UU Asheville Weekly Message

Last month I attended a workshop on reparations at the YWCA sponsored by the Racial Justice Coalition. I learned a lot I did not know about the reparations process in Asheville and the history of reparations in the US and abroad. Did you know that in 1862 President...

The speed limit in our new neighborhood is 15 miles per hour. Now, this is not a limit set by some distant bureaucracy; this is a very intentional choice of the close-knit neighborhood tucked in these quiet mountain woods. It sets the expectation that as you enter,...

  In September 2017, Hurricane Irma hit South Florida. My son Taber ~ who was 6 years old at the time ~ and I drove to Asheville. I had been invited to speak here ~ to lead a workshop on Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss. Little did we know that a weekend workshop...

I’ve been taking the summer off from church.  Well, maybe not completely – I’ve partaken in a few services, had two Board meetings, and dealt with an issue or two that popped up during this time of relaxation.  Nothing major, though.  From my perspective, this past...

It’s Summertime. That means a new church year will begin soon. What does that mean? For one thing, our growing family of new members are working to get to know us. And our new minister has about 450 new Best Friends to get to know! Not easy for anyone knew getting...

This past week, The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) hosted the 62nd General Assembly (GA) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a first-timer to GA, I was dazzled to see thousands of Unitarian Universalists coming together, in the City of Bridges, to conduct their...

June has been the month to express gratitude.  As the final school bus passed my house on a recent June afternoon, I silently thanked the teachers who made me…those teachers who made me think, who pushed me to do better than I thought I could, who showed kindness to...

Thank you! A highlight of this year has been the vote to adopt the 8th Principle at UU Asheville. Post-vote, our journey continues. Maybe it is more of a trek: arduous and often slow, as we work together to co-create Beloved Community within and beyond these four...

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...