This past month the staff attempted to better understand who the congregation is (and who we are not) through data and reflection. We found these numbers to not only be interesting but helpful in thinking about our UUCWC community, our assumptions, relationships, and needs. Current System Our system currently serves 285 Members, 30 Friends,* 46 … Continued
Rev. Kimberly Wildszewski Each year the staff gathers throughout the summer to think wholeheartedly about UUCWC: individual congregants, groups and ministries, anxieties and excitements; the discernment goes on. It is from such conversations that we were able to introduce Faith Forward last year, the Coming into Connection curriculum, and think more critically about the need … Continued
Recently I ended my sermon with an ask to each of you: And so, I ask that in the days and months and year to come, you help me remember all the ways we must be, want to be, faithful. I ask that we keep one another accountable to the faith that too many – … Continued
There is no need to further open the gaping wound that is our heart these days. We need not begin this lamentation in the typical fashion; no need to recite all the atrocities for which we weep or wail. Not all of them. We don’t have time – or breath, or stomach, or imagination for … Continued
I haven’t been to General Assembly in six years. The first time I went was the year I was recognized as a fellowshipped minister. Tara stayed home in our Annapolis apartment, seated above the RE classrooms of the church, so we didn’t have to board the dog. The night I ceremonially bridged from lay person … Continued
When my niece, Hazel, was three she wanted to know about her grandmother (Tara’s Mom). Tara’s sister, (one of Hazel’s moms), explained that her mom had died many years before. Then Hazel wanted to know what it meant to die. What it meant for the person; what it meant for the living. And so, in … Continued
When children die, when they are killed, and when they are killed by another child, alive but lost in different ways and for different sins, the soft wild animal of the heart needs a space to grieve. May you know your ache, your fear, your hopelessness and anger as an expression of courage this week. … Continued
Because I am a religious professional, I can typically recite Sunday dates for at least three months in advance. Living by the week makes time go quickly. If it’s September that means I’m late to plan for Hanging of the Greens, to getting Caryl my theme for Christmas Eve, to setting up the new year … Continued
This past fall the staff met for our annual planning retreat. It was different than in years past: we were welcoming our first Intern, Sue Flynn, as well as our new Office Assistant, Rachel Hansen. We met in room 201 while many gathered in the sanctuary; it was the morning after Andrew Conrad had passed. … Continued
Rev. Kim was invited to speak at a prayer vigil in support of DREAMers on December 20 at the State House Annex in Trenton, and offered the following: There was a man in my congregation whose life was just memorialized this past weekend. He was a kind man; earnest, sincere. And while we can likely … Continued
