A lot of good news came out of our Stewardship Workshop Weekend. Participants (and maybe you, too?) feel great gratitude for the community and the values they find at UUFM. And at the same time, participants (and maybe you, too?) feel a sense of loss for what is changed and perhaps can never be changed back. Still, participants (and maybe you, too!) feel that we have goodness to sustain us and to offer to the wider community. And so, we do not need to feed our anxiety. We do need to acknowledge and mourn our losses. And, to calm and humility, we can and we must move ourselves forward—Cadvancing our values, building our community, providing care and companionship to each other in a strange new world. We can and we must, because we know that Unitarian Universalism is a saving way, and there are so many in our world who need us and can grow us even better and stronger. May you remember that you are part of this story, part of the writing of this story, as you remember also, today and every day: that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so, and may it be so.

With blessings and warmest wishes, Rev. Rita