December 10, 2023
Listen:
Read Along:
Welcome and Connected
by Megan Otto
Just last week I had a new student join campus ministry on Sunday night. She is a freshman and has struggled to find a community of folks she can relate to at UT. She shared with me today that she told her mom how excited she was to meet our students and after one gathering already felt like she belonged here. That is definitely one of my favorite things to hear.
I’m sure you too can remember a time when you longed to fit in and find community. It might have been when you were a college student or when you started a new job and hoped to find friends to connect with. I know that over the years I’ve been at UUMC many people have told me how grateful they were to find our community and connect with like-minded people. I know that we aren’t for everyone, but I am so grateful for the welcoming congregation we have here and the relationships that have been built in this place.
My dream in ministry and for our church has always been for people to feel welcome and connected in this space. My grandma always told me when I moved to a new town, “Make sure you find a church and that’s where you’ll find your people.” I hope in this advent season you can find ways to be welcoming to those you meet. There is plenty of loneliness in the world all the time, but most acutely this time of year.
Gracious God, open me to the opportunities all around me to be a welcoming presence to those I meet.
Amen
“O, Giver of Life, may we recognize the Divine Seed in every person; may we be sensitive to all we meet along the way, blessing and encouraging one another; May we know that who we are is a reflection of You.”
“Jesus of Nazareth,
You met unlikely people in unlikely places and joined yourself to them in friendship. May we be like you in this way, finding friends at crossroads and bus-stops, in queues and crises, in kindness and curiosity. Because we, like you, need the company of others.
Amen.”
