Missing You Face to Face
Rev. Katie's Animas View
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I am so glad that we have been able to keep up a video contact with each other, and with others, old-fashioned note cards, but I miss those moments when we spoke in between meetings, in the hallway, at the back of the sanctuary, in the kitchen when you were washing a coffee cup. That’s the kind of ministry I like. I love relationships.
When I was in my first year of seminary, I took the class on UU history and polity, and it was taught by the
Rev. Dr. Walter Royal Jones
. Roy made all sorts of ministry connections for me, and I remember at the time feeling like I was in the presence of living history, as he would tell stories, both consequential and trivially fun.
Roy Jones explained what ministry was, and how it worked:
Emerson spoke of the sermon as “life passed through the fire of thought.” But it is not only in sermons that this is so.
When we minister to one another, whether with hallowed words, or with gestures of healing, we can only lead to places we have been. In so doing, we risk the changes that occur when we surrender the secrets of our solitude to the gaze of others.
When others allow us to enter their thoughts and feelings, we must be ready to step carefully, as in a sacred place. We walk with them through the forests of their doubts, the caverns of their anxiety. But also across the meadows of their dreams and the high places of their prayers.
To have these opened to us is a deep act of trust. We can respond only by opening the secrets of our souls as well, vulnerable and tentative. Yet there is strength in this trust, and power in this exchange. And this is what the church is really about.
While we carefully navigate these days of pandemic care and racial learning, maintaining safety between us, love abides.
ALWAYS in the love,
Rev. Katie
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August Services (all services held online)
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August 2
Heed the Results of Science: Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
-Mary Ocken, pulpit guest
Come learn about a brilliant astronomer, the first woman to receive tenure on Harvard’s faculty and also a Sunday school teacher at her Unitarian church.
August 9
Heed the Results of Science: Joseph Priestly
-Sheryl Guy, pulpit guest
The discoverer of oxygen and soda water was not just incidentally a Unitarian.
August 16
Warnings Against Idolatries of the Mind and Spirit
-Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris
We’ll wrap up our summer series with a look at reminders to not venerate the uncertain. What have we learned through our exploration?
August 23
Rooted, Inspired & Ready
-Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris
Our faith is perfectly poised for such a time as this. Let’s take part!
August 30
Question Box
-Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris
What could the minister answer for you? Do you want to ask about life, death, God, history or mundane things? Email your questions so some answers will have a prepared answer, and a few others will be on the fly.
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Compañeros, Four Corners Immigrant Resource Center
Social Responsibility and Justice special feature
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Compañeros
is our Share the Plate recipient for the months of July, August and September. According to their website, it “began in 1999 as a diverse grassroots coalition that formed to block the construction of an immigration detention center in La Plata County.” The coalition was successful in its efforts, and following this became a program of the San Juan Citizens Alliance, a local environmental justice nonprofit, and then became an independent nonprofit organization in 2011. The mission: a grassroots organization dedicated to empowering the immigrant population of the rural Four Corners regions to live fulfilling lives, achieve self-sufficiency, and become active members of society.
Compañeros is the only organization in our region with a primary focus on serving immigrants. They provide bilingual assistance with translating documents, finding service providers, filling out forms, and navigating the immigration or justice system. They provide education about immigrants’ civil and workers’ right under the U.S. Constitution and how they apply to daily life and immigration enforcement. Compañeros also supports their constituents in building networks of leadership and resources to achieve self-sufficiency.
The impact of COVID-19 has been especially hard on immigrant families. Many worked in industries such as restaurants and hospitality and have lost income because of being laid off or hours reduced. In addition, undocumented families are ineligible to receive the $1200
government stimulus checks, despite paying taxes. As a result, assisting families with basic needs has become a priority for Compañeros. To help immigrant families stay afloat, they are diverting funds to purchase boxes of food staples and gift cards to grocery stores or pharmacies to purchase food or medicine. Our donations through Share the Plate will be an important resource for Compañeros as they work with our immigrant community to weather this crisis.
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Introducing new UUFD board members
Click pictures below for biographies
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Five new board members took office on July 1, 2020. We invite you to get to know them. Just click on a picture below for a short biography of each board member.
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Frank Lockwood, President
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K Redford, Vice President
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Rachel Lasiewicz, Treasurer
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John Redemske, Member-at-Large
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Faith Formation News and Notes
Questions asked and answered by Sara Sautter
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So, What’s Up in Faith Formation?
