On Connectedness

December 20, 2023. In 1820 in Boston, Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing said, “Religion, we are told, is a private, personal thing, between the individual and God. His neighbor or the community must not meddle with it… I would maintain that religion is eminently a social principle… The social character of religion is not sufficiently regarded.”

As Unitarian Universalists, fundamental to how we approach being religious is a respect for the individual relationship between the individual and the sacred. But equally important is the idea that we are all deeply connected and that religion—at its heart—is both defined and advanced by understanding our relationships to one another and the world around us. For Channing, the social meant not only does our spiritual life connect us to the sacred, but it also connects us to each other. Indeed, religion invites the sacred through our relationships with each other.

As religious people, UUs are called to connection – theologically, emotionally, socially, ecologically, and physiologically. Connectedness inherently describes the relational nature of all things – living beings, the natural world, the Mystery, and the processes and laws which govern our Universe. Connectedness ranges from the interpersonal connection between two people to the “oneness of everything.” 

WOW! This idea of connectedness is literally everywhere… if you look! But sometimes we have to do our part to reveal it. Clearly there are times in life where we feel disconnected. Our spiritual life is the process of unveiling the bonds that have always and will always be there.

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This truth spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. exists whether it is considered positively or negatively. Because we are a community of hope that is dedicated to helping create a better world, understanding and embracing our connectedness holds tremendous challenge and possibility. We are all siblings sharing a common fate. Think about it. Feel it. Allow it. What does this mean for you? How does this move you? What does it require of you? What are the tremendous opportunities and implications of our connectedness?

Let’s find out together. 

upcoming sabbatical

January 30, 2023. The board announced earlier in the year that I will be away from our congregational life and my commitments on sabbatical from April 1 to August 31, 2023. One of the spiritual practices that sustains ministers and enlivens our ministries, especially in times of great change as we have experienced, is the sabbatical. A sabbatical is understood to be a time to replenish and renew, to learn and discover, and then return with fresh ideas and rejuvenated spirit for our shared ministry ahead.

The norm is that Unitarian Universalist ministers accrue one month of sabbatical for every year of service. While eligible for a sabbatical after 2021, given all the chaos and transition of our last years, the board and I agreed it made sense to wait until the world felt a little more stable, we found a bit of balance, and we re-established some collective energy at UUFCO. Look around our fellowship and you will see that all these are now true. (Don’t worry. I knocked on wood after I typed that.)

I want to thank the Board for approving and supporting a sabbatical. They have been steadfast in their encouragement as we begin this project together. An exploratory team gathered models, options, and ideas from other congregations. The Board chose the structure that we felt would best serve our fellowship. After much consideration, we go forward with our sabbatical time being intentionally and enthusiastically lay led. 

A Sabbatical Task Force was formed and, dear people of UUFCO, we are in good hands.

The team is Bob Barber, Marean Jordan, and Susan Kinney. From now until April 1, I will be working with the task force, the Board, our staff, and our ministry teams to set everything in motion. More details will follow from the Sabbatical Task Force. I have full faith in our leaders and in our congregation. I look forward to hearing what new things have emerged while I am away.

The most common question I get is “What will you do on sabbatical?” It has been such a gift to ponder this question over the past months. A few ideas have come forward for me:

Rest and renewal  I’ll be finding a different rhythm making space for moving slower through the day, for deep reflection, for connection with nature, and for grounding in my own spiritual practices. I’ll do a decent amount of “nothing” and see how that shocks my system.  

Study and Exploration There are stacks of books next to my bed that, if piled together, would reach 6 feet tall. Each book was earnestly brought to my bedside with the intention to dive deep, and now each with the only the first 10 pages read. This pile contains poetry, history, mysticism, music, spiritual direction, history, and fiction. Delving into these ideas will shape my thinking for years to come for our worship and time together.

Further, I plan to study on the process of creativity and how collective creativity works in larger systems. In service of this, I am going to commit to a personal creative practice around writing and music.  
   
Travel and UU Connection
For roughly half of the sabbatical, I’ll be here in town. I’ll do some retreats and will be tackling house projects I have put off for a few years. When the school year is complete, our family will be traveling to Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In the first two countries, we will be dividing our time between travel and work-stays, hoping to show our children and remind ourselves of the diversity and depth of human experience. For the Philippians, I am in conversation with the UU Church of the Philippines to explore establishing a partner church relationships between their churches and some Pacific Northwest UU congregations. I have colleague friend that was formerly the President of the UU Church of the Philippines who has invited this project. All of this is an unfolding but very exciting.

The congregation’s generosity around this sabbatical demonstrates great care and support for me.

It feels like a commitment in the long-term success of me as your minister as well as the congregation itself. All of this reminds us that a minister is only one person out of many. The life of the fellowship and my own life are deeply enmeshed. This is perhaps exactly the reason a sabbatical is healthy for all of us. The amazing work and connections of the fellowship will continue merrily along in my absence.

An elder colleague advised me that sabbaticals aren’t a vacation from work, but rather a special kind of work: soul work. I am grateful and thirsty for that kind of work. I trust that while I’m gone, the work we have been doing together remains in good hands: your hands.

With Love,
Rev. Scott

Response to SHOOTING AT BEND SAFEWAY

August 29, 2022.

Dear members and friends of UUFCO,

Our Bend community been directly touched by tragedy. The shooting at Safeway was a terrible act of violence – one similar to others we have read about many times over, occurring in other communities. Now it has happened here. I am at once horrified while also dealing with this strange feeling that I cannot be shocked. Unfortunately, I can believe this happened in our town as it can happen in any place.

It makes saying anything all feel as if I am shouting into the wind. I have said these things before and had similar feelings. And yet, we do respond because we are emotionally and morally compelled to do so. We are connected to what happens in our community, our nation, and world.

If you feel the desire to be in community of witness and grief this evening, Moms Demand Action is holding a vigil at Drake Park from 6:30-7:30 p.m. I will be there. [Note: this event has already taken place.]

Our compassion goes out to all of those who lost a loved one in these senseless killings. We also hold all those affected by the far-reaching ripples of trauma from this event. While each of us feels a unique response to yesterday, we know there are those whose lives have been forever devastated.

We can react in so many ways. We can feel numb. We can feel afraid. We can feel profoundly sad. We might feel anger deep within. We could shut down. We wonder how something like this could happen. What could have been done to stop it? Will something like this happen again? Often, our feelings change as we process the events over the days and weeks that follow.

Tragedy can motivate some people to find a solution to the world. I only hope this will add to the motivation to bolster our mental health system and restrict access to this kind of weaponry. Clearly, guns like these in our communities are not keeping us safer.

I turn to our Unitarian Universalist faith in times of joy and sorrow. How I wish that honoring the inherent worth and dignity of all people were a universal aspiration. I wish people could act with an understanding of our deeply rooted connections to one another and our planet.

We make meaning based on our experiences of relationship and connection. Those experiences that are bound with love stand out as the ones that are life-giving and life-affirming. So, I am left to orient my heart. There is a great deal of anger and sadness there right now. Alongside those feelings, there is also love.

I believe deeply in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

We may be powerless to prevent all bad things from happening in this world, but we are not powerless in our ability to love those who are hurting, to love the world, and love for ourselves as well. My Pacific Northwest UU colleague, the Rev. Dr. Emily Brault, works as a prison chaplain. She is far from naive about the bad things that happen in the world. But she offers these words for us. “The reason it is called a tragedy is because it is so drastically outside the norm. The norm is love and compassion and care for each other. Shootings like these are an aberration, a horrible disconnect from reality. The greater reality is love for one another. Never forget that.”

I hold you all in my heart today,

Rev. Scott

On the Tragedy at Uvalde

May, 25, 2022. I don’t have good words for today. I don’t think there are sufficient words to express all the many layers of devastating grief and anger that are present on this day. My heart aches for the children, teachers, school staff, families, first responders, and community in Uvalde, Texas.

We have not even had time to process the atrocity in Buffalo, the church shooting in California, and now we have the grief of the mass murder of children and teachers in Ulvade. I abhor that moment when I open the news on my phone to find mass violence and the bottom of my stomach drops. I shared the news with my children this morning because I wanted them to know before school in case the students are talking about it. I did what I could to give information and not instill fear. My son asked what kind of school it was. I said an elementary school. The look on his face was devastating.

Again, such useless and dreadful pain. Again, the cycle of endless discussions on mental health vs. terrorism, gun rights vs. public safety. There will be an exploration of motive, the human need to help us all try to understand the incomprehensible, the unimaginable that is thrust into our lives. I heard on the news that this is the 27th shooting in a school this year. Even if this violence has become so common that it seems normalized, we join our voices in saying it is not okay.

We affirm the inherent worth and dignity of each person—an unshakeable conviction calling us to respect ourselves and others;
we affirm justice, equity, and compassion in human relations, pointing us toward the larger community and a collective responsibility for one another.

