Minister's Message

A message from UUFD Minister Rev. Jamie Boyce

Dear Members and Friends,

This month, our congregational theme is “living love through the practice of JOY”! What

a powerful time to embrace this theme, to recognize how our personal and collective joy

nourishes and transforms our spirits, our communities and our world. We need joy now

more than ever to bring balance to our lives, to soothe our hurting hearts, to remind us

how magnificent it is to be alive. Mary Oliver, in her poem “Invitation”, reflects on the

joyful song of the goldfinches and begs us to stop and listen. She reminds us, should

we refuse to pause:

“It is a serious thing, just to be alive, on this fresh morning, in this broken world.”

To celebrate the song of the goldfinch is to celebrate life, to amplify the healing, restorative power of joy. This month we will welcome joy into our lives and explore joy as a portal for our collective flourishing, healing, and transformation.

You will notice I have a new email signature. You can now schedule time with me using an online tool called Calendly. Clicking on this link will give you access to my calendar and allow you to quickly, and easily, find a time that works for both of us.



https://calendly.com/minister-durangouu

In addition, I have updated my email signature and Breeze profile to include my cell phone number. Please feel free to reach out to me on my cell phone Tuesday – Sunday.

In faith and love,

Rev. Jamie

President's Message

A message from Board President Tim Miller

As I write this note during the last week of March, I’m looking forward to some broad-based, robust engagement at the Multi-Use Hall Visioning Workshop this coming weekend (OK, 2 days ago as you read this). I hope everyone brought their imaginative selves to envision all the ways an improved fellowship/multi-use space would enhance the experiences of our members and friends, raise our profile and impact in the surrounding area, and diversify our revenue streams with new rental income. The Visioning Workshop was the second step in this assessment process. Later this spring, the next step is to assemble a task force to hire an architect to produce drawings that bring our collective vision into more tangible focus.

I’d like to thank the members of the Congregational Covenant Committee (CCC) for their excellent work over the past year, composing a draft Congregational Covenant, the first in our fellowship’s almost 60-year history. Thanks also to everyone who participated in the recent listening circles that will guide the CCC’s refinement of this

Loving Care covenant. In these incredibly challenging times for our national governance and mood, we are on the cusp of adopting the words that guide nothing less than how we are with each other.

In the next few weeks, with guidance from Mike Trefry’s Building and Grounds Committee, the Board hopes to build a punch list of Spring Forward projects for our semi-handy and enthusiastic members to undertake as the weather warms up. In addition to prepping gardens for their annual awesomeness, these include sanding and

staining the stairs and decks in the front and back of Bowman, painting the sanctuary’s very bright heat pump duct work and touching up its wood trim, installing some new backyard fencing at Columbine, and….I better stop there until I take Mike’s pulse!

We still need to receive pledge cards for the upcoming church year from more than 20 households. While a majority of the early pledgers have increased their financial support, we’ll need to finish strong to overcome the effects of two years of inflation and reach our campaign’s $320,000 target.

Wanted: Your Reactions to Draft Congregational Covenant

Covenant is an agreement among members which frames how we desire to live in community together. It outlines how we co-create an environment of support and trust, how we approach conflict, what we promise to do when behavior that is outside covenant emerges, or when we hit the rough edges of our relationships. We have been working toward building a new Congregational Covenant for several years.

Based on the work of the January 2024 Congregational retreat facilitated by Rev. Sarah Millspaugh, an ad hoc Congregational Covenant Committee (CCC) - made up of Aline Schwob, Brenda Huffman, Mary Ocken, Beth Connors, and Tom Miller - created a draft that was initially presented to the Congregation at the reflection period after the March 2 Sunday service.

At the May 18 Congregational meeting we will, as a congregation, formally decide to adopt a new Congregational Covenant. You can see the proposed draft here. In this folder, you will also see three other documents that fully describe the extent of the covenant:

• The Relational Affirmation (formerly titled Relational Covenant), which the HCC created based on the affirmation we say each Sunday
• The Policy and Procedures steps the HCC uses when called in to assist in working through a violation of covenant
• A graphic that shows the relationships among these levels of Covenant.

