We are very excited about the upcoming church year and the expanded opportunities for adult learning, practice, and service that will be offered two Sundays per month after worship, followed by a community lunch on those days so that we can socialize and share our experiences over a meal. We are also looking forward to having our children back at Sunday School, learning what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist and to live out your values during the week.

To try to address as many needs as possible, we decided, after consulting with some but not all of you, that we could do it best if we kept the start time of church at 10:00 am as it is during the summer, rather than switching back to a 10:30 start time as we have for several years.

We are aware that change that is exciting for one person may be less exciting, or downright upsetting, to another. We hope that as we come together this month for our water communion, we will treat one another with extra care and respect, recognizing that we are diverse individuals engaged in the challenging spiritual work of building beloved community.

We ask that you come with an open heart and a sense of curiosity about how these changes may help us deepen our learning, our practices, and our involvement in service to the community. We ask that you bring us your ideas — check your email for the survey that will help guide our programming in the months to come, and complete it by September 1. If you have skills you want to share as an activity leader, let us know that, too. Lastly, we ask that if you have concerns, please express them directly to us.

Most of all, we ask that you come. We will have hugs and laughter and love to share, even if you’re still bleary or a little late.