Delivered at UUP by Elizabeth Nielsen on May 3, 2009

Good Morning! It’s Time to Spring Forward! Today is a day of our spiritual vision path intersecting with our practical needs. Over the past few months I’ve had quite a bit of time to think about how to integrate my spiritual thoughts with my practical concerns for UUP, and it isn’t always easy to articulate that blending of thought in a seamless manner. We just aren’t used to the vocabulary of those subjects intermingling and serving each other. But I kept coming back to the same point — why am I here at UUP and why do I wish to serve? What do I think I can do to help? What will I do to live my beliefs beyond the insularity of my home and the kids’ school, and beyond the fuzzy warm feeling of a good Sunday morning service. Some of these answers lie within my own life experience and those of my family. Other answers are found in the inherent character of this place of worship and all of you, its congregants. Today, I hope to describe some of what has inspired me to be here in this moment at this podium, and report more on the insightful comments of our Visioning Sunday and follow-up survey. Our decidedly individualistic congregation is thinking more in accord than many of us may have anticipated!

But first, some UUP history: Those of us who are fairly new to UUP may wonder about how it got started. Well, in 2001 the enterprising minds of KC Greaney, Christian Boatsman, Diana Spaulding, David Dodd, Barbara Marlin-Coole and Walter Coole, all of whom were members at the Unitarian Universalists of Marin, decided to found a UU fellowship in Petaluma with their “unchurched” friends, Susan Sanford and Steve McMillan. Initially, thoughts of creating a desirable spiritual house of worship in Petaluma were as much a matter of driving less as creating a new spiritual facet to this community. But with meetings in various living rooms generating enthusiasm and interest, a “Nuts and Bolts” committee succeeded by the end of the Summer 2002 to develop a group that voted to constitute itself, develop bylaws and start renting space. By October of that year, they were occupying the Petaluma Women’s Club with a Covenanting Sunday service, and a startup Board and Worship Associates group. March of 2003 found a proud UUP group entering the Butter and Eggs Parade with a float and marching contingent of children chanting “Who are We? UUP!!!” securing a first place prize. In early 2004, UUP applied for membership in the Unitarian Universalists Association of Congregations with a membership of well over 30 and recognition at the 2004 General Assembly in Long Beach. That same year, UUP hired a Director of Religious Education, prioritizing our children’s program, and an administrative assistant. That’s the précis history.

But why have we succeeded thus far?

Well, I can’t speak as far back as 2002 at UUP, but I can speak to what I have discovered about myself and this congregation. For one thing, I am continually impressed with the amount of dedication, love and sheer fortitude the first members of this community have shared with all of us. I cannot imagine juggling the responsibilities of young children, work, and all the time, effort, and yes, money, that was required by so few people to get UUP started. If ever a few people could make a difference in others’ lives, these individuals proved it! For me and my family, we were immediately struck by the warmth of the gatherings, the intellectual diversity of the services, the ease with which the children and adults mingled in a meaningful and respectful manner, and the anticipation of each Sunday’s service that is so dependent on our direct participation. No sitting on your hat here! Everyone can and does get involved — whether it’s music, bagels, a reading, a personal reflection, sermon, or participatory activity.

Our family was looking for a spiritual home outside of and bigger than our own home and finding UUP was its own revelation. I’ve spoken before about my background as a third generation Unitarian of large congregations, but being part of UUP is a different challenge and reward. Like those small classes in the one-room schoolhouse, you can’t hide behind your desk and forget your homework here. You can’t disappear into the crowd in the hallway either. So, it makes commitment of any sort all that more meaningful to me — every word I say and every deed I do, or do not do, at UUP has a direct impact on all of us, and I can see that directly. At the same time, there is so much warmth and understanding of the human condition here — real compassion in a world that often forgets the meaning of that word — that there is no room for either ecclesiastical guilt or group-think here either. It was OK that I had to table some of my involvement to take care of sick children or juggle a family work schedule. Everyone at UUP is glad to see you when you can come. And when you are asked to serve in some capacity, it is a gift to do so. Here is an example:

When David Dodd first asked me to sing and we found a good piece for a service, I discovered that the old performing nerves were melting away from the love of being here, with you, sharing the joy or beauty or sadness or thoughtfulness of the music. I learned to love to sing for others again. Every time I am able to sing for you, I receive a gift from you — the congregation. Your warmth and kindness, your love of the music, your smiles and sometimes tears are the best appreciation I can receive.

When my children happily joined Marlene and Sharon, making new friends of all ages, I was so pleased. Because I remember my “church friends” and how important they became to me, even if we only saw each other once a week, especially at the most troubling and troublesome periods of adolescence. This is the safe place for youth to ask and ponder those difficult questions about what it means to be human when they want an arena apart from their parents. I still keep in touch with some of my old “church friends” and my old Sunday School teacher, too. And then came the day that I heard Powell and Ava quietly singing in the back of the car, “God is Love, and whoever abides in love, abides in God,” — the song Sharon taught them. They could feel and understand that expression, and have a comfortable, surprisingly complex conversation with me about whether there really is a God, does it matter, and what does that mean, anyway? Phew. This was a wonderful gift to our family.

