During this time of year I find myself feeling in the holiday mood. I love the decorations, smells, flavors and holiday festivities. Often this is a time to see people I haven’t seen for a while. Connecting with new people and reconnecting with old friends.

As a member of the Board of Trustees this has been an interesting time. We are engaged with several issues that are challenging. Bill Sinkford used to say that we are in liminal times. I think this continues to be true. We no longer have the certainty of the church that was, and are yet to define the church that is, or what will be.

This will be the last board letter, from yours truly. I am completing my last year on the board and have certainly seen some major changes. It seems the nature of change is upon us. We have welcomed a new minister and said goodbye to our previous one. We have coped with a major pandemic, and said goodbye to some of our beloved program leaders. Many of us have experienced personal losses as well, either during the pandemic or since. For many of us there is an overwhelming sense of loss.

One of the difficult things about loss is that one finds it hard to accept. We often look for someone to blame for our pain. Sometimes, as a board member it seems I am held responsible for this pain. “We are called to hold the anxiety of the congregation,” Rev. Sinkford said. I suppose this is to be expected and is part of the job of being a trustee. I accept this, recognizing that change is hard and not something most of us are prepared for. This is interesting to me, because I’ve always heard that there is nothing more certain than “change”. I would love to be able to tell you that we have completed our transitions but unfortunately that would be false.

The Unitarian Universalist Association is considering revisions to our purposes and principles contained in Article II of the UUA bylaws. This again, will be a major change. The First Unitarian Church board as a whole has not taken a position regarding this change. We will be holding a forum on January 28 to discuss the proposed changes. I encourage as many, who can, to attend the Forum on January 28, 2024 in the Buchan after worship services. Delegates to the UUA General Assembly in June will vote this year whether or not to adopt the revised Article II.

The Board of First Unitarian will be working with congregants on our church goals during 2024. The governance committee completed an evaluation of Ministry at first UU Portland for 2022-23. There were some corrections that need to be done and we plan to approve the evaluation at our January meeting. Another change is to support participation of non-board members in attending some of our committee meetings.

This is just part of the work that our board of trustees will be doing in the next few months. The board meetings are on the first Thursday of the month, typically from 7:00 p.m. to 9. I encourage you to attend.

It seems my holiday greeting letter veered off course, but to return to the theme I would like to wish everyone a good holiday season.

Theo Harper for the Board of Trustees.