It is shocking awful news, but it is not surprising. After so many shootings in our country, we cannot pretend that this is an anomaly. It is just one more example of the terror we put up with and allow to traumatize our children and families. We have witnessed mass tragedies before. The name of a location quickly becomes the moniker of a tragic event. Columbine, Sandy Hook, Newtown, Virginia Tech, Aurora, El Paso, Southland Springs, Tucson, San Bernardino, Charleston, Parkland, Orlando, Las Vegas, Tree of Life in Pittsburgh, and now, Uvalde – a town I had never heard of but now will always be known for the worst of reasons.

When we are able, we will face this news honestly, with courage, faith, and hope. We will link it to the other recent and ongoing assaults on children and families, and we will engage in collective action to heal the soul of our country. But in this moment, you may not be ready to respond. That’s ok. It is ok to be sad and angry and to simply pause. Watching the news may not be helpful right now. Do not flood yourself with strangers’ reactivity. Instead, remember your connection to beauty and reach out to those you love. No amount of violence can crush our humanity. Nurture the children, parents, and teachers in your life and honor your own inner child, your own inner parent, your own inner teacher, and your commitment to a safe world for us all. Ask for a shoulder if this news is too heavy for you to hold alone.

I am angry. I am heartsick. I am sick and tired of this.

And, I want to assure you, the work of our church community is important. The work of deepening our commitments to anti-racism is important, life-sustaining work. The work of creating community for our young people is important, life-changing work. The work of showing up for each other and for our wider world is important and is good for our souls. I love you. And, even in the anger and grief and heartsickness of these troubled times, I am with you.

With fierce love,
Rev. Scott

covid continues to unfold

April 24, 2022. Circumstances continue to shift and unfold in our response to Covid. While we have adapted our responses, we know that Covid is not gone. Our Covid Task Force has been working hard to keep up with the science, to listen, and to make decisions that are grounded. Unfortunately, in practice this means that there will inevitably be some disappointed that we are not relaxing restrictions enough and those who are disheartened that we are not requiring more. So, hopefully grace allows us to move forward.

Currently, masks are optional to attend Sunday services. They are required in our Religious Exploration spaces and when we sing as a congregation. We have solid internal air exchange as well as windows open. We continue to follow CDC and OHA guidelines watching our local hospitalization rate in our discernment process. As vaccination effectiveness now is at different levels for different people, we are still asking that folks get vaccines and boosters, but we are no longer requiring proof at the door. Eating and drinking coffee are allowed both outdoors and indoors.

The research we have shows that masking with an N95, even if everyone else is not, provides a very high level of protection, so we still encourage anyone who feels more comfortable to mask to do so. There are lots of masks in the sanctuary every Sunday.

On a given Sunday, there are four levels of engagement: in the sanctuary with mask optional, on Zoom which usually has around 50 screens participating each week, in the gathering hall with more space allowed and air circulation weather permitting, and on the patio listening on the speakers.

For our Zoom attendees, we have made efforts to enhance that experience every week in an attempt to make it more inclusive and better production quality (those of you that Zoomed the first week back we were in person know how far we have come.) Committed to this end, we now have a dedicated staff member running in house audio visual and one dedicated for the Zoom interface. Please continue to let us know about your experience as we will continue to make improvements.

As for singing, we have been turning to our Music Director, Erik Ekstrom, for guidance as he has been involved in deeper conversations nationally around safety trends for congregational and group singing.

Following additional health & safety guidelines from the CDC, please do not attend in-person worship if you are sick or experiencing any of the following symptoms: fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, muscle or body aches, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea. If you receive a positive COVID test within 5 days of attending in-person worship or other in-person gathering at the fellowship, please notify staff immediately so we can notify others.

There are two things we know for certain in this very uncertain time. One, there is nothing we could do to provide a 100% risk-free experience if we are in person. The second thing we know is that each person needs to make decisions based on their own knowledge and personal choices. As in all things in the pandemic, we are learning this as we go along. No one answer meets the needs of all. There is no map, but are creating different ways for people to be together.

Things continue to change. Things look and feel different now. Some people may have moved or drifted away. Others may be engaging online. There are lots of new faces around (go strike up a conversation!). In-person gatherings bring a now novel experience. The number of people who join us on Zoom each week is equivalent the population of some of our smaller UU congregations. All of this is good, even if unexpected. We are learning what it means to be one fellowship in different ways, in different places.

And as always, the disclaimer… we don’t know what the future holds. But I suppose we know that things will continue to change, no matter what, in some direction or another. “Be open to the change” has become a life-saving, life-giving mantra. We will keep changing because of adaptation to the pandemic, because of growth in our congregation, and because we are living into our values. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know we can hold each other as we move into it.

With love,
Rev. Scott

how could this happen?

March 16, 2022. We are witness to new atrocities each day as Russia continues to advance troops into Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have cried out that this is an invasion on their land, identity, and very lives. Our hearts break as the human impact of imperialism and conquest are seen. Lies are offered in hopes of deceiving an entire nation. This is a playbook of how tyranny spreads.  

And because the human spirit is something that can also soar among tragedy, we also see a courage from the Ukrainian people that inspires us. Ukraine is committed to freedom, democracy, and to each other. We watch as Russian people protesting at their own personal risk.   

We are too far away to offer much support through direct action. Our congregation gathered our resources and donated more than $2,200. And still, it is hard not to feel a little bit helpless as events unfold. So, we commit to caring and loving here in our own community. May we keep our hearts open and join in solidarity with the people of many nations who seek a way toward peace.

I offer this prayer from a colleague, Rev. Elizabeth Stevens, that put words to some of the many feelings that are swirling around inside me right now.

Spirit of life and love,
Pervasive hope of peace,
We add our voices to the chorus of those who align themselves with you.
How could this be allowed to happen?
When, oh when, will people learn
To choose generosity over greed,
Compassion over aggression,
Creation over destruction?

It is too much.
It was too much the first time someone died
For the sake of imperial ambition,
And so very, very many have died!

Our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine,
Those wounded and killed,
Those displaced, dislocated,
Those lying awake listening to the sound of explosions.
Help them know they are not alone.

We hold in our hearts, as well, the people of Russia.
Awaken their conscience.
Help them to know themselves part of the human family,
Neither greater nor lesser.
May they find the courage to stand up for what is right and just.
May they be part of a global movement to hold their leaders accountable.

Our own minds, our hands and our bodies,
We pledge once more to the cause of peace-
Remembering as Lao-Tse taught that
Peace between nations begins
With peace in our hearts.

Let us breathe in peace and love.
Let us breathe out in peace and love.

And let us continue on - together.

Amen, and blessed be,
Rev. Scott

In-Person Worship Rescheduled

October 1, 2021. Our conversation turns yet again to “what’s next…” After a year and a half of not being in person together on Sunday mornings, part of that answer is that we are planning to hold in-person Sunday services beginning on October 24 at 9 and 11 am with an online option still available at 11 am. Glory, glory hallelujah!

We made the right decision in September to postpone in-person services. The Delta variant was surging, schools had not started back, and the immediate future felt very uncertain. In these Covid times, the future is always uncertain, yet we feel this is the right time to commence gathering on Sunday mornings. Grounded in our values, we are ready to begin again.

We'll soon send detailed information about what Sunday mornings will look like, but we can address a few of the most asked questions here.

Our survey makes tells us we will have 40ish people at each service, giving us plenty of room. The survey also revealed an estimated 98% vaccination rate in our congregation. We will be requiring a one-time proof of vaccination, which we will record, or negative Covid test each time for those unvaccinated. Everyone will wear masks. With the large size of our space, people sitting distanced, ample air circulation and cross breeze, duration of the service, and masking, we feel confident that we can offer a safe environment. There is no 100% guarantee. But really, no one can never guarantee complete safety in a public space.

We are starting cautious and building from there. This means we will begin without congregational singing. There will not be coffee or snacks so that we keep our masks on. There will not be an extended social time in the building following the service.

As an organization inviting people into a space, we have been engaging in ethical risk analysis. We feel confident in the fellowship building and our process. Now we ask each individual to do the same assessment for their own decisions. Our decisions don’t define us, rather they speak clearly to our existing needs.

We are shifting toward personal choice, responsibility of respecting others, and a culture of consent. This is the time that we look to our covenant that binds us together as being foundational. You have offered the leadership at UUFCO great trust over the past year and a half. We now look to you, the congregation, and offer that same trust.

And… this is really exciting!

I cannot wait for the opportunity to have a worship service in our space with our people again, as well as to open our doors to new folks who are yearning for a spiritual community. So much time and life has happened since last we lit a chalice in the same room together. Things might look and feel a little different and that is okay.

We have long known that when we “go back” to in person worship, we will in truth being “going forward.” So, we will lean in with love together - in person and online with hearts full of promise and commitment. This is a time that is full of possibility as well as challenge. The crisis of Covid has created a haze in some places of our lives but has brought clarity in other areas. The last months have taught us that we can adapt, that there is great value in being in community, and that we can do this together… whatever it is, we can do this together.

With love,
Rev. Scott

in-person worship postponed

September 1, 2021. With disappointment but clarity, we are postponing our in-person opening of Sunday gatherings at UUFCO. We have always understood that circumstances might not allow us to reopen. Yesterday brought our highest one-day total for new cases in Deschutes County since the pandemic began. New cases have quadrupled since August 1. Our Covid numbers are trending up, not down as we had hoped.