Hello Friends! I am back after a three-week annual leave. Actually, I came to refer to this time as maternity leave! Ron and I welcomed a new puppy into our family. Popeye is a yellow lab and after some initial health problems (the introduction with the cat did not go well) she has settled into being the wild, playful and happy puppy we had hoped for.
Here’s what’s up since I returned…
What’s Going on with Summer Faith Formation?
You know that parents are a child’s primary religious educator. With that in mind, we welcome families to worship together during the summer break by attending our worship services and lighting their family chalices. Following worship, there is a special Break Out Room just for children. Kids can visit, play games and just stay connected with each other.
In July we sent out information to help families create at-home altars. If you did not receive this information and are interested in creating a home altar, please
click here
for our
Creating Sabbath
home resources. This tool from our partners at
Soul Matters
provides step-by-step coaching and reflection readings.
What are the Fall Plans for Faith Formation?
Our commitment to dismantle white supremacy and live into a world where Black Lives Matter begins within our own hearts and at home. I’m looking closely at a new UU curricula called
Raising an Anti-Racist Child
. The lessons are divided into two sections, a preschool to first grade section and a second through fifth grade section. The lessons help children understand racism, slavery, and discrimination in a developmentally appropriate manner.
The four Core Goals of this Anti-Bias program are that each child will:
- Demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities.
- Will express comfort and joy with human diversity; accurate language for human differences; and deep, caring human connections.
- Will increasingly recognize unfairness, have language to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts. Each child will demonstrate empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discrimination.
- Will demonstrate empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discrimination.
Read more about the lessons
here
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How Are You?
I am interested in how you are doing after months of pandemic restrictions, how your children and doing, and how UUFD can help you and your family during these remarkable times. I hope to chat about this with each of you over the next few weeks.
Stay well and healthy. I’ll talk to you soon.
Sara
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UUFD Choir: We Will Sing!
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Our “Diversitones” choir may look different these days - virtual choir “collages” pre-recorded for worship - but we still enjoy singing safely from our own homes, thanks to Zoom video-conferencing. Would you like to join us for the coming season? All are welcome, no matter what your level of choir experience. We will begin online rehearsals on August 19. Please contact Elizabeth at
choir@durangouu.org
or 970-799-0148.
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Board highlights
Quick update from Teresa Jordan, Secretary of the Board
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As of July 21, 2020, here are a few key items that the UUFD board of directors has been working on.
- Recently elected Board officers welcomed by Frank Lockwood, President
- Accepted June Minutes and Membership Report
- Heard report from Rachel Lasiewicz, Treasurer
- Approved Charter for Pandemic Policy Task Force
- Discussed committee chair and task force lead vacancies
- Agreed on schedule for meetings:
- Monthly Board meetings – 4th Tuesday, 4-6pm, All members welcome! (Click Zoom link on the UUFD calendar)
- Deep Chair Conversations – 3rd Tuesday, 4-5pm
- Board Retreat – August 21-22
- Heard Process Observation Report from K Redford, Vice-President
- Planned for requests for reports of Strategic Plan goals
-Teresa Jordan, Secretary
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Contact Us
Newsletter Editor: Shanan Orndorff
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
419 San Juan Drive, Durango, CO 81301
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SUNDAY SERVICE 10 AM
(online until further notice)
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Our mission at UUFD is to:
Provide a home for liberal religion, spiritual exploration and personal growth.
Provide lifespan religious education that draws on multiple sources and explores religious, spiritual, intellectual and ethical questions.
Work toward a community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
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Ministry & Staff
Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris, Minister
Jeanne MacKenzie, Office Administrator
Sara Sautter, Interim Director of Faith Formation
Marilyn Garst, Classical Pianist & Artistic Director for Recital Series
Lawrence Nass, Contemporary Pianist
Elizabeth Crawford, Choir Director
José Duran, Choir Accompanist
Shannon Beaver, Connections Coordinator
Tricia Bayless, Financal Clerk
Caesar Sanchez, Sexton
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Board of Trustees
Frank Lockwood, President
K Redford, Vice President
Teresa Jordan, Secretary
Rev. Katie Kandarian-Morris, ex-officio
Board meetings are held the third Tuesday of each month, 4 - 6 PM (check calendar for changes).
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