UU Asheville Weekly Message

Interim Ministry is an important and challenging time for a Congregation. Add the challenges of the COVID pandemic and the unexpected and heartbreaking news of the passing of Rev. Mark Ward and you have a real test of a Congregation and Interim Minister. As we look...

As our time together is growing short, I wanted to pause and say thank you to all of you for the courageous way you have embraced the challenge of loss, change, and transition. As I reflect on the past two years, I feel it is nothing short of remarkable the way you...

Last week as I was working with Jen Johnson to complete the Religious Exploration section of our Annual Report, I couldn’t help but marvel at everything we have managed to make happen in Religious Exploration this year. Hopefully, you were able to catch the Faith...

  We are overjoyed with the outcome of the congregational vote and absolutely thrilled to call Rev. Audette to be our lead minister.  As many of you know, we have experienced several technical difficulties over the past few weeks as the new staff learns our AV and...

Here we are amidst candidating week, entering a very exciting time for UU Asheville. If I can’t think of anything to write about, I guess that’s on me!  I was thinking of a few different topics.  I’m not aware of any hard rules dictating the content of this blog, so I...

Dear ones, With heavy hearts we watched yet another school shooting unfold that resulted in the slaughter of six people, three were 9-year-old children. Once again, cowardly lawmakers refuse to do the right thing and pass laws that will protect our nation’s children....

My childhood could be described as a series of obsessive fascinations. I was always in love with and enchanted by something. Sometimes these episodes would last a few weeks and sometimes much longer. A recent walk through the woods took me back to my “ant period." I...

Since September, members of the 8th Principle Team have facilitated 7 learning circles for a total of 35 participants. Participants engaged in thoughtful, candid conversations about what the 8th principle means to them, explored the history of the 8th Principle, and...

I am one of your Ministerial Search Committee members and I am not going to lie. It has been a lot of work! But it’s very satisfying to be doing something so important and I can really feel your heartfelt gratitude towards all of my colleagues on the committee and...

We are very proud of our music program here at UU Asheville. I would hope that we would all agree that music is a vital part of our worship. We are fortunate to have our choir, our own in-house band, The Sandburgers, and a music budget that allows us to bring in guest...

I have been reflecting on change as 2023 gets rolling. Not only the changes in my life, family and work, but in the life of our congregation. Change is always at work in healthy and thriving congregations. Newcomers visit and many join as new members. Some people move...

Connection and Compassion, two of the four goals stated in our core values are front and center at UU Asheville lately as we work towards receiving our new minister and becoming a more welcoming congregation. A new committee, the Care and Connect committee, has been...