Deschutes County is in the “extreme high risk” category. St Charles Hospital is in a critical situation handling these increased Covid cases. Other medical procedures are being delayed. Our healthcare professionals are exhausted, overwhelmed, and stressed, even while they continue to show up and offer care. The National Guard has arrived to support our health care system. By deferring our in-person opening, we keep our congregation safe, and we support our local community’s healthcare workers. How we handle the opening of our public worship is also a public statement to our wider community. In addition, our schools will be opening next week. We do not know what impact that will have on our Covid cases. We can only hope with all our hearts that it will be minimal.

For these reasons and more, we feel the right decision for safety and to support our wider community support is to wait.

We also do not want to find ourselves in the situation of opening our doors only to have to close them soon after. We have found alternative ways to be together for a year and a half. We can continue to do so. Now, rather than planning for opening, the staff has pivoted to innovate around our online worship and find additional opportunities to gather safely outside together.

The congregation has entrusted the Covid Task Force, the Board, and the Staff to make decisions that will be both safe and also inclusive of multiple interests. Our survey tells us that some of you will be relieved by this decision. Some of you will be frustrated. Others planned to stay online either way. We will continue to monitor hospitalization rates, number of cases, county risk levels, and other data points.

Small group meetings and smaller events will still be welcomed at the fellowship with masks, both indoors and outdoors. Not a part of something, join something! Don’t see a group that speaks to you, reach out to Chela (chela@uufco.org) about starting a group!

Our goal remains to bring people together in person as soon as we can and do so safely.

We understand that even when we do, there will still be some measure of risk involved. Right now we feel that risk factor is simply too high and our community support too important. So we return to what has sustained us so far through this pandemic: kindness toward others, meeting in alternative ways, being in nature, and finding avenues of connections with others so that we are reminded that even though we are apart, we need not be alone.

Take care of yourselves and each other,
Rev. Scott

The times, they are a-changin’!

June 2021. “The times, they are a-changin’….” (a loving nod to our octogenarian Bob Dylan). And yet, we know that our hospital has been strained and our caregivers are stressed -- even recently bringing in nurses from out of town to support our high needs here in Bend. The front page headline in the Bend Bulletin a couple Saturdays ago read “Bend Residents Adjust to Life Without a Mask.” The main idea was this: it is a confusing time. It would be near impossible to have gone through Memorial Day weekend and not feel that things had shifted. The rules, difference of opinion, and uncertainty are what we experience whenever we leave the house now.

As we begin emerging from our homes and into new experiences this spring and summer, UUFCO is continually updating our policies to reflect the best understanding of scientists, public health officials, and congregational leaders--so that our emerging and regathering can be as safe and inclusive as possible. We hope to see a faithful adherence to policies from members of UUFCO trusting that your peers have spent a lot of time and energy to discern what will hold to our shared values, expressing care for our littlest children to our elders! As we give each other space, wear masks when needed, and defer to each others' personal boundaries, we gain confidence in our capacity as a community to move through this transition with grace.

As we invited our first in-person event on our patio last Sunday for a Flower Celebration, we found a beautiful coming back together. It also offered us insights into how our gathering looks different now. We are continuing to look for new and safe ways for people to get together at their own speed and comfort level. The idea of gathering in neighborhood groups to watch a Sunday service is being launched. Our outdoors groups are opening up and are inviting people in. Our in-home shared dinners program is beginning to think about what is possible. This is all so exciting!

Every week brings vaccinations to more and more people -- including more UUFCOers -- and in time will include some of our children and youth for those who choose to do so! We celebrate every single "fully vaccinated!" status, knowing it protects you and our larger Central Oregon community. We also respect that people have their own choice around vaccines or may not be able to participate in vaccination for a variety of reasons. We make space for that as well.

We ask you to keep your masks on at public, all-church UUFCO gatherings, even those held outside. We have been following the CDC as our science-based guide throughout the pandemic. We intend to continue to do so. For public congregational events, such as the Flower Celebration recently enjoyed, or the upcoming Art on the Patio event, we are holding ourselves to a different standard: one that promotes full inclusivity, equity, and safety for all. Over the course of events like these, you might come into contact with dozens of different UUFCO folks of all ages, some vaccinated and some not. The sheer number of people gathered during a set period of time in one place already makes it a different context than your backyard with friends or a public park while you're out walking. Add to that the fact that we are committed to not having people disclose or prove vaccination status to be in community.

Vaccines are a HUGE help to the fight against COVID, but they are not a cure-all. Increasing vaccination rates have not had time to achieve their full effect on COVID containment in our region and variants continue to spread. We know that here in Central Oregon, St. Charles recently reported that they were at capacity for COVID patients. We want those who can to enjoy the new freedoms allowed while also continuing to be diligent as a community dedicated to public health and to the safety of not just UUFCO, but also Central Oregon.

Our goal is that we create spaces on behalf of our congregation where people feel understood, safe, respected, and valued. Luckily, we are a congregation that is used to the idea that we don’t all get exactly our way all the time. We do this every Sunday as we create space for different theologies and language usage. We trust that if things are not perfect for us, we can have faith that that space is fulfilling someone else’s deep needs. I imagine this is what COVID reopening will look like for our community: all of us adapting to meet the needs of others, being honored in our own needs, while understanding that this takes compromise.

When we come back together in September, it will look and feel a little different. That is okay. It will be what it is. It will be what we make it. We want it to be a space where we welcome back members, friends, parents and children, visitors and anyone else who fells the same call we do that calls us to come together on a Sunday morning (either in person or on Zoom).

Inclusion is always evolving and adjusting. It is listening and adapting. We adapt our space to try and meet newly understood needs of people while still honoring the needs already present. This is inherently complicated as sometimes those needs are not aligned. For our current situation there are also real logistical differences between small group meetings and open, public all-church events. Because our values, we know our opening will look different from some other churches in town or from your favorite restaurant.

I understand much of this work to be around creating different options for people and not assuming or expecting that one experience or way of doing things will work for everyone. As UUs, we know that a “one size fits all” approach often doesn’t meet all people’s needs. My hope is that as a congregation we go forward with curiosity and kindness as we find ways where people can have a common experience while having their individual needs respected.

Thank you so much for your support of a caring approach to re-opening our fellowship space. Things are possible now. Reach out. Wonder with us what is possible… Let’s make it happen together! Oh my! The times, they are a-changin’!

With love,
Rev. Scott

Ongoing Learning:
Intersectionality and Intersecting Identities

March 2021. Part of the work around understanding the power and place of our social identities and those of people around us is ongoing learning. There are often multiple perspectives and experiences to listen to.  Social identities such as gender identity, class, sexuality, religion, disability, and physical appearance shape our lives. On Sunday, our service explored Intersectionality. Sometimes you can’t get to all of it in a sermon. An ongoing learning for me has been around the complexity of how the term intersectionality has been used and has expanding as a concept to consider the overlap of many different identities.

The concept of intersectionality was created to describe the lived experience of a particular group: Black women in the United States. Some feel the term should only be used only to help reveal and oppose oppression faced by Black women. Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term, has admitted it has been altered from its origins, but also recognizes the term now ranges beyond Black and female. There is no doubt that the term has spread. It is used in Queer studies, exploring Black lives in Judaism, or in climate change to name only a few of many examples. The co-opting of black culture and ideas without regard is a characteristic of white supremacy culture. Is this an example of that? It would depend on who you ask.

Pharaoh Bolding of Outside In in Portland describes the difference between intersectionality and intersecting identities. He writes, “Intersecting identities is the concept that an individual’s identity consists of multiple, intersecting factors…These intersecting factors are what make us multi-layered individuals. Intersecting identities is similar in many of its ideas to intersectionality. It has led to many people, especially white people who have identities that converge and intersect with oppression or marginalization, to use the terms intersectionality and intersecting identities interchangeably. The problem is these two concepts, while similar in some respects, are not the same. The concepts of intersectionality and intersecting identities differ due to the amount of power, privilege, societal hierarchy, and systemic oppression at play. Intersectionality addresses how the intersection of a person's identities is culturally and systemically weaponized to oppress them on multiple fronts and is directly connected to generational trauma.”

There is also the idea that many of our identities are identities we claim while others are ones those that we are born with or into. Identities we claim might come and go, but we have many identities that we cannot shed such as our skin color or sexual identity. Some of our identities are hidden and are some are clear to the world which can bring oppression or privilege.

The term intersectionality was born in academia and has also been critiqued there. Because it is self-referential by the oppressed group, there may be problems when interpretations of people within this group are in conflict. Intersectionality has been used as a critique of modern feminism and critiqued by modern feminists. Some argue that the concept heavily favors group identity over individual experience. 

The word intersectionality was included in the 2015 edition of Merriam Webster’s Dictionary proving that it has become a more common part of our cultural conversation. Here is a brief article about the word intersectionality and its trajectory in time, and another article that grounds itself in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s response to the adaption of the concept of intersectionality.