A couple of months ago, I spoke about the Stone Soup Sunday that we attended before becoming members, and that unique first moment where all the joy and love and perhaps sadness of the holidays coalesced in our always incredibly tasty meal, which we shared on a rainy Sunday afternoon with a homeless man taking shelter on our steps. Devan and I turned to each other that day and said, “we have to become a part of this and support it. UUP is important for our community to have and we can’t imagine not having this place in our lives anymore.”

So we signed the book and made our first financial commitment to UUP. And every year the kids get older, their grandparents get older, and we two encounter new chapters in our lives, we find ourselves turning more and more to UUP and the words, thoughts, deeds and people of this congregation. We’ve dealt with death in the family, and there was Meredith’s Day of the Dead service, truly one of the most compassionate, lovely, meaningful Unitarian services I have ever been a part of. That tradition helped our family talk about other deaths later on when my children were part of their great-grandmother’s memorial service and when they felt the stress of their mother through their grandfather’s heart surgery. We’ve shared in the collective joy of our drumming circle, enthusiastically letting our pagan selves emerge and seeing with delight that same glint in the eye of those sharing our circle — no matter what the age. We’ve been inspired by the words of members who have shared their spiritual journey to UUP in “This I believe” sermons, often provoking conversation on our darkened porch or living room couch late at night. And I will forever thank T for introducing me to a greater appreciation for Rumi. These few encounters and more than I could list here have enriched our lives so much — you are all a part of this great gift.

A little less than a year ago now, I became a board member. This was daunting to me as I had never held that position before in any congregation and wondered if I had enough to offer. But whatever skills or new energy I may be bringing to the table, I have learned ten times more from the individuals I am coming to know and understand a bit. Meetings are not always easy, but rarely have I ever been part of a group where our individual foibles, rather than being criticized or judged, are reflected over in a serious compassionate manner. We try to help each other in whatever way we can. We appreciate each other’s strengths and gifts and encourage the best in us in a quiet way. For the short time I was on the R.E. Committee I felt that same aura there. Maybe this trait is one of the unifying factors of a Unitarian Universalist community that makes us the unique liberal religion we are. But I think it has something to do with the personal makeup of this congregation that makes UUP unique unto itself as well.

And now we are here in the Spring of 2009 — some eight years from those first conversations about creating UUP. We have 72 members of our congregation and a population of children that many UU congregations marvel at. We have started to move beyond our “share the plate” Sunday efforts to positively affect our community through various activities like the Carbon Ring Circles and most particularly, the new Social Responsibility Committee — a fast-growing and highly desired step by the majority of the congregation. Our Visioning Sunday and follow-up survey revealed several wishes for UUP that were shared by most of us. First and foremost the desire to have a permanent ministerial presence, either quarter-time or half-time to start, followed by two close seconds for a building of our own, and an expanded social responsibility committee with heavier involvement in bettering our community and world. As always, R.E. programs play an important role to many of us, not just for youth, but for adults as well. You have all probably seen the email of this past Wednesday with our survey results, but I’d like to leave you with a few comments, some from the survey and some from the Visioning Sunday as we end our service here today — these are by no means complete:

On Worship:
# More intercultural experiences — perhaps a youth intercultural exchange program
# A good Humor Sunday, with personal stories that are happy or humorous.
# We need animals in the service, more music, more dancing, more hugs
# More delving into other religious thought — such as Shinto, Buddhism, Taoism
# Teens comfortable participating regularly as part of the main service
# A child’s sermon or comment on the weekly UUP sermon topic

On Community:
# An active Social Responsibility Committee
# A supportive Caring Committee
# More diversity in our UUP congregation
# A letter-writing group for social action
# Support for each other outside of UUP at other events and life moments
# Co-layman counselors and advisors available when individuals need to talk and have support
# A community garden for the hungry

On a Minister:
# A minister with a prophetic voice and a vision of justice, love and intellect
# A minister who works well with the worship committee, several of whom are studying to become ministers
# A minister who plays a lead role in the community
# A minister assisting lay leaders in providing ongoing adult RE classes
# A pastoral presence that supports and nurtures our work and challenges us to new vistas.
# And finally, please remember that a minister cannot solve all problems or make everything at UUP right — that is up to us.

Now, these are only a few comments and suggestions, but they are yours. As we conclude, please take your vision for UUP and help make it a reality through your financial commitment and the sharing of your time and talents with us — let’s Spring Forward together to create our UUP that will grow with us and help us grow. Become a greater part of our community, warm yourself at our chalice, relight it at home and bring it back with you shining brighter with the light we all have and see the glow of our congregational presence spread warmly throughout our community.