Given that the Congregational Covenant, when agreed to, fully defines the promise we make to each other of how to live together in this community of faith, we all need to be familiar with it and have a say in its creation. The CCC has

offered listening sessions before and after church and on Zoom for those who want to provide feedback. If you were unable to attend one of those sessions and have feedback you would like to share, any member of the CCC would be glad to hear your thoughts.

New Affinity Group!

Welcome to Bhakti Yoga: The Path of the Heart 

(mantra chanting/Kirtan practice, no traditional yoga involved)

Would you like to get together to chant, meditate, and inspire each other? The practice of Bhakti yoga helps us cultivate love and reverence for the universal spirit that lives around and within us. Through practices like mantra chanting and meditation, we can go through difficult times with more love, trust, and faith in the eternal.

No specific teacher, path, or religion is promoted.  We chant Sanskrit mantras, practice meditating together, and do some healing work for ourselves, each other, and our planet.

To learn more about this free event, please reach out to Allison Andersen at allisonindurango@aol.com for logistics and Anna Pool (anna@executivesavvyinc.com) for content. We are seeking musicians (drummers, guitar players, keyboards) to join as well.

Meet at UUFD starting Thursday, April 3rd at 6:30 and monthly from now on. Please RSVP with your interest, and we'll start a group email to inform you of future/other events.  

Allison & Anna

April News from Faith Formation

It’s easy to believe Joy isn’t strategic when you’ve never had to use it in battle…Joy keeps spirits strong. Joy keeps soldiers marching. Joy sees hope in darkness… Joy makes you keep working for the yes after a million no’s.  Brittany Packnett

Joy can be as exuberant as a child embracing a favorite person or activity or as quiet as a sunrise creeping over one of our beautiful mountains.  Finding joy and making it part of daily practice is particularly important during this era of upheaval.  Look for the joy and embrace it, like that first crocus peeking through the lawn or a puppy bouncing through life just for the pleasure of it.  

Faith Formation for Kids

A youth group (consisting of UUFD Middle Schoolers).   UUFD has been launched, and as you can see from the poster, it’s a busy spring between now and the first Sunday in May.  It began with movie night last Friday.  In April, there will be bowling and putt-putt golf.  On May 3, Rev. Jamie - along with chaperones Becca Trefry and  Mike Foster - will lead the youth to the culminating event, Meow Wolf, in Santa Fe, where they will spend the night, attend service at the Santa Fe UU Church, and return home.  

As many of you know, getting a youth group re-established has been a goal since the end of the Covid Pandemic.  And hooray, we are finally here!

Families!  If you have not been contacted for your middle school child to participate, please contact Sharon Mignerey, Coordinator of Faith Formation at faithform@durangouu.org.

OWL News

OWL for the elementary grades is in session with 5 UUFD kids.  This is being led by Nikki Bauer and Megan Dugan.  If you have questions about this OWL session, please reach out to one of them.

RAD Summer Is Returning

Last year, Faith Formation copied the adult UUFD practice of a summer series that we call RAD—Recreation and Donuts.  We are in the process of contacting people who have already indicated an interest in playing with the kids during one of the Sunday Summer Sessions. 

If you have a skill or aptitude you’d like to share with the kids from playing on an impromptu water slide to music to art, please contact Sharon Mignerey. 

Faith Formation for Adults

A Soul Matters group has formed for families, utilizing materials (especially developed for families) that help generate fun activities and conversation.  If you’d like to see a packet of the materials to see what it’s about or to become a member of this group, please reach out to Becca Trefry.  

If you’re a creative who likes the Soul Matters idea but want a more hands-on interactive experience, Creative Matters may be the perfect thing for you.  For a sample packet or to join, please reach out to Sharon Mignerey, Coordinator of Faith Formation.

Personal Faith Development – April: Finding the Joy 

For many, the current upheaval in our society makes finding the joy harder or perhaps seem frivolous.  In fact, finding joy and making space for it has never been more important.  

Journaling, whether in your favorite art medium or in writing, is one way to embrace a concept; in this case, joy.  

• What gives you joy that others in your family hate?
• What is your THIRD (yep, not first or second, but third!) way to welcome joy?
• What makes you belly laugh (hint: go find some of that)?
• How can you embrace the ridiculous (such as creating a census of all the squirrels or deer in your neighborhood)?
• Make a list of all the Good you have in your life, no matter how small it is, focusing on each item.  

