Best Retirement Party EVER!

Over 200 congregants had a splendid afternoon bidding farewell to Rev. Mark Ward, our lead minister who retired after 17 years of service to UUCA.

Here’s Mark’s remarks to you, as well as the prayer he wrote for us:

JULY 10 PRAYER

At the center of every gathered community

there is a common hope, a common joy

that is larger than any one person yet encompasses them all.

We experience it as warm heart that centers us,

a tough and tender presence

that directs us to our own seat of compassion

and challenges us to rise above our narrowness and fears,

that offers us a sense of the holy.

I speak to that warm heart today.

 

Dear heart,

There is a welcome energy in our gathering again

after so much time away.

It is reassuring to see familiar faces

and exciting to see new ones,

reminding us that as with all life we are evolving and growing.

 

We stand at a pivot point in this community,

the turning over of leadership,

like the turning over of soil in a garden

that both disrupts and opens up new possibility.

Confessing my own sadness at separating myself from you

so you may best take advantage of this moment,

I still cheer you on as you take on the challenges

of building and sustaining a vibrant liberal faith

that holds before it the vision of beloved community.

 

May you find in this moment the courage and hope

to make of this community not a haven but a crucible

where you might strengthen your spirits and widen your compassion,

where you might deepen your understanding

and feel the spur to the call of justice-making.

 

It is my prayer that the deep joy within you

will join the great hope among you

and inspire you to live into this community of memory and hope,

such that you might bless the world.

 

Rev. Mark Ward, July 10, 2021