UUFD Newsletter, September 2022

September 2022

September Services

We are now meeting in person as well as online! We continue to use established protocols on masking, distancing and vaccination. To join a Zoom worship, look for the link on the UUFD website.

THEME: Belonging

September 4

My Story

UUFD Members Dell Manners and Robert Bogner describe their spiritual/religious journey which brought them to our congregation today.

September 11

"Coming Back, Writing New Stories”

~Rev. Barbara Coeyman

As we celebrate the start of a new church year, on this “In-Gathering” Sunday, we remember past stories of belonging and new stories of looking ahead in our personal lives and in this community of liberal faith. In this annual ceremony of the water communion, let us re-unite in body and spirit as we share waters which symbolize the past and the future. This is a multi-generational service: the children will remain in the sanctuary the entire worship time.

September 18

“Grounding Ourselves in Everyday Spiritual Practice”

~Rev. Barbara Coeyman

“Spirituality” is wide-ranging in meaning and practice. I experience “spirituality” as “connections” of several types, which are strengthened through regular spiritual practice. Unitarian Universalist minister Scott Alexander encourages “Everyday Spiritual Practice.” How might Rev. Alexander’s ideas enhance personal and congregational connections for you? “Spirituality” is the first of three grounding themes I offer for this interim ministry.

September 25

“Deeds, Not Creeds: Walking Together in Covenant”

~Rev. Barbara Coeyman

The free faith of Unitarian Universalism is grounded not on common beliefs but on common covenants: our promises for creating compassionate, loving relationships with one another. The centuries-long history of covenants affirms their importance in today’s world challenged by extreme partisanship, on-going pandemic, and worldwide environmental threats. Today let’s examine the meaning, practice, and importance of “covenant,” our second grounding theme.

A Message from Rev. Barbara

Dear Members and Friends of UUFD,

Thank you so much for the warm welcome on my arrival in Durango in early August. Your supportive outreach, coupled with the incredible geography here in southwest Colorado, have indeed made this a very welcoming and inspiring transition after my drive across the country

from my home in Lancaster, PA and the interim ministry I just concluded in Muncie, IN. Indeed, you are a supportive community, from helping me learn the “ropes” of ministry here at UUFD to unpacking the moving van and book boxes. This is my second ministry in Colorado: a decade ago I served Columbine UU in Littleton. Such a beautiful state, so many opportunities for hiking and skiing and other outdoor activities which feed my body and spirit.

It was lovely to meet many of you during the opening reception on Sunday August 21, sponsored

by the UUFD Transition Team --- Tom Miller, Sherrod Beall, Becky Malecki, Julie Jordon. By

the time this newsletter is published, I will also have come to know many of you more deeply

during our small-group “Meet and Greet” conversations (see special Eblast of August 29). If you

missed the first round of “Meet and Greets,” stay tuned: we hope to offer more in mid-

September.

Interim ministry marks a time in congregational life in between settled ministries when

congregations are invited to assess who you are and where you want to go in the future. My role

is to help guide, assist, support, and mentor the identity formation and visioning which are core

to transitioning. Additionally, I bring leadership in the ministerial responsibilities common to

virtually all mid-size congregations such as worship, pastoral care, and administration and

staffing supervision. This is my eighth interim. I hope that my experiences in this specialized

ministry, and other parts of me as musician, historian, and facilitator of spiritual practice, will

offer supportive and expansive perspectives on congregational life at UUFD. As I have said to

many of you, I invite you to take advantage of my new eyes and ears on building use, published

documents, interpersonal habits and more through the perspective of a newcomer.

Let me forecast some of the transitioning activities and projects for which I will he in shared

ministry with you in the coming months. I encourage you, to the extent possible, to participate in

as many of these activities as life provides time for. After social time on Sunday September 11 --

- “In-Gathering Sunday” with the traditional water ceremony --- I will lead a one-hour

Transitioning Forum to introduce some of the projects and principles of interim ministry.

Sometime later in September the Board and I will meet in retreat to continue to define this

interim period. On Saturday October 1, I will offer a Worship Workshop, not unique to an

interim period but to include discussion of new ideas for worship supportive of transitioning. In

November, in collaboration with Congregational Life Staff from the UUA Pacific Western

Region, we will hold a Start-Up Workshop: that is, a covenanting conversation between the

minister and UUFD leadership. Later in the fall, stay tuned for information about a History

Timelines project. Indeed, interim ministry is a busy time.

