Dear Ones,
Tomorrow is the third anniversary of my Installation as your minister here at UUFM. Back in April 2019, I had just returned from a First Year Ministers Retreat in Boston, welcomed by all the loving preparation that members of the congregation had underway for our big day. The choir was rehearsing favorite songs and hymns. My daughter and husband were arriving to sing and to celebrate. My dear friend and mentor the Rev. Joel Miller had the sermon well in hand. So many UU and other clergy from Mankato and Minneapolis/St. Paul were converging on our building. April 14, 2019 was a glorious day of spiritual commitment and spirited celebration. Friends told me how the building veritably buzzed with excitement. I was so overwhelmed with the moment that I utterly flubbed by benediction.

Little did we know that after a happy year of getting to know each other and agreeing that we were, indeed, a match, that after 10 more months of working to bring into reality the future we had begun to imagine, that the pandemic would shake all our plans and even some of our foundations. Those foundations did shake, but they are strong and they have not buckled. We move together with common purpose and a spirit of loving companionship. And so we continue, less sure of what the future holds, though isn’t that really always the way, but more sure than ever that nothing will prevent UUFM from building a future of care and liberation. May you be awake to the shaking loose old possibilities and making new ones, as you remember that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so, and may it be so.

Blessings, Rev. Rita