Covenant Language Finale Dear Congregants, You spoke and we listened! The Committee on Right Relations took feedback and input from four listening sessions (including two terrific sessions with our church’s Youth) as well as a number of emails and conversations to hone and improve our draft of the Covenant (see attached). More than 50 individuals … Continue reading From Rozy Park and CRR — 3/20/23
Community Builders Circle Gatherings Circle Gatherings are informal gatherings of people from First Church who come together to share a potluck meal or drinks or snacks. This is a great opportunity to get to know some new people or for new people to meet others in our community. Please sign up at the link below … Continue reading From Carol Willis — 3/16/23
FIRST UU RETREAT 2023: BEYOND THE BINARY Friday May 12 & Saturday May13 – Escape the realities of a normal weekend and join your UU friends and acquaintances for Friday evening at the beautiful grounds of the Transfiguration Spirituality Center in Evendale. We will gather around the fire pit on the patio for appetizers and … Continue reading From Mary Mark — 3/15/23
Paper in the Wind I’ve spent the better part of this morning thinking, wondering, wordsmithing what to write for this week’s edition of “Tools for the Journey.” Thoughts swirl around my head like torn slips of paper in the wind. I grab at them in hopes of finding the ‘right words.’ One slip of paper … Continue reading Very Poorly Today
Sunday – This Week From 2:30 to 4, The SW Ohio Action Team of ACLU Ohio will meet at the Reading Public Library, 8740 Reading Rd. We will create subcommittees and discussing action steps for the issues we developed last month. This is a great opportunity to help create the strategy and plans for organizing … Continue reading SJ/PW — 3/25/2023
All Aboard! Hello Beloved, Here’s something not many people know about me – I watch passenger train videos on YouTube for fun. Two of my favorites are Solo Travel Japan and Downie Live. Trains are interesting forms of transportation, if you think about it. They are designed to be liminal spaces – places where people … Continue reading Trains and Liminality
Happy Pi Day! Happy Pi Day! In case you didn’t know, I’m a bit of a math nerd. In elementary school, I would do mental math at night to fall asleep. In High School, I competed in math competitions at the national level. And, in college, I tutored both children and adults in the subject. … Continue reading Religion and Math
Carpet Tiles and the Purpose of Church Beloved, May I tell you a story? One Sunday morning, several months ago, I found myself arriving late to church. Not late enough to miss the service, mind you, but late enough that my to-do list suddenly went from being practical to aspirational – no way was I … Continue reading Perfection or Connection
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility About a month ago, our 1st – 5th grade class wrote a letter to the Board as part of their lesson on spiderman and responsibility. About two weeks ago, I had the privilege of sharing what they wrote with the Board. And, today, I share it with you. You … Continue reading Spiderman, Stewardship, and School Supplies
How Do You Cope? My husband and I have a saying this time of year, “F*****g February.” Not that there is anything particularly wrong with the month itself. Black History, Valentine’s Day, and Lent are all good. It’s just that IF something is to go wrong for us, it usually goes wrong in February. February … Continue reading Reflections on February