UUFD has intentionally chosen to pursue interim ministry. I’m sure everyone realizes that this

unique time in congregational life is not the only transition we are experiencing right now. These

past two -plus-years have been a time like no other in our personal and professional lives as well in church life. We are still emerging from pandemic, which we hope will not rear its ugly head again as intensely as before. Life has been forever changed. I urge everyone to keep our sites on

going forward, into new ventures, new futures, new possibilities, into futures we perhaps cannot yet even begin to imagine. Let’s continue to be inspired by the message of “possibilities”

expressed by the UUFD children and youth in worship on August 28. The word “liminal” comes

up a lot these days to describe these “in-between” times we are. Life will never be as it used to

be, as we prepare to venture forth into a yet-to-be-defined future. I encourage all of us to be

gentle on ourselves, as a religious community and in personal and professional lives.

Relationships will be forever different. I can’t emphasize enough my mantra that as UUFD

moves forward in interim ministry, we do so “Well, Not Quickly.” I hope my time with you

exemplifies values of transparency through open and honest communications of both heart and

head which are fundamental to the meaning of ministry for me.

This is the first time that many individuals in this congregation and UUFD as a community have experienced interim ministry. I look forward to walking together in covenant with each of you, trusting and supporting one another as we move forward into new futures, new possibilities for free faith in our personal lives and in this region of Southwest Colorado!

See you in Church!

Rev. Barbara

Message from the UUFD Board President

Hello fellow UUFD members and friends,

In August we welcomed Rev Barbara Coeyman as our new Interim Minister. This is the start of an exciting time for UUFD! We will learn a lot together about ourselves and the value of our UU philosophy and community. As we travel together over the coming year, there will be an assortment

of activities that will require volunteers to accomplish. Volunteerism is the practice of providing time and skills for the benefit of other people and causes rather than for financial benefit. To do something solely for the benefit of others can be a source of great satisfaction, perhaps the source of greatest satisfaction.

Some of these activities include:

Our 2017 Strategic Plan review: Our current 5 year Strategic Plan will need reviewing to determine what we accomplished, and what we did not accomplish and why.
Our Vision: We need to determine “What do we want UUFD to BE in 5 years?” This is distinct
from our Mission, “What do we DO”. Our Vision is a guide to which direction we want to proceed
as a congregation.
The next 5 year Strategic Plan: This will involve updating the Strategic Plan for the next five
years to reflect how we want to achieve our Mission and our Vision.
Our ministerial transition: We will be moving through our ministerial transition, with Rev
Barbara’s guidance, to determine what characteristics we will seek in our next settled Minister.
Growth in our Congregation: Growth is needed to provide more volunteers to help achieve our Mission. Growth is also needed to bolster our pledge base to provide the resources to achieve our mission. Existing and new activities to welcome new members into our Congregation will be important!
Activities to support our Mission: In addition to the existing activities of producing Sunday services and the various Committees and Teams, our reinvigorated Faith Formation program will be starting activities including:

o A weekly Youth Group beginning in the Fall

o New Covenant Group(s) for adults in the Fall

o An OWL class for middle school students beginning in January

o An “open to the public” seminar on “Parenting in Traumatic Times”

co-sponsored with the Social Responsibility and Justice Teams

Yes, we are entering an exciting time at UUFD! I encourage you to join your fellow UUFD volunteers to see what we can accomplish together! It is also a great way to get to know your fellow members

and build community!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about Board activity, please email me or give me a call or attend a Town Hall meeting. I really want to hear from you!

With gratitude to all of my fellow UU members and friends,

John Redemske

Love courageously. Inspire spiritual growth. Work for justice.

‌

FAMILY MINISTRY AND FAITH FORMATION NEWS

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to one another.” ~ Mother Teresa

Autumn. If you’re at all like me, summer has zipped by so fast, you’re not quite ready for kids to be back in school or the approach of sweater weather. Autumn brings with it is own energy, as well, of more regular routines, reconnecting with friends we haven’t seen over the summer, and embarking on new projects. New projects are underway from the Faith Formation team.

Children and Youth

The Pride Parade

One of the first events of autumn is the Pride Parade sponsored by The Four Corners Alliance for

Diversity on September 10 at 2 p.m. Our fellowship is participating with a float, and there are

two opportunities for our children and youth to be involved.

The first is assisting with the build on September 6, 5p.m. at John Redemske’s home; many

hands make the workload lighter, plus being a fun time to be with one another in service.

The second opportunity is to ride the float on September 10. Those wanting to ride should plan

to be at the parade start (details coming soon) at 1:30.

If you have questions or want to participate, please call Harrison Wendt at 970-508-0040.

The Fall Festival

A second big autumn event is the Fall Festival that will be held at John Redemske’s home on

October 2 immediately following church service (noon to 4 p.m.). With all that “festival” infers,

there will be food, fun, and frolicking for our children and youth. We will be sending an email

or text to parents a couple of weeks before so we can make sure that we can order adequate food

and supplies. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please call Harrison Wendt at 970-

508-0040.

