We are about to embark on a covenantal relationship, which is grounded in trust and mutual support for the flourishing of our shared ministries at First Unitarian Portland. The very first step is getting to meet and to know each other.
The process of beginning to know you began with your thoughtful and dedicated Ministerial Search Team – Lia, Sarah, Chris, Ruth, David, Leslie, Saranna, and Mark. We first learned about each other in our online profiles and website, then we met on Zoom, and then finally in-person in March. We both owe them a debt of gratitude for all they have done for this beloved community. The Search Team spent two years in reflection and discernment, preparing First U Portland’s search materials, reviewing ministers’ materials, and finally interviewing candidates. Through them I started to learn about your history, your hopes, and your passions.
This week, I have had the pleasure of meeting many, many more of you on Sunday and in various groups throughout the week. I have now met the whole staff, and I can already tell they are a hardworking and creative team. I have also met with social justice leaders, music leaders and choirs, welcoming volunteers, lay ministers, and more. You are blessed to have so many people who offer their time and their talent in service of co-creating all that First Unitarian Portland has to offer. I can’t wait to get to work more closely with these teams in the years ahead!
It has been a joy to meet you, listen to you, and to learn more about you this week. I am heartened to discover that the questions that you are asking of me are the same ones I am asking about this time of change and possibility – both in terms of this time of emergence following a pandemic and this time of ministerial transition. You have shared a longing for deepening connection after some of you have felt somewhat separated, even as you have appreciated the online offerings. You have shared a desire to build on the legacy of your justice works and to remain robust and relevant to the pressing issues of our time. You have shared a hope to build community across the generations and to be a place where the wisdom of age and the wisdom of youth flow freely back and forth. You have shared the hope that our worship life will continue to be a source of music and beauty, of meaning making and renewal of the spirit. I am thrilled to hear these topics, to begin a dialogue with you around them, and to imagine all we shall be and become together.
I look forward to seeing the children, youth, and adults throughout the rest of this week. I hope you’ll show up at the many opportunities. I also feel a growing anticipation for Sunday and for the historic moment of the tallying of the vote. May our beginning be grounded in a hope-filled, joyful call to a life-giving shared ministry together.
In faith,
Rev. Alison