Ministers Musings

​Beloveds,
Well, that was three services together pretty fast. I hope that you enjoyed coming and sharing Sunday mornings with me as much as I have with you. We’ve had a great start to the church year. The Water Communion was a great beginning - it was wonderful to see so many folks in the sanctuary. We had over forty folks attend which seems great to me. I noticed that some folks were bringing guests which is really wonderful for you to introduce people to Unitarian Universalism in general and our church in particular.
I’ve been really glad to be able to meet with some of the existing ministries in the church this month, notably worship and social justice. We even snuck in a meeting of the reconstituted committee on shared ministry before the month was out and I am glad for that. As we grow, I’m sure there will be new leadership roles to take.
We’ve also taken some time to play, specifically go to UNC’s production of She Kills Monsters. If you think of something else social that you’d like our church to participate in as a group, feel free to shoot me an email at minister@greeleyuuc.org. There will be plenty more time for all of us to get to know one another.
The month of October will also be a time for us to “go back to school” as it were. Hopefully you’ve heard (and there still might be some time if you act quick) that I am teaching a Build Your Own Theology class, for folks to really sit down and contemplate exactly what they have faith in and how they want to express their belief system. Also in October, I will be leading the first of several Pathways to Membership classes that orient folks both on the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greeley specifically and Unitarian Universalism more generally. If you’ve been on the fence about joining, or simply want to see what membership might entail, you are most welcome at the class that follows thirty minutes after the service on October 7th. It should run about an hour and a half and is a great way to get to know other folks who are considering joining.
Some folks have taken advantage of my time in the office and I am glad to have shared some conversation with folks one on one. Although I am part time, I still want to make myself available to members of the congregation as much as I can. I will be at church every week. Monday and Tuesday, I’ll normally be in the office and I can meet in the day or evening, but my office hours will be flexible so I spend more time with congregants and partner organizations than sitting alone at a desk. To that end, I am using an online calendaring service that you can schedule as you need: https://calendly.com/revaaron. If there is a church group or partner organization that has a monthly meeting you want me to be aware of you can email me at [email protected].
In the month of October, a month we will explore the theme of responsibility, I will be in the pulpit a couple of times: October 7 and 21. It takes a lot of volunteer hours and effort to pull off Sunday mornings and I am really thankful to everyone who contributes from coffee, to hospitality, to the choir, to A/V and the worship associates. This part of hands on stewardship of our church is really humbling to see. Thank you.
I am excited that we are considering moving away from keeping the service plate and offering it to local non-for-profits, Unitarian Universalist oriented charities and emergency relief groups. When the nomination process begins, I hope that you will consider making a nomination. I believe this act of generosity will not only raise our profile in the community, but it will also come back to us in the form of new interest in being a member of a church with such a unique program. Using our plate in this way will help us to grow of spiritual practice, live more meaningfully, and help heal our world.
Finally, I want to say how excited and appreciative I am to have a donor step forward to help us build on our ongoing financial commitment to the church ministry. As you have likely read elsewhere in the Unifax this month, this is a matching contribution program that means when we as a church collect even more that one dollar more than we did in the previous year, the donor will contribute at a one-for-one matching level. This is a tremendous opportunity for us to grow the church this year, expand our programing potential and amplify our potential voice in the community. I hope you will consider participating.
We are off to a great start this year and exciting stuff is on the horizon. Thank you for contributing your enthusiasm and energy.
 
Yours in Faith and Fellowship,
Rev. Aaron Norris