News: November 1, 2024
Dear Members and Friends,
I am grateful for your overwhelming support. I did not expect to be called to serve as First Unitarian Universalist’s eighth settled minister with a 97% yes vote.* It is rare for ministers who are moving from a contract to a call to receive an endorsement of that kind for their ministry. I am honored to have received it and honored to have been called to serve you. I hope to do so for many years. As I said in my October 20th sermon, I see your call as a mandate for us to grow the congregation back into a large church. I anticipate that work of striving to widen love’s circle together will be exciting and important.
My contract as your settled minister does not begin until January 1, 2025. In the next months, the Board and I will be working to facilitate the transition between a developmental and a settled ministry. Three of our projects are worth mentioning. First, we will be issuing a final report on the congregation’s developmental goals. You might recall that our developmental ministry was initially organized around five questions. These were: What kind of a church do we want to become? How can we have a healthy relationship with our Senior Minister and with the UUA? How can we increase diversity in our church and work to dismantle white supremacy? What is our vision for and commitment to multi-site? More people should be here with us--how do we engage them? The report will assess how well we have answered these questions in the last four and a half years. Have they been resolved? Is more work required to resolve them?
Second, we will be working to revise the congregation’s Principles of Governance. They were written for a contract Senior Minister, not a settled one. A contract Senior Minister works for the Board. A settled minister works for the congregation. The principles need to be adjusted to reflect this change.
Third, we will be planning an installation. This will be a special service where we formally celebrate entering into our shared ministry together. It will be held sometime early next autumn. If you want to get a sense of what such a service is like, I encourage you to attend Rev. Ed Proulx’s installation as the settled minister of Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church this Saturday at 3:00 PM
All of this work will take place alongside the regular hustle and bustle of congregational life. This next week will be particularly fraught. I know that many of us are deeply concerned about the outcome of the election. There is a lot of anxiety and fear. First Unitarian Universalist plans to be a space for our community to process the results on Wednesday. In the morning, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Board President Sheryl Abrahams and the Rev. Dr. Dan King, our minister emeritus, will be hosting a time for coffee and conversation for anyone who needs a place to go. In the evening, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM, we will be opening our sanctuary for a vigil for democracy. If, after the election, you need to be around people, your community will be here for you.
Throughout the rest of the month, we will be offering a number of spiritually uplifting and engaging programs. This Sunday my sermon is titled “Beyond Hope.” On the 10th, I’ll be offering a post-election sermon “A New World in Our Hearts: Reimagining Democracy.” It will be followed by a special online workshop led by Dr. John Clark on the 13th. Dr. Clark is a philosopher and activist who is devoted to developing forms of spirituality that can help us live through times of disaster.
On November 17th I will be offering a sermon topic picked by our last auction winner.** It is on artificial intelligence and religion. As part of it, Chelsea is scoring an AI generated choral anthem. Hearing it and reflecting on it should be an interesting experience!
Then on November 24th Carol and Rev. Scott will be holding the annual Bread Communion. Please join them for a service devoted to celebrating the many cultures of hearth, home, and harvest from around the world!
love,
Colin
* The congregation has had seven settled ministries but eighth settled ministers. The Revs. José Ballester and Gail Lindsay Marriner were co-settled ministers together.
** You can bid on a sermon topic for August 17, 2025 in this year’s auction!
I am grateful for your overwhelming support. I did not expect to be called to serve as First Unitarian Universalist’s eighth settled minister with a 97% yes vote.* It is rare for ministers who are moving from a contract to a call to receive an endorsement of that kind for their ministry. I am honored to have received it and honored to have been called to serve you. I hope to do so for many years. As I said in my October 20th sermon, I see your call as a mandate for us to grow the congregation back into a large church. I anticipate that work of striving to widen love’s circle together will be exciting and important.
My contract as your settled minister does not begin until January 1, 2025. In the next months, the Board and I will be working to facilitate the transition between a developmental and a settled ministry. Three of our projects are worth mentioning. First, we will be issuing a final report on the congregation’s developmental goals. You might recall that our developmental ministry was initially organized around five questions. These were: What kind of a church do we want to become? How can we have a healthy relationship with our Senior Minister and with the UUA? How can we increase diversity in our church and work to dismantle white supremacy? What is our vision for and commitment to multi-site? More people should be here with us--how do we engage them? The report will assess how well we have answered these questions in the last four and a half years. Have they been resolved? Is more work required to resolve them?
Second, we will be working to revise the congregation’s Principles of Governance. They were written for a contract Senior Minister, not a settled one. A contract Senior Minister works for the Board. A settled minister works for the congregation. The principles need to be adjusted to reflect this change.
Third, we will be planning an installation. This will be a special service where we formally celebrate entering into our shared ministry together. It will be held sometime early next autumn. If you want to get a sense of what such a service is like, I encourage you to attend Rev. Ed Proulx’s installation as the settled minister of Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church this Saturday at 3:00 PM
All of this work will take place alongside the regular hustle and bustle of congregational life. This next week will be particularly fraught. I know that many of us are deeply concerned about the outcome of the election. There is a lot of anxiety and fear. First Unitarian Universalist plans to be a space for our community to process the results on Wednesday. In the morning, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Board President Sheryl Abrahams and the Rev. Dr. Dan King, our minister emeritus, will be hosting a time for coffee and conversation for anyone who needs a place to go. In the evening, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM, we will be opening our sanctuary for a vigil for democracy. If, after the election, you need to be around people, your community will be here for you.
Throughout the rest of the month, we will be offering a number of spiritually uplifting and engaging programs. This Sunday my sermon is titled “Beyond Hope.” On the 10th, I’ll be offering a post-election sermon “A New World in Our Hearts: Reimagining Democracy.” It will be followed by a special online workshop led by Dr. John Clark on the 13th. Dr. Clark is a philosopher and activist who is devoted to developing forms of spirituality that can help us live through times of disaster.
On November 17th I will be offering a sermon topic picked by our last auction winner.** It is on artificial intelligence and religion. As part of it, Chelsea is scoring an AI generated choral anthem. Hearing it and reflecting on it should be an interesting experience!
Then on November 24th Carol and Rev. Scott will be holding the annual Bread Communion. Please join them for a service devoted to celebrating the many cultures of hearth, home, and harvest from around the world!
love,
Colin
* The congregation has had seven settled ministries but eighth settled ministers. The Revs. José Ballester and Gail Lindsay Marriner were co-settled ministers together.
** You can bid on a sermon topic for August 17, 2025 in this year’s auction!
Where are the Ministers?
Dr. Bossen will be leading services on November 3rd,
10th, and 17th. On November 6th, he will also be hosting a special
post-election service, with the Rev. Dr. Dan King and Dr. Rocke, from
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. All who are in need of fellowship and spiritual
solace on the day after the election are welcome.
He will be attending the American Academy of Religion in San Diego, CA from November 22nd to 26th and will be out of the office until December 2nd.
Rev. Scott will be in Dallas until flying in for the Church Auction on November 9th. He resumes work on the 11th, and will join Rev. Colin on the chancel on November 17th. That afternoon at 3:00, he will be speaking at the Interfaith Prayer Vigil during the U.N. Climate Conference at Hermann Park.
On Sunday, November 24, he and Carol Burrus will be celebrating our annual Bread Communion at both services. After that, he will return to Dallas.