The important idea here is to keep learning and allow some complexity. There can be no doubt that our identities are interlocking and influential. Our goal is not to answer all the questions but to ask them with love and to listen. Whatever your claimed identities and your born identities, may they hold you and help you. May they nudge you toward empathy toward others and expose the insights and limitations of your social location. We are committed to this work as a congregation, and we all have a part to play. Some of this is understanding ourselves more fully and another part is being curious about the world around us while leaning toward justice and compassion.

Rev. Scott

insurrection at the capitol

January 2021. Like many of you, I watched the events in Washington, DC unfold yesterday afternoon with horror and dismay. I know that among us right now there is fear, anger, and disorientation. In a time of crisis such as this, religion and its practice in community do not simply take these feelings away, but can help to set them into a greater context and to move us from overwhelm and into our imagination followed by right action.

We gathered last night for our first Wednesday of the month evening contemplative service. We spoke of the heaviness of the day and our feelings of confusion, frustration, and disgust. We held out hope for the democratic process and looked toward the long road ahead of restoring what has been so severely wounded.

Last night, I spoke of my own emotional arc through the day and that it had settled down in those evening hours. It was not until after the service that I saw the images of the day. During the afternoon, I entered a series of meetings, phone calls, and then service preparation for the evening. It was only after my children were tucked in bed (having so many clear-minded questions of their own throughout the day) that I saw the image of the Confederate flag paraded through the Capitol rotunda. It was then I saw an “infil-traitor” lounging at Nancy Pelosi’s desk within arm’s reach of a photo of John Lewis. I saw video of representatives in fear, of callous looting, of selfies with police inside the Capitol building, of Trump flags being placed and American flags being discarded, of unprepared Capitol Police astonishingly having no ability to stop this angry, near all-white mob. And so many other images that speak to the worst of what we can be.

When I began the evening service, I had gone through an arc of shock and fear. During the night, I continued an escalating arc of anger and sadness. Needless to say, I did not quietly slip into a quick slumber last night. And yet, the hope and path forward we spoke of together remains most present on my heart this morning despite what was clear for all to see.  

Yesterday, we witnessed white supremacist terrorists and rioters lay siege to the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of our country’s free and fair election. The profound restraint of the authorities during the Capitol takeover incited by the outgoing President would have been shocking at even the most peaceful of protests for Black or immigrant lives in our national capital. That incredible disparity in treatment has one obvious reason: the mob was overwhelmingly white, and this difference is inextricably bound up with white supremacy.

We were reminded yesterday that our country was formed around the premise of white supremacy. This day showed us the difference in treatment of people gathering in the capital, - if they are people of color or advocates thereof, they are met with riot gear and great force. If they are white, they can storm the Capitol and attempt a coup. This is racism. This is white supremacy.

White supremacy is a system of control that wants to keep power, and though still deeply entrenched in our American institutions, the people of this country are actively creating a more just and alive representation of our greatest national ideals. What we saw yesterday is part of a flailing and gasping endgame by individuals who benefit from the old patterns of power. It was privileged power desperately trying to grasp to its dying threads. But it has been driven out of office and by the dreaming, united,  living, and hard work of so many people in this country.

It is no surprise that the departing President Trump or white supremacist culture would act out in violence and sedition. Masked as righteous revolution and patriotism, the rioters yesterday proved that they could not even begin to accept a reality or leadership that does immediately align with their own self-interest. For them, truth and democracy are both secondary to self-interest.

The events call upon us to continue doing the work of dismantling white supremacy. If you are angry, heartbroken, and in disbelief, so am I. If you feel a renewed strength to commit to this work, use it. This is what is needed. This is how our country has changed over the years and how it will continue to fulfill its promise. Right now, this is America. There can be no denial that Americans did this while other Americans detested it. But this our America.

I maintain deep faith. Our democratic institutions were greatly tested but did prevail. While my anger toward politicians who enabled this yesterday and throughout the years remains, many politicians are striving for decency and justice. I do believe that the events expose the way corruption and greed threaten the soul of our nation. There will be introspection on conspiracy theories, lies, and hate groups.

My greatest hope would be around reclaiming a shared understanding that truth is not simply a matter of choice. I pray for a return to civil discourse, compromise, and the common good when shown the results of their absence. I yearn for sincere attempts to heal the partisan divide. Yesterday should mark the death throes of fascism in our country, not its triumph.

If I am wrong, and if more division comes from this in the coming weeks, I will not succumb to fear. The moral imagination of this nation far out-performs the actions of those who seek to undermine our democracy or values. I come back to my bedrock faith, which is in the resilience of the human spirit. This faith cannot be shaken.

Whatever comes, I know with great certainty that we will find a way forward, together, that honors our humanity, embodies our values, and weaves us together in ever more beautiful ways as a community of care. My faith in you cannot be shaken.

With Love,

Rev. Scott

sanctuary of stillness

Not many years ago, it was access to information and movement that seemed our greatest luxury, nowadays it is often freedom from information, the chance to sit still, that feels like the ultimate prize. ~ Pico Iyer, from The Art of Stillness

December 15, 2020 Our theme at UUFCO for December is stillness. This is a needed theme for these times if there ever was one. The rush of headlines and the holidays press upon us. For this reason, we are opening the fellowship for the Sanctuary of Stillness on Wednesday, Dec. 16 at UUFCO. The sanctuary will be open from 10 am to 6pm with chairs set up at a safe social distance with some music playing and candles to light. It is a time and space to claim some stillness.

On the first Sunday of the month I shared that I had been working to take 20 second breaks in my day to be still and connect my soul with the world. In truth, I have not practiced what I preached very well. I have remembered this sometimes and paused. I have just as often remembered it and moved on with my day figuring I would hopefully remember again later when it was more convenient. In doing this, I realize that my problem is not one of time. It is one of commitment.

Who can really say they can’t create some time… to connect with my soul, to remember that I am alive, to gaze at the beauty of the world around me, to remember the power of love, to feel my breath, to let awe enter into my body if but just for a moment. A moment. 20 seconds. Or more! If we cannot do this, it is not a problem of time. It is a problem of commitment.

In truth, we all deserve more than 20 second moments of remembering. Our bodies and spirits need time to sink into different rhythms than the ones that come naturally with the flow of life. So, yes, I invite you to take 20 seconds throughout your day. Or, if you have a little more time, you can head out to UUFCO tomorrow for our Sanctuary of Stillness. We offer it as a time to find a stillness inside of yourself. The real sanctuary is in your own being. A well of resources reside in each one of us. Sometimes it helps to surround yourself in a stillness to find it. May you find this source of calm in the days and weeks to come where ever you can find it or create it. 

Rev. Scott

Through Lines

November 14, 2020. Ten years ago this weekend, I was ordained into the Unitarian Universalist ministry by the Unitarian Universalist Church of the of North Hills in Pittsburgh. In our tradition of the free church, only the congregation has the authority and the privilege to ordain a person to the ministry. No single person or central institution bestows this right. It is the gathered people who affirm a minister’s calling into formal Unitarian Universalist ministry.

As we do with all major decisions in the life of the congregation, ordination is conferred by congregational vote, which is to say, a decision made together by people acting from their values, vision, and understanding of being on a shared journey. What we do, we do together.

I have learned a decent amount about ministry and life in those ten years, the vast majority of it from congregants – from little things to large life lessons. I have often said I love my job because I work with 300 teachers.

One of the larger life lessons learned is simply “You never know how things will unfold.” If you had told me all those years ago I would be writing this while living in Oregon in a town called Bend, I would have said, “Where’s that?” Yet, here we are. You never know.

We never know what tomorrow brings. We could not have predicted the pandemic. Or another lockdown from Gov. Brown yesterday. We could not have predicted the political turmoil over the past many years. We could not have known then that our country was on the brink of another critical racial revolution to guide the soul of our nation. Yet here we are. You never know.

No matter our age, our place in the world, or where we are in our life story, the whole thing keeps changing. It wibbles and wobbles. It thrives and stubbles. Think back to where you were ten years ago. My, oh my, how life was different then! What a journey since then! Think back ten months ago… how life was different then. What a journey. Perhaps you have relocated, your relationships have changed, your health has shifted. You have learned things along the way. 

The same can be said of our fellowship. Ten years ago, we were a small, but mighty fellowship renting space. A caring community of love and support dreaming of the future while striving to live our values. Today, we are over 300 members offering ministry to each other and to Central Oregon from our New Home. One look at our weekly All Congregational Email (ACE) lets you know that there is a lot happening in the life of the fellowship, and it looks very different than ten years ago.   

Yet, while life does keep changing around us, and we keep changing within life, there are things that do remain constant throughout. There are the through lines. For this fellowship, we are still a caring community of love and support dreaming of the future while striving to live our values. That is our through line. The fellowship itself is also a through line in many peoples lives. Many have shared with me that UUFCO has been a steady constant, even while it changes, that has offered the rope to hold onto in the snowy blizzard or to swing on in a sunny day. Or sometimes just a place to be with others on the journey.

