What a few weeks it has been for our nation – tragic events, candidate shuffles, the Olympics, and so much more. We seem to be in an ongoing liminal state-change and loss turns into ambiguity and disorientation and hopefully, at some point, turns into a new focus and a better way forward emerges.

These times require a different type of leadership, one in which we learn to quiet the voices of judgment, cynicism, and fear. One in which we learn how to make the spiritual shifts from assuming we know to recognizing what we do not yet know; shifting from advocating from a limited perspective to listening more deeply, focusing our attention on the best that is longing to emerge; and from striving which is often located in the ego to surrendering, opening to the positive outcomes that can arrive when we put love at the center.

For three days, your Board of Trustees is working to do just these things on behalf of the UUSS mission. They are creating a new covenant. They will be learning about this type of leadership. Together, we will discern this coming year’s Annual Focus of Ministry, inspired by the work many Members did on last year’s Open Questions. Then we’ll consider new Open Questions for the Congregation to ponder this coming year. They will hone in on 2-3 goals for the Board and some work projects for their Advisory Committees.

Because UUs value interdependence, know that the Board is taking into account what is happening in the larger world as well. We need one another to serve our Unitarian Universalist faith and UU Schenectady. Stay tuned for what compassion, justice, and joy mean in spiritual community (our UUSS mission) this year!

With anticipation,
Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn