I am honored and excited to begin serving this congregation as the Director of Lifespan Faith Development! I have been a member and employee of FUUSB for a decade now, but I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself more fully and share a little bit about my own faith development.
I grew up the child of an atheist and an agnostic, in a family where religious practice was always a choice and never a requirement, belief a matter of personal conviction, not dogma. So while Unitarian Universalism is a natural fit for me, my first “church-home” was with the United Church of Christ.
My mother and I joined Hammond Street Congregational Church, in Bangor, Maine, when I was nine. In confirmation class, I was fascinated by the history of Christianity, with all its schisms and denominations, and introduced to the world’s religions in a way that sparked ongoing curiosity. Later, working on the Mission and Outreach Committee, I was impressed by the powerful ways a liberal faith community can work for justice in the world, while the youth group played a central role in my teen-aged social life. But what has stayed with me the most in the thirty years that have followed, is the complete acceptance, pride, and love in which the adults of that congregation cradled me, as a child, and even more so, as a teen (a too-loud, always-opinionated, strangely-dressed teen). My whole messy self felt welcome there, more than in any other public space I occupied. That memory serves as an example for me of what a faith community can, and should, be for its children, for all of us.
I came to FUUSB, a recent transplant from New York City, when my son Max, was an infant, appreciating the rockers in the back of the sanctuary, the warm welcome for nursing mothers and cooing babes. I started working in our nursery, became Childcare Coordinator, and finally served these last two years as Family Ministry Assistant which has allowed me to deepen my connection with so many of you.
To those that have reached out to me, I am deeply grateful for your support and encouragement. Despite the fact that this is not a career path that I knew myself to be on, it is one that I am now eager to follow. Starting with Faith Development week on Star Island this summer, I plan to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to grow in this role. With the continued input and effort of you, the friends, members and staff of FUUSB, I am confident that we can do great work in faith development for this community in the years to come!
-Erika
