The 2017-2018 church year brings many opportunities for us to work toward the important board goal of Actively Celebrate Our Community: Look to the past, present and future to celebrate our community in all ways – big and small.

We are a community that has breadth and depth in our commitments – to each other, to the congregation, and to the greater community in which we move. We dive deep, we work diligently, we have the hard conversations, and we meet the challenges that life gives us with as much grace as possible. In this month of emergence, as we make space for the new and fragile shoots of life, we can also make space to celebrate the life that we have lovingly labored to create up until this point.

One of our greatest joys to celebrate, of course, is the birth of Tara and Rev. Kim’s baby boy, Malcolm Allistair, and that Tobias is now a big brother! The increase of joy and love as this new, precious life enters our world is a hundred-fold. The existence of this beautiful family in our midst seems nothing short of miraculous when viewed through the lens of one hundred years ago. We are celebrating, as well, the clear fruition of all the labor and love of our UU brothers and sisters to teach us over the years that love and families have no set template. We are celebrating that leadership has no gender and that every parent should have the opportunity to be with his/her newborn child.

Another joy is to celebrate is the generosity of our congregation in time, talent and treasure. Our auction is taking excellent shape thanks to the dedication of the auction committee and the generosity of our congregants. We have the promise of a Saturday night of fun, food, and fellowship that lasts over the year through the many offered gatherings. Our stewardship and capital campaigns are thriving and generous donations continue to come in to support the current activities of our church and those things of which we dream for our future and future generations.

The last, but certainly not least, thing that we should celebrate is us, the people of UUCWC. When you walk in the doors on a Sunday morning or a weekday evening, there are folks in this space offering and benefitting from each other’s talents and commitment to this community and the world. From the RE teachers to the choir to Erin’s concerts to the Praxis committee to HomeFront Mondays to Robin’s sabbatical we are living our values and building the world we wish to see. We are perfectly imperfect and keep practicing to become our best selves.

The other night Bob and I were bemoaning the state of leadership in our country from those currently in office to those who have held office and turned out to be much, much less than we thought they were. I asked “Are there no heroes? Where are the leaders?” Without pause Bob responded, “They’re right here in our neighborhood, in our town, and at UUCWC. It’s the people doing the work on the ground – the soldiers.” So, celebrate that. Take a breath from your hard work on the ground, from being a soldier for your cause and your values, to celebrate you. Make space to recognize that you are the heroes and the leaders in ways both big and small. You do and say things others won’t or can’t, even when you don’t want to and for that you should be celebrated.