For me, and for many others, a major through line is our Unitarian Universalist faith. This religion will always be changing over time, as it is intended to do. It will adapt and grow, just like we do as individuals. Still, we experience something continuous along the way other than the chalice that we light together.

We are imperfectly dedicated to our greater ideals. We fail and try again. We hurt and pause to mend. We succeed and begin to look outward for the next marker. This faith is here to catch us or nudge us out from our comfort. This faith is flawed as each one of us is and also bound to love as each one of us is.

This tradition with a long history still being written today will be here for you throughout. It offers itself to you as a through line. This fellowship will be here. Given yesterday and no matter what comes tomorrow, this will be a place to ground and reground in love. Through the pandemic, through good and bad, through what comes forth the world stage, through what happens in your life, UUFCO will be here practicing the promise of this religious tradition. People will arrive and move from the area. Babies will be born and loved ones will die. The spirit and place of our fellowship offers a through line.

Ten years ago, I said these words as I was ordained: “In service to humanity, our faith, our planet, and to the sacred Spirit of Life that beckons us toward love, I pledge to live out this call throughout all my days.” This call has been one of my through lines. It has brought me great joy and challenge. I am ever grateful that I share this life and ministry with you, the people of the UU Fellowship of Central Oregon.

In one of my first sermons with this congregation, I said I did not know how this congregation would change me, but I was open to the ways I would be formed by this community. In my years with you, my life has been transformed for the better. My heart has opened. I continue to learn from you, my teachers. I am grateful to each of you and to the spirit of the whole created by our gathering. As I look forward to and wonder what the next ten years will hold, I feel ever so fortunate that we have UUFCO as a shared through line.

With Love and Gratitude,

Rev. Scott 

May 2020

Dear Beloved Congregants,

 "If we take time to listen to this nation's wounds, they tell us where to look for hope. The hope is in the mourning and the screams, which make us want to rush from this place. There is a sense in which right now we must refuse to be comforted too quickly. Only if these screams and tears and protests shake the very conscience of this nation - and until there is real political and judicial repentance - can we hope for a better society on the other side of this."        - Rev. Dr. William J Barber II

These are heartbreaking times. My heart breaks for George Floyd, for Breonna Taylor, for Ahmaud Arbery. My heart breaks for the more than 100,000 who have died from COVID-19 in our country, a disease that has disproportionately killed African Americans, a result of racial health disparities in our nation. My heart breaks for the widespread absence of the type of leadership that would seek to promote justice and healing, what is needed for there to be de-escalation. My heart breaks for those who are so slow to confront injustice and so quick to confront those protesting injustice.

We know they put their lives on the line while armed with weapons of violence and destruction, but it seems too many lack the necessary courage to resist the peer pressure and herd mentality within their departments in order to stand up for human decency. Many police officers need to get in touch with actual courage.

Watching the news accounts of George Floyd’s horrific and unnecessary killing in Minneapolis, it is apparent that there were four police officers present. Four men who exhibited a cruelty and disregard for human life that boggles the mind.

It is deeply ingrained racism. Of course, it is.

Killing a man for possibly passing a fake $20 bill would only happen to a black man in our society. But the larger story is that four officers participated, despite pleas from bystanders, and allowed the tragedy to unfold.

I honestly believe that none of these men are as monstrous as the deed they perpetrated. It is possible, probable even, that each of them have families that love them; that they believe themselves NOT to be racists; that they go to church, believe in God, are now struggling to justify their actions. They are human beings.

The problem is that, as brave as they might be when chasing down a suspect, they could not stand up to the peer pressure of false macho bravado. Even though each of them may have been thinking to themselves, “this isn’t right,” they did not have the guts to say so. They were not brave enough to push back against the adrenaline of being ‘the law’ and recognize that sometimes you have to break ranks in order to serve your core mission of serving and protecting. If firing tear gas and rubber bullets into peaceful protestors doesn’t feel right to your heart, you have to break ranks. If saying something to confront racism in front of family or friends is difficult, then yes, you have to break ranks. It gets uncomfortable.

A culture change is needed within our police departments. One which recognizes that real bravery means standing up for what is right, even when it’s hard and has repercussions; even when it means that the bully confusing cruelty with strength in your division might turn their attention on you. It gets uncomfortable.

The strongest and bravest people do not hide behind weapons. They can be honest, decent, and courageous even when those around them are not; even when the cost is enormous. It gets uncomfortable.

Courage comes from the Latin ‘cor’ meaning heart. Courage is not an action but a way of being in the world that comes from connection to the heart. Courage is uncomfortable.

Our society needs to reclaim this definition of courage so that we can each climb out of our fortified bunkers of group-think and see those around us as fellow humans, each striving for a good life for ourselves and our families. Not enemies but co-creators in making a world safe for all people.

Are you willing to get uncomfortable.? Are you willing to be courageous?

For some of us, the work will mean attending protests and demonstrations. For some, it will mean advocacy from home. For some, it will mean getting involved in mobilizing voters or working on political campaigns. For some, it will mean speaking to our children about what is happening. For some, it will mean conversations with family members and friends. What does it mean for you?

If you identify as black or a person of color, here are two sources of support: Black Lives of UU and DRUUMM.

If you identify as white, watch this webinar: In the Name of Love: Deepening Anti-Racist Commitment and Values with Chris Crass, Rev. Ashley Horan, Rev. Jake Morrell, and Rev. Meg Riley. Then, join the UUFCO discussion by finding up-coming Zoom sessions on our calendar.

The heart does not kill innocent people to save face. The heart does not ignore racism when seen or felt for the sake of “not rocking the boat.” The heart knows what is decent, humane, and honorable. What the world needs – especially from those within our policing institutions –is a lot more heart. What is your heart communicating to you? How will you respond?  

I am with you in this extremely difficult time. I love you.
Rev. Scott

april 2020

Hi folks,

How are you doing? Did you brush your teeth this morning? Did you go with pants or pajamas today? Have you been outside yet?

We have entered into a new phase here. We are through the initial shock and trauma of understanding that the pandemic is a new way of life and that there is a hardship we now must endure. We have had to let go of so much. New patterns and routines have been established. The same holds true for the fellowship as we have shifted how we live out our congregational life and relationships. I would say we are in a “new normal,” but I don’t think the word normal belongs anywhere within 100 feet from what is happening right now.

Looking out at the new landscape, I wonder if you had expectations and hopes for how you would spend your time and what this all might look like. Maybe you had grand plans to start or finish a long list of projects. Maybe you have been chipping away at this list. Maybe that list remains, and it has been enough to stay healthy, connected, busy, and to get through the day.

I know I had high hopes. And yet, my house pretty much looks the same as it ever has (the daily cleaning and pick up has zapped my time!). I had thought I would tackle those large projects. I have not.

At the fellowship, we launched a new way of doing church. I am proud of our staff and all of us for rolling with the currents and making it happen. I also know amidst this, I set out to jump into the world of online videos intending to record a daily meditation. I reluctantly let that go (for now). I allowed other grand prospects to subside as well. Sometimes it is enough to do good work, to connect where we can, and to be grateful for what we have.

We know now that this could go on for some time. Even when things begin to reopen and people can gather, it will be slowly and in small numbers. And it might happen in waves. Uncertainty still hangs in the air, but the understanding that this will be a long venture has settled in.

I could leave it there. It is enough to say be gentle with yourself. Adjust your expectations. Be nimble with your self-love. But if you have time on your hands, read on…I have two old sayings and the beginning of a tale to offer you.         

“The journey of one thousand miles begins with one step.” - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; Chapter 64       

“One day at a time.” – somebody somewhere a long time ago

The beginning of a tale:

We spent the last three months of college planning our trip. There were three of us: me, Rebecca – my then girlfriend and now wife – and a dear friend to both of us. We had all bought the boots, dreamed of the trail beneath our feet, and spent hours staring at the pile of maps on the floor between us. A couple days after graduation, we headed north on a Greyhound bus to begin the 2,200 mile trek from Mount Katahdin, Maine to Springer Mountain, Georgia on the Appalachian Trail.

We woke in the dark that first morning in our shared tent. After a light breakfast over the rustled embers of the fire, we began up the mountain. The trail begins at the top of the mountain, so the hike up the 5000 plus feet doesn’t really “count.” So, up we went, three of us in a row. The hike took most of the day. We had to keep a decent pace to make sure we were down before dark. For a first day of a long hike, it was not an easy one. We were not in shape, there are some technical sections, and, well…it is up a mountain.

But eventually, we got to the top. With a view of the world 360 degrees around us, in the distance on a rock pile we saw a brown sign with some people gathered around it. Fatigued and out of breath, with visions of the future and memories of the past to explore, we walked up to our starting spot. The sign read, “KATAHDIN – Baxter Peak, Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail.”

The three of us sat down next to the sign for a long rest and some water. We thought about the journey ahead. We knew it would take us about six months of walking to arrive in Georgia. The air was thick with possibility. The moment was real.

