Dear friends and members of University UMC:
I pray your weekend is getting off to a great start. There is a lot of news we’ve been sorting through lately. Always, always this is the case. Hurricanes on the move. An impeachment trial in our state. A war in Ukraine soon to enter year 10. Late theologian Karl Barth was among the first to write about the holy work of praying the news. He put it this way: “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” I am grateful for the many ways you live this practice here at UUMC. You know that a life of faith includes being engaged in the world. For decades you’ve stood at the intersection of deep spirituality and intellectual curiosity.
The Fall season here at UUMC is active with many opportunities to engage in classes and events. Some of these opportunities assist us in our own personal faith journey while others invite us to engage the community in ways that seek and demand justice. This is so perfectly Wesleyan! As the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, often talked about the importance of both personal piety (spiritual disciplines that nurture our relationship with God) and social holiness (acts of justice and mercy in the world).
With the Mission and Justice Fair taking place this weekend and Diana Butler Bass’ visit later this month, I’ve been thinking a lot about the place of learning, justice work, and spiritual practices in our faith journey. Below, I share a few of these opportunities offered here at UUMC as well as a few other resources. (And always, more information and additional offerings are shared in the Econnection and on the website.) While I write these words, the temperature is still in the triple digits, but I keep hearing talk of the weather finally cooling this next week - if even a bit. We can hope! And in our hoping, may the Spirit bless us with renewed energy this season to take on the work of unconditional love and justice in action. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of the world.
What a joy to be your pastor!
Teresa
