News: February 20, 2026
Dear First Unitarian Universalist Community:
I am sending out my monthly newsletter column a week earlier than I usually do. Next week Nina, Rev. Scott, and I will be at the Southwest Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association’s annual spring retreat. I’ll be back on Thursday and in the pulpit on March 1st in time to offer the next service in our year long cycle “A Dissenting Tradition.” That Sunday, in honor of Women’s Herstory month, I’ll be offering reflections on lessons from the life and writings of the great Unitarian abolitionist and novelist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, one of the first Black women to publish a novel in the United States.
But I am getting a little ahead of myself. This Sunday is our annual covenant Sunday where we collectively reflect upon our congregational covenant and how we are called to live together. The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s death earlier in the week means that I’ll be weaving in inspiration from his groundbreaking justice work to help us consider what it means to be carriers of a tradition of love and justice at a time when both are under assault.
March will be very full month for our congregation. Our show as a participating space for Fotofest, “Diana Matar’s ‘My America,’” launches on March 7th. It is a selection from a profound portfolio meditating on police violence, racism, and the beauty of the world that I hope you will find moving. I am particularly pleased that we are able to offer this year’s exhibition in collaboration with the Museum Fine Arts, Houston. They are sponsoring some of the programming for it, most notably a conversation between Diana Matar and Lisa Volpe, the museum’s photography curator, on April 11th. We are also doing a better job of incorporating the show into the life of our congregation. Kinsey has designed a curricular for the children and youth around it and they will be sharing some of their art with us over the course of the month as well.
FotoFest is far from the only exciting thing happening at First Unitarian Universalist in March. We have our annual family picnic on March 7th. Nina will be offering a sermon on her experiences in Palestine on March 8th. On March 15th, I’ll be providing one titled “No God But God: Unitarianism’s Islamic Roots.” We launch our annual stewardship drive on March 22nd with a service on “Living Our Mission.” And March 29th, we are blessed to have the Rev. Dr. Elías Ortega joining us in the pulpit for a Caesar Chavez Day service. Dr. Ortega is the President of Meadville Lombard Theological School (I’m an alumni) and he will be leading the 9:30 a.m. service in Spanish and the 11:30 a.m. one in English. He will be joined by the folksinger Ralph Garza for both.
It is a busy and exciting time! I want to conclude with another note of excitement. I am delighted that our new Director of Music and Arts, Dr. Loneka Wilkinson Battiste, will be joining us this Sunday. She’s incredibly talented and I am already hearing about how excited the choir is to be working with her. She brings over 20 years of experiences working with choirs in school, church, and community settings. Her scholarly work centers on culturally responsive pedagogy and the Black musical aesthetic. She is the Social Justice Chair for the National Organization of Music Education's Texas Chapter and serves in various other service positions nationally. I hope that you’ll join me in giving her a warm and enthusiastic welcome!
love,
Colin
I am sending out my monthly newsletter column a week earlier than I usually do. Next week Nina, Rev. Scott, and I will be at the Southwest Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association’s annual spring retreat. I’ll be back on Thursday and in the pulpit on March 1st in time to offer the next service in our year long cycle “A Dissenting Tradition.” That Sunday, in honor of Women’s Herstory month, I’ll be offering reflections on lessons from the life and writings of the great Unitarian abolitionist and novelist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, one of the first Black women to publish a novel in the United States.
But I am getting a little ahead of myself. This Sunday is our annual covenant Sunday where we collectively reflect upon our congregational covenant and how we are called to live together. The Rev. Jesse Jackson’s death earlier in the week means that I’ll be weaving in inspiration from his groundbreaking justice work to help us consider what it means to be carriers of a tradition of love and justice at a time when both are under assault.
March will be very full month for our congregation. Our show as a participating space for Fotofest, “Diana Matar’s ‘My America,’” launches on March 7th. It is a selection from a profound portfolio meditating on police violence, racism, and the beauty of the world that I hope you will find moving. I am particularly pleased that we are able to offer this year’s exhibition in collaboration with the Museum Fine Arts, Houston. They are sponsoring some of the programming for it, most notably a conversation between Diana Matar and Lisa Volpe, the museum’s photography curator, on April 11th. We are also doing a better job of incorporating the show into the life of our congregation. Kinsey has designed a curricular for the children and youth around it and they will be sharing some of their art with us over the course of the month as well.
FotoFest is far from the only exciting thing happening at First Unitarian Universalist in March. We have our annual family picnic on March 7th. Nina will be offering a sermon on her experiences in Palestine on March 8th. On March 15th, I’ll be providing one titled “No God But God: Unitarianism’s Islamic Roots.” We launch our annual stewardship drive on March 22nd with a service on “Living Our Mission.” And March 29th, we are blessed to have the Rev. Dr. Elías Ortega joining us in the pulpit for a Caesar Chavez Day service. Dr. Ortega is the President of Meadville Lombard Theological School (I’m an alumni) and he will be leading the 9:30 a.m. service in Spanish and the 11:30 a.m. one in English. He will be joined by the folksinger Ralph Garza for both.
It is a busy and exciting time! I want to conclude with another note of excitement. I am delighted that our new Director of Music and Arts, Dr. Loneka Wilkinson Battiste, will be joining us this Sunday. She’s incredibly talented and I am already hearing about how excited the choir is to be working with her. She brings over 20 years of experiences working with choirs in school, church, and community settings. Her scholarly work centers on culturally responsive pedagogy and the Black musical aesthetic. She is the Social Justice Chair for the National Organization of Music Education's Texas Chapter and serves in various other service positions nationally. I hope that you’ll join me in giving her a warm and enthusiastic welcome!
love,
Colin