I had imagined this first step before. The small moment waited before me. One hand lay upon the sign while a grin crossed on my face. With my leg in the air and a foot hoovering over the ground, my weight shifted forward. When my boot touched down on the rocks below, my journey began. The first step.

At that moment, I had no idea of the adventures and trials that lay ahead. I did not know how long this trip would take. I could not say that I would complete it. But the journey began.

I don’t know how many steps in all it took, but I know it was a lot. And I know there was that first step without which, none of the rest would have been possible. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu knows what he is talking about. After that first step, it is one foot in front of the other. Each day brings a new first step.   

When we got down the mountain that night, we had logged the first official miles of our hike. Rebecca and I were tired but excited. Our friend had a harder day. The trip up and down the mountain had her wondering about the whole venture. At one point on the way up she questioned the need to begin all the way at the top. The seed of doubt was already planted. 

We all slept hard that night and woke up the next morning to do it all again, this time, beginning the Hundred Mile Wilderness. Our packs were full and heavy with food as there were not roads to hitch-hike in or out of this first section. We kept a decent pace throughout the day, but in the end aimed for a campsite closer than we originally set out for that evening. All the while, we could tell our friend’s spirits were struggling. 

When we got to the site, we pitched our tent and laid our sleeping bags out in the grass close to a river. We talked about the day and planned out the next one. Our friend was feeling defeated. We could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. It was more than exhaustion. It was a deep unease.

During the evening, out of the silence of a long shared stare into the fire, she blurted out, “Can you all imagine doing this every day for the next six months!” Rebecca and I looked at each other and then back at our friend and said gently in accidental unison, “Yes.”

Our friend was thinking about her trials of the day, imagining the weight and impact of experiencing them every day for months on end. She was projecting the pain and discomfort she felt in that moment multiplied over many miles and state line crossings into the future. It was a crushing perspective to hold. It was too much to bear. Halfway through the hike the next day, we found a logging road and followed it to the nearest paved road with traffic. Our friend got a ride out, headed home, and went on to do other amazing things.

As for Rebecca and I, that night by that fire we were really only considering the next day. We had an assumption that we would make it through the whole thing. Or at least we were resigned to the fact that we couldn’t really know what would happen. We weren't thinking months ahead. We were only thinking of tomorrow. We were planning where we might camp the next night and what the terrain would be that we would cross to get us there. This is how we ended up making it to Georgia after six months and two weeks. One day at a time. There was no other way we could have done it.

And so the same is true for all of us now. One step at a time. One day at a time.  Each day bringing a new beginning and a new first step toward our shared future. The trail is stretching out in front of us. We can’t quite see into the distance where we will be months from now. But we know that we have to get through today and tomorrow to get there. So one day at a time. And also know that we are traveling on this journey together. Like the song tells us, put one foot in front of the other. And lead with love. (Melanie DeMore - One Foot/Lead With Love)

With love,
Rev. Scott

March 2020

Transforming our world is about how we live our everyday life.
— Acharya Adam Lobel

Our mission charges us to serve the spirit of love and justice in the world. Our Stewardship campaign reminded us that our gifts transform the world. That sounds pretty lofty. And presumptuous. And naïve. How are we, a small group of gathered individuals in a 300 person fellowship in the middle of Central Oregon, going to transform the world? With all of our gifts and talents, still… Isn’t that the job of people like Gandhi who non-violently led India to independence and inspired civil rights and freedom around the world? Or Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was a fierce abolitionist and a leader in the women’s rights movement? Or the work of large organizations like Amnesty International and Oxfam? Or dependent upon the outcomes of peace talks, wars, policy, globalization, or technological advances? These are things that transform the world, right?

Have you ever heard of a man named Raychandbhai? He was an Indian scholar and philosopher that came to be one of Gandhi’s greatest inspirations and counselors. What about Simon Hosack? He was Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s neighbor who encouraged her in her education and confidence after her father declared, "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!" How about Peter Benenson? He was the British lawyer who founded Amnesty International. Oxfam was founded a group of concerned citizens and Quakers in the Old Library of University Church of St Mary the Virgin.

Everything comes from something. For every tidal shift for good in this world, there are many, many currents pushing behind it. When we talk about transformation, we are often lured to only consider the tipping point, where we can see the larger shifts begin to happen. But that change is the result of many small transformations. It begins in the small shift of an individual’s heart, an interpersonal exchange, or in bettering the local community. The transformation of the world toward love is a multi-layered, ongoing process in which this congregation plays a part. To succeed in transforming our world toward love, we need not hold ourselves to the standard of Gandhi or Amnesty International. We must have faith that the love and justice we create will ripple out. Love creating love creating love…

Love,
Rev. Scott

FEBRUARY 2020

Have you ever described Unitarian Universalism to someone only to have them ask, “Well, how in the world does that work?” The one-word answer would be “covenant.” And it’s not a fancy, newfangled idea. It basically means – “deep intentions.”  In 1648, a council of ministers in Connecticut and Massachusetts gathered together to put forth a statement on how the Puritan Congregational churches of New England would be organized.

The document they created was the Cambridge Platform. Central to their theology and ideas around organization was a vision of people “freely and mutually covenanting to walk together.” And while our theology has certainly changed over time from that of our Puritan ancestors, this document formalized congregational polity, which is still the organizational foundation upon which our Unitarian Universalist churches exist.

People together. Bound to Love. Accountable to each other and the wider world.

The idea of “walking together” remains central to our faith today. As a creed-less community gathered, we agree to enter into a collective relationship with one another that focuses more on the art of the journey than an agreed upon map. But how shall we walk together? This is the “covenanting” part.

We are very intentionally a church (or fellowship, or congregation, or people… whatever floats your boat) without a creed. We do not believe it is the place for the church to dictate the Truth. Unitarian Universalists see our religious community as a loving, challenging, and nurturing environment for exploring and claiming beliefs, which may grow, shift, stretch, and change over time. This is work we do together. And from this process, truths arise.

Rather than a creed, we have a covenant. And, our covenants are always bound to Love. Hard, beautiful, and always aiming toward expansive understandings of Love. The idea of covenanting together is at the heart of who we are as religious people. Our religion is always relational.

Love,
Rev. Scott

JANUARY 2020

Happy New Year! This month’s column is a repeat after receiving several requests. To begin your new year, here is a simple (not so simple) fill-in-the-blank quiz. January is always a good time to reflect and perhaps release some things from our lives that no longer serve us. Or to begin some new patterns that lift us up. When you get a moment, consider filling out the spaces below. If you do, it is possible you might create a little more space in your life! Or fill up some space with something life-affirming!

I would like to let go of _____________________________________________________________.
To let go of________________________________, I will need to ___________________________.
And that may not be easy. To make that happen, I will need to_______________________________.
Letting go of this scares me a little because ____________________________________________.
But I want to, and I believe it would be worth it because ____________________________________.
The first step in doing this is ________________________________________________________.
So, I will begin doing this first step at this time___________________________________________.
And I will be patient, gentle, and loving of myself while I begin.
 
Something that would bring rejuvenation or health into my life would be_______________________.
I currently do not do this because ____________________________________________________.
It would be possible to bring this into my life if I _________________________________________.
To do that, I will need to ___________________________________________________________.
And that will require that I __________________________________________________________.
I want to and I believe it would be worth it because _______________________________________.
The first step in doing this is ________________________________________________________.
So, I will begin doing this first step at this time___________________________________________.
And I will be patient, gentle, and loving of myself while I begin.
 
Good luck! Happy Releasing and Gaining to you!
Love,
Rev. Scott

DECEMBER 2019

Every autumn, I head up to a little Catholic retreat center just north of Tacoma and participate in Professional Days for the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association. A bunch of UU ministers get together for programing and to connect with one another. This year our programing was titled Collaborative Leadership for Collective Liberation. I will say that going to gatherings such as this always leaves me with such a sense of gratitude for our fellowship. Like all congregations, of course, we have our growing edges. Yet I know enough about congregational life to say with great confidence that we are a healthy congregation that collaborates well. I hear ministers speak of unhealthy conflict, longstanding dysfunction, and hard times. Every congregation will certainly have its ups and downs. And not everything is perfect here. But when I hear stories from my colleagues, both beautiful and difficult, it makes my heart so grateful for what we are doing here at UUFCO, the way we are doing it, who all has gathered, and where we are heading. Allow me to gush a bit…

Our congregational lay leadership is so committed and strong right now. From the board and Leadership Development Committee to all our various committee and team leaders, we have folks who are dedicated to serving our mission and vision while also inviting joy into their work. At our Leadership Collaborative meetings, we talk about leadership as a spiritual practice, and I can feel our leaders walking this path.

The result of strong leadership and good health in the congregation is that of the past four weeks attendance on Sunday mornings, three of those Sundays were higher than any previous non-Easter Sunday morning at 294, 316, and 298 attendees. Our membership number recently officially past 300 members. Our Child and Youth Religious Education on Sunday mornings is routinely over 30 and even got up to 56 one Sunday. People are showing up and being filled. They do that because of the space we create together and the efforts by our members.

