We are beginning a series, called Why My Heart is Here, that will showcase how individual congregants’ roles and activities at Concord UU help us find connection to, and meaning in, our lives at church. By spotlighting these individual stories, we hope to show how you might also find your heart’s home here. I’m offering my story first, and I hope you enjoy getting a deeper insight into how the varying ways congregants offer service at church brings us meaning and joy, enmeshing us into the web of our church community and our community at large.

Since late 2021 I have been grateful to serve as the coordinator for our Memorial Receptions, events that are held after the Memorial Services for a congregant who has passed. Although I give my hand to other aspects of church life, this is one that truly touches my heart and connects me most deeply to our Beloved Community. At these events, we create a space of peace where mourners feel cared for while grieving the loss of someone special in their lives. In creating the receptions, I have an opportunity to engage with the immensely kind spirits and good humor of those working alongside me, and I feel myself truly connected to the life of my church and to my own spirit as well. I love meeting with the families and friends of the person who has passed and hearing stories about them, so as to create a reception that is reflective of the person being celebrated. Offering them help and reassurance during a difficult time is a service that is most moving to me. It is also a way I can honor those who have helped to create the church from which I derive so much joy.

Renee West