Youth Group

We hope to have the first get together for the Youth Group in October. Watch for that

announcement. For more information, reach out to Harrison Wendt at [email protected].

Adult Faith Development Opportunities

We are compiling the information from the recent Faith Formation survey to determine

upcoming learning opportunities are of interest. We plan to begin offering classes and

workshops in October. Watch for that announcement. If you did not receive the survey and

want to participate in it or if you need more information, please reach out to Sharon Mignerey

([email protected]).

We are in the process of launching new covenant groups and finding openings within existing

groups for anyone interested in participating. The faith formation team is committed to

providing support and, where needed, guidance to get these going this fall. If you have not heard

from us or if you have questions, please reach out to Sharon Mignerey

([email protected]).

Personal Faith Development

Over the next year, Faith Formation will be using the Soul Matters Sharing Circles themes to

guide our activities each month. The theme for September is Belonging. As one way of

deepening connections within yourself and your family, we invite you to consider these aspects

of belonging.

Discuss with your family the following quote inspired by Chief Seattle: “This we know:

the earth does not belong to us; we belong to the earth. All things are connected like the

blood that unites us all. We did not weave the web of life; we are merely strands in it.

Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.”

Meditate then journal about the following quote from John O’Donohue (Irish poet and

philosopher): The word 'belonging' holds together the two fundamental aspects of life: Being and Longing, the longing of our Being and the being of our Longing.

In closing: “Choose to focus your time, energy and conversation around people who inspire you, support you and help you to grow you into your happiest, strongest, wisest self.”

~Karen Salmansohn, author of Think Happy.

Submitted,

Sharon Mignerey and Harrison Wendt

The UUFD COVID-19 Advisory Team Needs New Members

1. Need: The COVID-19 Advisory Team (“Team”) is seeking one or two new members to replace anticipated resignations.

2. Charge: The Team keeps the Board and other key leaders up to date on the risk of COVID-19 transmission related to gatherings in indoor Church spaces. The Team reviews community epidemic activity weekly and recommends measures to hold transmission risk below pre-defined thresholds. The Team also considers the risk of bad COVID-19 outcomes for our people, such as severe disease and prolonged debilitation (“long COVID”). The Team meets weekly to stay abreast of the rapidly changing COVID landscape. The Board draws heavily on Team updates in generating COVID-19 Policy as a part of its risk management responsibility.

3. Qualifications:

a. Background in science and/or health care, including comfort with evaluating data.

b. Interest in the subject.

c. Ability to stay focused on data rather than sentiment.

d. Awareness and respect for Unitarian Universalist values.

e. Availability.

i. The weekly meeting schedule and volume of source material can be challenging.

ii. We usually report at monthly UUFD Board meetings.

f. Adherence to our Team Covenant.

4. If you are interested or need more information, contact Graham Smith (505-320-5928; [email protected]) or Nancy Fisher (541-326-6255; [email protected]).

Environmental Justice Team Update

Highlights from the Summer Series on the Environmental Crisis

For those who may have been travelling and those who would like a reminder, here are some of the suggestions for environmentally healthy actions that were raised in one or more of the homilies this

Summer. Thanks again to Dick White, Heidi Steltzer, Stephen Guy, Mary Ocken and Darcy Hitchcock for all their contributions.

*Eat more legumes

*Buy green power

*Buy carbon offsets (Try the 4CORE Carbon Offset Fund)

*Invest your money in banks that support sustainability industries

*Talk to other people about environmental concerns and the actions you are taking – you might find

more commonality than you think

* Support solar

* Pay attention

* Refuse. rethink, reduce, repair, refurbish, repurpose, reuse, recycle

And probably where you might have the most impact on an individual level

* Engage in local and national political action

* Call and write to our congressional representatives about environmentally healthy decisions

* Vote for political leaders who value and support fighting climate change

DURANGO PRIDE PARADE -

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 10th!

The UUFD LGBTQIA+ Social Justice Team invites everyone in the congregation to join the fun on Saturday, September 10th for Durango Pride! The parade begins at 2:00 pm at the train station and proceeds to Buckley Park. Wear your yellow t-shirts and/or rainbow pride attire and lets celebrate!

Children and youth who would like to ride on the UUFD float, contact Harrison Wendt

[email protected].

If you'd like to help decorate the UUFD parade float, come to John Redemske’s at 5:00 p.m. on September 6. To staff the UUFD booth at the festival in the park for a shift between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Sept. 10th , contact Team Lead Robert Bridges at [email protected]