Our justice teams are engaging in work that makes a different in local lives. It is work that addresses homelessness services, child education, income inequality, LGBTQ rights, caring for our environment, and supporting the immigrant population. We should be proud of the hands that UUFCO extends into our community. It seems we are past the point of abstractly “wanting to do more in the community” and are now focusing on how we might have a greater impact and make our values more publicly visible.

Our staff is absolutely incredible. They serve our congregation with heart and mind, and each of them goes above and beyond. They believe in what we are doing here, and it shows. (Except for when it doesn’t, as all of them do things to support our congregational life that goes unseen.) We are all learning and teaching one another as we go along and having some good laughs along the way.

Our building is achieving the dreamed-of vision of being a place that supports good and just work in Central Oregon with discounted non-profit rentals and donated space to causes that share our values. After a long search, we are in conversations right now with a preschool to rent our space to help the ongoing shortage of pre-kindergarten services in town. It seems we are always exploring new ways that our facility can serve our mission.

People often comment to me that they are amazed at all that goes on here. I share their amazement. We have adult spiritual offerings, conversation groups, Soul Matters, social activities groups, work parties, kid parties, committee & team meetings, art shows, a choir singing, greeters and ushers guiding, library folks archiving, people caring for our building, and so much more.

Our congregation has a culture of kindness. Not that folks don’t disagree (what fun would it be if we all thought the same?), but when tension or conflict arise, I have experienced people coming to the table seeking a better understanding, bringing with them a loving heart, and a flexibility for the greater good. More than anything, I am in awe of the spirit of this place. When people come here, they bring with them the hope of our shared values and then put those into their relationships and efforts. Love not only lives here but is alive here. Imperfectly, yes. But I don’t know what perfect love would even mean. You must understand that walking around with a perpetual sense of gratitude for UUFCO is my natural state. But particularly right now, my heart if full of gratefulness, and I wanted to share that with you. I am proud of and thankful for place, for these people, for our shared work, and for the space we continually create for each other. May we appreciate what we have while always curious and committed.

In love,
Rev. Scott

November 2019

Everyone knows that ministers only work about three hours a week on Sunday morning plus about another hour of preparation time… (I kid.) I was once asked in all sincerity if my job was a part time job because the person wasn’t sure what else I might do all week. Fair enough. I am out front on Sunday morning, but a lot of the stuff that happens at the fellowship during the week is hidden from view (unless you are Trisha, Joyce, or Ella, our stalwart office volunteers). So, I thought I would use this month’s newsletter article to offer some updates and insights into some of the happenings that are going on right now at UUFCO that might be hidden from plain view.

When this building was created, there was the intent to bring in a preschool to use our wonderful Religious Exploration space during the week. The conversation has been ongoing over many years by many people. Recently, we reengaged this possibility and interviewed possible preschools that we might begin a relationship with. We have met some wonderful people and hope to have some news to share in the near future about a possible preschool rental.

About a year ago, UUFCO reached out to the social justice teams at the other Bend progressive churches, curious about how we might collaborate. The conversation was long and deliberate over the course of an entire fellowship program year. We find ourselves now exploring the possibility of jointly creating a 501c3 with about five other area congregations to support a low/no barrier case management program for those people experiencing homeless. We are building on the already existing program of Backdoor Café at Bend Methodist, which is run by an incredible person named Stacey Whitte. Many of you have already expressed interest in this program and attended some introductory sessions.

When I arrived in Bend, it was clear that the progressive clergy in Bend knew one another but did not have any structured, ongoing relational group for support and collaboration. Over the last year, I established a monthly meeting that includes ten local clergy. We are all excited for the ways that our relationships will grow and support our ministries.

In October I headed up near Portland to lead a men’s retreat for the UU congregation in Corvallis. With input from female colleagues, I created a weekend-long program titled Being a Man in a #Metoo Era. The weekend was a success and about thirty men returned to their everyday world with a commitment to be a better ally to the women in their lives as well as actively seeking ways to dismantle destructive systems of patriarchal culture. We are beginning to explore what form this program might take on at UUFCO in the future.

Leora Mauck, our Fellowship Administrator, and Jonathan Beil, our Events Manager, have been with us about four months now. It has been a great pleasure to welcome them into the fellowship and work beside them. Both are bringing vast wells of knowledge and a willingness to offer their efforts toward helping UUFCO live out our mission.

Our renewed environmental group at UUFCO met between services last Sunday to discern a good meeting time for a direction setting meeting. About fifty folks showed up and the first meeting will be Nov. 1, Friday night at the fellowship. There is a lot of energy around this important social justice issue right now.

In September, UUFCO partnered with Embrace Bend to host an event in our sanctuary during Welcoming Week. We watched a film about immigration and families and then had a powerful presentation by a panel of local citizens followed by a deep community conversation. We are looking to follow up with another presentation/conversation and a training on disrupting racism and deescalating violence.

The Worship Team is hosting conversations about our worship life to invite ideas and listen to your thoughts. These are happening on Nov. 3 between the two services and Nov 17 after the second service. We are beginning to wonder what other types of gatherings might serve to nourish our spiritual lives.

I am currently teaching a class – Credo Creation: What I Believe. In the spring, I plan to teach another class around death and dying that will include conversation, practical preparation, and planning a memorial service.

This fall has seen our largest numbers yet for children and youth Religious Exploration. We will be beginning our search process soon for our permanent Director of Religious Exploration. If you are interested in being on the search team, reach out and let me or Dana Regan know.

I continue to work with our Pastoral Care Team. I am grateful for the care and compassion that they offer into our community. If you would like a call or visit, please reach out to me or to the team directly at pct@uufco.org.

This is just a bit of what I see happening at the fellowship each day. Your UUFCO staff, leaders, congregational volunteers, and general enthusiasts make this place hum with activity. I consider my view as the minister the best seat in the house as I get to witness and take part in all the wonderful activities at the fellowship. Thank you for the part you play in making it all happen!

With love,
Rev. Scott

OCTOBER 2019

I would like to share a very simple spiritual practice of mine it with you and invite you to join me. Each day I receive an email in my inbox called A Common Meditation. It is produced by the Rev. Galen Guengerich, minister at The Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City. The email contains a very simple and brief quote for reflection. Here is the quote from this morning as I write this:

Our moment-to-moment experience is improvisational, even though it exists within a structure or plan. That is - life brings us opportunities, questions, and problems to solve, and we respond in real time, trying to make sense out of each challenge or offer. How we live our lives within the structure of our day is an eternal improvisation... You are always the one steering the canoe, however. Sometimes on the white-water-rapids course it is both relaxing and exhilarating to be swept along by the swells, oars at rest, watching the scenery and marveling at the ease of it all. And sometimes we must paddle against the current in order to take a fork in the river.

- Patricia Ryan Madsen

It is that simple. And this quote is longer than usual. I must admit that I was surprised when this particular effort of mine stuck. Over the years, I have tried other reflective email dispatches only in time to send the seemingly inevitable “unsubscribe” email. But this one is working. I credit the brevity of Common Meditation passage and the quality of selection for its sustainability.

Rev. Guengerich states the purpose as “a daily spiritual practice to help spark our moral imagination and set our moral compass as individuals (Emerson called it ‘provocative reading’). It can also help establish a common spiritual conversation that will further unite us as a community of faith.” He then offers instruction for four steps – reading, reflection, intention, and contemplation. I don’t always follow the steps. Most days it is enough just to take a deep breath, read the quote, and think for a moment about how it moves in me or how I relate to it in my life. Then on to the next email… But I share this because I have found it a grounding touchstone in my spiritual and contemplative life. I made a rule that I can never delete one without reading it and giving it at least a moment of thought. This has served me well. I hope that it may serve you as well.

With love,
Rev. Scott

September 2019

After an amazing summer of fellowship activity and wonderful Sunday services, we find ourselves in September. At our multi-generational Ingathering Service on September 8, we will celebrate Water Communion (bring some water if you would like or we will have some to share). AND for the first time, we will be going back to two services on Sunday morning. It has been good to be all together this summer. And now we return to 9 and 11 a.m. as we make room for new folks to join the fold.

Things were still moving and shaking these past few months. Gone are the days where church “closes” in the summer. Though some committees and teams take a month off during the summer, our congregation is certainly “year-round” given all the goodness and joy that happen during the summer months!

And still… September is always special as we come back together for Ingathering and begin a new program year. In doing so, we continue painting on an old canvas that has existed and been passed down for 61 years.

Our canvas is weather-worn with deep hues of color and structural lines. The first layer on our canvas is history buried under time, but life still shines through: the brushstrokes made by people that many of us will never know but that we hold in our hearts. They are the ones that first wrapped the empty blank canvas around a wooden frame. Then they stepped back and said, “What shall we create?” We are all living somewhere inside that first vision by those brave and imaginative souls. They passed the paints to our elders as our recent history service shared with us.

