October’s themes of Belonging and Commitment are a serendipitous pairing. Our Children’s Sunday School theme is Belonging while our worship theme is Commitment, and that raises some deep questions for me and maybe for you. What does it look like to be a congregation committed to the idea that children belong to the congregation? What … Continue reading Belonging and Committment
“We stopped coming and no one ever said a word.” “The only call I ever got from the church was about my pledge.” “I went through a rough time but the church didn’t seem to notice.” In other words: You didn’t care about me as a person. Hearing the disappointment and hurt expressed in … Continue reading Staying in Touch
As we say each Sunday: “Let this be our covenant: … and to help one another.” These words have been at the core of so much of our ministry this winter. I don’t recall another time since my arrival in Concord with so many of us in need of care or involved in providing care. … Continue reading Circles of Care: Comfort in, Dump out
Connecting in Love and Service Growing Spiritually Transforming Ourselves and the World This is the mission statement we created together and adopted in 2013. In all we do together as a community, these are the words that we revisit to evaluate how we’re doing. These are the words that we look to when we ask, “Could … Continue reading Big changes coming this fall, for worship and for faith development for both children and adults
The future of any community is in large part a reflection of the culture it shares and values. Our congregational culture is what gives me hope and faith in a future worthy of our dreams. Does that mean we have all the volunteers we need? No. Does it mean we have all the resources we … Continue reading Our Congregation’s Culture – Now and in the Future
We have a challenge for you – with rewards for all and a prize. But first a little background: our Coming of Age program is intended to be a great opportunity for our youth to explore who they are spiritually, ethically, and emotionally. We want them to develop a UU identity, grounded in our history, … Continue reading Ministers’ Challenge
In the October Parish Notes, we started to share the results of the Ends (Goals) Survey you completed in March. The analysis each month is based on the survey discussions we have at our church board meetings. The graphs and the summary statistics were generated by board member Suzanne Rude. This was a very substantial … Continue reading Survey Results #2 – Offering and Receiving Help
Last March, we circulated our first annual Ends Survey. Ends are statements that talk about the impact we want to see as a result of our ministry together. These ends were adopted by the Board of Trustees with broad-based input from the congregation a number of years ago. For the past few months, the board … Continue reading Survey Results #1 – Connection
I am so proud of our congregation as we reach the end of Michael’s six-month sabbatical! We have experienced consistently excellent, soul-stirring, thought-provoking worship planned by the Sabbatical Worship Team. We have begun a new way of doing religious education that provides opportunities for people of all ages to use the hour before worship on … Continue reading Sabbatical was a time of growth for us