In closing, “We must reclaim joy outside of the artificial 'cheer' it is often reduced to. There is a joy that is defiant. A portal to survival for our ancestors. A way to say, we will not be captive to despair nor abandon our belief in beauty. Joy with teeth.”  ~ Cole Arthur Riley

Social Justice & Responsibility Team News

4CORE Recognizes our Environmental Justice Team!

Green Business Impact Spotlight: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango

This month, 4CORE would like to highlight one of our latest green businesses, The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango (UUFD).

A Faith-Driven Journey to Sustainability

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango (UUFD) is a Bronze-certified Green Business committed to sustainability through ongoing learning, community engagement, and action.

Their journey began with solar power, expanding over time to include energy-efficient upgrades and educational outreach to their congregation. A 2019 energy audit led to the installation of 15 solar panels in the church and additional panels in an adjacent building, cutting energy costs and reducing carbon emissions. They later added EV charging stations, further supporting clean energy adoption.

In 2024, UUFD took a significant step toward fossil-free energy by replacing outdated heating systems with two 5-ton heat pumps and a 3-ton mini-split, eliminating natural gas use and significantly improving energy efficiency.

With a vision for a net-zero future, they continue to educate their members and explore new ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Their sustainability journey demonstrates that every step counts in creating a greener community.

Why protest?  How does that make any difference?

As protest marches and rallies increase across our country, these questions have come from some quarters.  How does just showing up with signs and protest songs make any difference with all that is happening in America?

Good questions, and there are some answers!   Here’s what some political observers and commentators/organizations have to say...

Robert Hubbell: “The protests are succeeding because they are re-writing the political narrative...Protests help provide legitimacy and authority to court rulings.  Most importantly, they inspire more Americans to speak out and join the protests.”

Rebecca Solnit: speaking about the upcoming April 5 national day of protest, “These events matter, as demonstrations of widespread opposition to the government (both those who should represent us and those who are trying to strip away our right to representation), and to the public and the media.”

American Civil Liberties Union: “Disruptive protests draw attention to crucial issues that might otherwise be ignored and elevate them as topics worthy of an urgent response by those in power.  As they do this, they polarize the public by compelling undecided observers to choose which side they are on.”

Anti-Defamation League: “There are a variety of potential goals for a protest: influence public opinion, draw attention to and share information about a perceived injustice, gain a wide audience for the cause, push public policy or legislation forward, learn more about an issue, connect with others who feel passionate about the issue, speak one's truth and bear witness. Protests can also provide inspiration and a sense of being part of a larger movement. The overarching purpose of protests is to demand change.”

Hope this inspires you to know that you can make difference by showing up!  You are encouraged to show up for the next big opportunity to demand change, demonstrate the strength of opposition to current government actions, and join your voice with others across our nation to say HANDS OFF! with the current actions of Musk and the Trump administration destroying our institutions and flaunting the rule of law:  April 5, BUCKLEY PARK at 1:00 pm...the rally begins.  Bring signs, wear your yellow Love tee-shirt or Democracy tee-shirt, and make noise!

Help Wanted! -for the Summer Series

Every year we have a Summer Series, as our Minister takes time off to refuel and renew for the coming congregational year. This series typically includes members from our congregation, as well as speakers from the larger community.  This summer, our Worship Team is collaborating on an idea, sparked by a seed from a question during a picnic last autumn: “Wouldn’t it be great to learn more about what the various religions represent in our windows?”  We see these windows every week, but what do they mean?  If we are inclusive and welcoming all… it behooves us to learn more about these various faith traditions.

With that in mind, we are seeking speakers for a 9-part Summer Series (June 29-Aug 31) that will focus one Sunday on each of the nine faiths represented in our windows: 

·        Star and Crescent – Islamic

·        Humanist symbol

·        Dharma Wheel - Buddhism

·        Goddess worship

·        Christian cross

·        Yin Yang - Taoism

·        Om – the Upanishads - Hinduism

·        Jewish Star of David

·        Medicine Wheel – Native American

If you are interested in possibly speaking OR have connections with a potential speaker (who is a practicing member or leader of one of these various faith traditions), please contact us. We need your ideas, and please help us spread the word. You can send your interest, ideas, and /or connections to Mary Ocken, blueboathome@yahoo.com.