Dear UCM Community,

We begin a new church year as summer’s verdancy fades into autumn’s muted tones, as children return to their schooling, and as gardeners prepare to put their beds to rest.

We begin this new year with the cares and concerns of the world swirling all around us even as our days are textured by familiar routines—walks in the woods, harvesting greens, paying bills, doctors’ appointments, packing lunches, and long phone calls with loved ones.

We begin another year together in the fullness of life—with all of its joy and all of its heartbreak.

This year, I invite us to reflect on how we are meeting the moment. This is our overarching theme for the year. In what ways, and with what spiritual qualities, are we called to meet the moment?

This is a moment of institutional and systemic disruption and a moment of relearning ways to be together in solidarity and care. This is a moment of profound uncertainty and anxiety. And it is also a moment when Unitarian Universalism offers us a compass—anchoring us in a rich religious history and steadying us with enduring values.

How are we meeting the moment? It is both a personal and collective question—one we will return to again and again in the months ahead.

We begin again our life in religious community with much that is unstable in our country and in the world. Yet, the community we create and nurture can be both refuge and resistance.

It is refuge—from fear and harm, from anxiety and chaos.
It is resistance—against dehumanization and destruction, and for the flourishing and liberation of life.

Through refuge and resistance, we build resilient spirits. With our songs, our laughter, our tears, our stories, our service, and our prayers, we nurture what is good, what is true, and what is beautiful.

So, come as you are as the church year begins again.
Bring your joy and your heartache.
Bring your hope and your fear.

Come, and together let us meet the moment with courage, compassion, and love.

With love and hope,
Rev. Joan