if you are willing to be part of a teaching team for RE, you can help support a multi-age story-based Spirit Play program, Feb.-May.

    Being part of an intergenerational congregation and community invites us all to show up in a variety of ways to connect, learn, serve with love at the center!

    In faith~ Rev. Lynn & Rev. Wendy

  • Co-Ministers’ Colloquy – Jan 23rd

    The ongoing nature of congregational life, whether you call it a church, a society, a fellowship, a parish, a congregation, a gaggle, a herd, a flock, or some other creative group entity is that it is always changing. A healthy system is characterized by a sense of moving towards healing, spiritual growth, deepening connections, increasing curiosity, open-heartedness, compassionate communication, and faithful attention to one another and financially and attitudinally supporting the institution, and living its mission in the larger community. The converse often looks like stagnation, disconnection, ego, unwillingness to grow or change, closed-mindedness, conflict aversion or agitation, and centering the individual over the well-being of the whole. The Board’s open questions invite all of us into wondering who we are, who we are called to become, and how we might get there, together. Everything we all do is meant to serve the mission and vision of the congregation, grounded in our Unitarian Universalist faith.There’s room for different perspectives and for questions that are grounded in respect for one another. When we practice with the power of love at the center, we might just help the world move towards King’s dream of justice, equity, and inclusion.

    With faith,

    Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn