Ministers in a called position in parish ministry have a Letter of Agreement with the congregation they serve. In that document, there are lots of items spelled out in detail. One of the benefits that ministers receive is Study Leave. The letter notes: “In recognition that Ministers need extended time away from the stresses and demands of daily congregational life to deepen and expand their calling and practice of ministry, the Ministers will have four weeks of study leave per year.” Several of our planned study leaves earlier this year were postponed due to various needs in the congregation. But this week, we are indeed hopefully on study leave as you read this.

Study Leave may include, but is not limited to, spiritual retreat, spiritual practices, continuing education, attending conferences and trainings, work-related reading and planning, study groups, writing, among other things.

This week, we will be engaging in spiritual practices, continuing education, mapping out the remaining worship schedule of the fiscal year, starting planning the schedule for summer worship, preparing for Ministry Days and the Annual Meeting of the UU Ministers Association (UUMA), and likely engaging in interfaith work as the complicated violence in the Middle East continues.

There are immense challenges we are facing with the Earth, nationalism, violence, threats to democracy, racism, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and contexts, and so much more. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to engage in practices to build our own resilience at this challenging time, knowing that it will not be enough; that so many of us need some time of deep rest, reflection, remembrance, rest, resilience, (r)evolution, recovery, and so much more.

With gratitude,

Rev. Lynn and Rev. Wendy

The whole family is invited to this FUN(d)raiser for UUSS, held on Saturday June 1 from 5-9 pm! We will host the fabulous band known as AROX, featuring our own UUSS member Dan Leonard on guitar.

If you or your family or your Ministry Team or your Advisory Committee wants to create and donate a basket of goodies (or equivalent) for the raffle, please let us know and please have it assembled by May 5 when we start selling raffle tickets! Mark your calendars to attend and watch Circuits for more details! – Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

April is National Poetry Month. As we explore ‘Wake, Now, Our Senses’ theme and approach Earth Day, this poem came to mind:

The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry

 

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

There are so many horrible statistics about the state of the Earth and our interdependence; so many species lost just in our own lifetimes. Today, or sometime very soon, go outside and notice the peace of wild things. And if you can, embody that peace and send it energetically to all the places in the world where war, violence, destruction, greed, hatred, arrogance, and ignorance are.

As Rev. Joe Cleveland sang this past weekend, ‘May I/you/we be filled with loving kindness. May I/you/we be well. May I/you/we be peaceful and at ease. May I/you/we be whole.’

With faith,
Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn

Sometimes a weekend holds a breadth of emotions for our community. This past weekend was such a time. It was a joy and a gift to have Peter Mayer with UUSS. Thanks to all who volunteered and to those who attended Saturday’s concert and/or Sunday’s service where we were blessed with heart-warming and inspiring music, stories, laughter, and the opportunity to sink into a beautiful meditation or join in singing together.

As the concert was a fundraiser, we are so grateful to those who purchased tickets, participated in the raffle, or contributed even if they weren’t able to attend. Ninety-four people were at the concert including folks from other congregations and a few folks from the wider community. Together we raised $3,598 to support the congregation. Thank you! And thank you to the Kleinhandler family bequest which helped offset the costs of bringing Peter to Schenectady.

And, on Sunday afternoon we gathered to celebrate the life of Richard Baertsch. There was sadness, and there was tender joy that came with some of the memories. Offering care and support to one another in a time of loss is a precious aspect of being part of a religious community. Again, thank you, to those who volunteered for the service and reception.

And the emotions continued on Monday as many of us observed (either with our eclipse glasses or courtesy of NASA) the total solar eclipse. What a beautiful thing to join with millions of people gazing at the sky in awe and wonder!

With full hearts~ Rev. Lynn & Rev. Wendy

It was so great to see so many folks on Sunday. We loved the Story for All Ages ‘Old Turtle and the Broken Truth’ as embodied by so many wonderful humans in the congregation. It was moving to witness our UUSS children and youth as they chose a flower pot during Maria’s beautiful version of John Rutter’s ‘A Flower Remembered’ and cooperated to find eggs in the backyard. The choir did a powerful song ‘No Other People’s Children’ to really bring the message together.

As April begins, and there’s a solar eclipse less than a week away, we honour interdependence and national poetry month with an excerpt from “Part as Parcel” by Mark Belletini, a retired UU minister (one of the first openly gay ministers in UUism), poet, and Chair of the Hymnal Commission that brought us Singing the Living Tradition (hardback) hymnal.

I am part of you, O Truth Unfolding.
I am part of you.
I am part of a cosmos.
I cannot see
either its edge or its end.
How amazing!
I am part of a galaxy of a million, billion stars.
They say it’s a pinwheel.
How wonderful!
I am part of a system of planets that swing
around a small parent star. How strong the hands
of invis­ible gravity must be
to hold it all together, just so!
I am part of a planet, green and blue,
along with mountains and seas,
sponges and spores,
lichen and lava,
robins and rain,
periwinkles and perch,
centipedes and cities.
How great the variety!
How astonishing the mutual dependence of it all!

We hope to see you at Wonderful Wednesday, the Peter Mayer concert on Saturday, and worship on Sunday so we can continue to celebrate our interdependence together!

With awe, and gratitude~ Rev. Lynn & Rev. Wendy

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

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

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

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

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