Since that time, we have been painting on that very same canvas. Layers upon layers. Year after year. The canvas of our congregation is thick with the beauty of love and the messiness of life. It looks different every day. Every Sunday morning. Every committee and team meeting. Every moment that one person reached out to another in need. Every justice event. Every potluck. Every child shaped by our religious education. Every moment of understanding. Every song sung together. Every phone call offering care. Every congregational dream realized. Every relationship forged. Every encounter with the sacred or the holy. Every single thought or action inspired by the congregation. Every experience of those who helped create our glorious building. Every single person who ever crossed our threshold and shared in a moment here. All the hard moments. All the wonderful moments. Everything that has happened in this place, in the name of this fellowship, or because of our people. That is what our canvas contains. It is wonderful, calming, chaotic, and full of color.

We are a product of our past and are living into our future. There is only one ongoing canvas that is the history and life our shared story. Each of us arrives with this canvas in front of us, ready with paintbrush , or finger paints, or glue and paper, or yarn, or metal, or wood, or time, or effort, or money, or care, or a fist full of glitter. Reach out and touch this canvas that you are a part of. This is a canvas that affects us all is real. Then the question becomes in this new church year…

What is it that unique addition that only YOU can add to our canvas? The painting needs your colors. Time for more layers!

Painting with Love,
Rev. Scott

august 2019

We went camping recently up to Belknap Hot Springs. This is not the kind of camping where you hike in over many miles for a few nights with everything on your back and enjoy long silences while staring at the trail moving below your feet as miles stretch slowly between you and civilization. No... Those are great hiking trips. But it has been a while since my wife and I have done that. Two young kids seem to lessen one's expectations for a successful camping experience. Or at least change them.

We only pitched our tent for two nights. The lodge gave us big wheelbarrows so that we could get all our stuff from our vehicle to the campsite. We lugged everything we might need (and many things we didn't need) in several trips carrying things like boxes and bags, camp chairs, hammocks, bikes, a cook stove, games, coolers, and a family sized tent. It is amazing how much stuff you can take camping when you know the car will be close by. All the "stuff aside," in the end we had all the necessities to make it feel like we were lost for a moment in the natural world - a good hike, some splashing in water, a fire crackling at the end of the night, and some stargazing.

On our trip, I was struck by how I can still feel so removed from nature in my day-to-day life. This seems a strange thing to say while living in Central Oregon. Nature is so available and yet, we can find ourselves in our automobiles and in our garages more often than walking along a path, going for a hike, or standing near the majesty of a tree. Car culture can mean we get there faster, but we miss the slow walk that might have gotten us there. So often, we witness nature once removed through the windows of our lives.

Yet, there are trees all around me here. There is grass to sink my bare feet into. There are birds singing. All this is available to me. But I have to remember to slow down and experience it. I have to remember to breathe it all in. So I do try to do this - as a spiritual practice. I try (not always succeeding) to remember to bring my attention to the wonders of nature around me right here in my own yard, on the fellowship grounds, or on a walk. Then I feel connected to something larger than myself. I remember. And I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Church is like this. There is a lot going on here and activities are happening all the time. Reading the weekly All-Congregation Email (ACE), it can feel as dense as the natural world at times. Worship, committee and team meetings, social gatherings, adult spiritual development classes, fundraising, Sunday School, social action projects and rallies, board meetings, buildings and grounds projects, visioning, caring, laughing, crying, healing, singing, and on and on. There is so much going on in this place, sometimes I find that I need to slow down and just look around - remember to breathe it all in.

And on a Sunday morning, it could be possible to walk through the wonders around you much in the same way we can walk by nature without being amazed. I find it helpful on Sunday to try to calm my mind and look at all the people who have gathered and smile knowing these people choose to make this our community. Or I listen to the lively buzz at coffee hour, or think about all that it takes to keep our fellowship going, or imagine all the hours of effort and generous financial support of the members and friends that it takes to create our vibrant community, or think about the so, so, so many ways this place has positive impact on people's lives and that we all create that impact together. When I do this, I get the same experience I do in nature. I feel connected to something larger than myself. I feel blessed to be a part of it.

I invite you to slow down and soak in both these experiences. Take off your shoes and go walk in the grass thinking about the soil and the earth. Stare up at the white clouds rolling by. Go hug a tree. Then come to the fellowship. Appreciate why you are there. Look at our beautiful space. Touch the outside walls. Walk in the front doors and look around with awe and wonder. Know that our shared faith is life giving, life saving, and life sustaining. We are all indeed connected to something larger than ourselves. We are all blessed to be a part of it.

With Love,
Rev. Scott

May 2019

At the beginning of the new year, our Board of Trustees asked the question: What do we want to be as a religious community in five years? They held meetings, listened to conversations, and sent out a survey to hear from the congregation. From that, we gathered the very real desires of what we want our community to be. It is exciting.

The board listened and has summarized the high volume of responses into three key focus areas that are intended to serve as guide posts for our congregation's journey over the coming years. These focus areas will help our leaders to allocate church resources on investments and activities that are consistent with the longer-term vision as defined by the congregation. This vision will also guide me as I prioritize my limited hours for the many possible places to devote my time and energy. This will feel different for me and for the congregation. Though if we want to get where we want to go, things need to shift to make it happen.

We will still continue to do the things that don't show up directly in the Vision statement. The reason for limiting the number of focus areas is to be realistic about how we want to shape out future. The intention was not to be "all things to all people," but to focus on the vision as defined by the majority of the congregation.

The goal was to distill the congregation's dreams into words that are more focused than a slogan and more manageable than a list. We want words that will resonate and inspire, but neither limit our possibilities nor drone on into irrelevance. Here they are! We hope they provide the inspiration for all of us to drive us toward what we heard so very clearly from the congregation.

UUFCO Shared Vision:

• Our lives are nourished through relevant worship, musical experiences, and opportunities for lifelong spiritual growth.

• Our diverse, all ages community welcomes new people in, connects through authentic and meaningful relationships, and is dedicated to mutual service.

• Our social justice and environmental values are active within our fellowship and recognizable in the wider community through our work with local organizations and interfaith partnerships.

This is a vision I am excited to be a part of! Now, we all must ask ourselves what we might do to make this ring true. This is our work to do together. See you in five years!

With Love,

Rev. Scott

march 2019

Our day begins in a pretty hectic way. In the swirl of activity that is our morning routine, there is getting kids up and dressed, cooking breakfast, showers, organizing for the work and school days, packing lunches, and getting out the door on time to make the school bus. Amid all this, we try, try to create space each morning for what we call our “Moment of Calm.” It does not happen every day. It might not happen every other day.  It usually only lasts a few minutes. But what we aim for is a moment that all of us are sitting around the table at the same time, coffee in hand (for us, not the kids), and we can just stop preparing for the day and be present to the day. This nourishes our spirits. It makes us feel calm, connected, and good. 

There are moments possible like this every day. They are available, but they do not necessarily “just happen” to us. We have to make them happen. We must be intentional, and sometimes it takes dedication. There are so many ways to nourish the spirit. There are spiritual disciplines like mediation or yoga, there is physical exercise, there is reading and study, there is a deep conversation, there is doing justice work, there is music and poetry, and there are so many more different ways that we can enliven, enrich, and deepen our experience of life. 

At a Sunday service in February, we introduced the idea of people in the fellowship pausing for 2 minutes at 2 o’clock every day to breathe, center, and ground themselves. I have heard from a good deal of people who set their alarm on their phone and are trying their best to claim this moment. I am trying as well – albeit imperfectly. Strange how hard it is to do something so simple as take 2 minutes a day to stop and breathe! I like knowing that there are other people from our congregation at 2 o’clock doing this together. Sometimes the two minutes feel long. Sometimes they fly by and I wish it were longer. I am going to keep trying. I find that it offers me a touchpoint in my day and creates an ongoing relationship between me and stillness. I invite you to join me. I invite you to join all of US! 2 p.m. (or whenever it works for you.) 

I know that I am nourished by being in this community in countless ways. I hear stories all the time of the different ways members are nourished by others though caring, through learning, through sharing, through worshiping together, through work and play. May we continue to nourish one another and keep our hearts open.

february 2019

I am always amazed at kids and playgrounds. I recall when our children were younger going to an indoor play area at the mall. It was quite large and featured a bunch of big slides. Being a cold day and a Saturday on top of it, there was probably about forty kids running around. Tessa and Simon, our children, knew exactly what to do there. There are only two steps: 1. Take off your shoes 2. Go have a blast running around.

I sat there and watched this always-in-motion, joyous, smiling, playing, imagining pack of children running around having fun. The number of kids having fun created an infectious energy that all the kids tapped into. What I witnessed was a child-aged version of Beloved Community. Kids of different race, age, gender, and ability all playing in harmony. I didn't see any tears all day. I didn't see anyone hitting anyone. I did see disagreements. I did see hugs, kids helping kids up stairs, kids piled atop one another like puppies, chasing each other, and inventing ways to play. I witnessed several collisions, and usually each kid would make a quick check to see if they were hurt, look at the other child to see how they were, then both continue on their way. (It is a well-known parenting fact that kids weigh being hurt against how much fun they are having. If the pain is less than the fun, then it gets ignored.) Every kid was simply concerned with their play and joy. And when required, they concerned themselves with those around them.

How do they do it? When did it get more complicated? At what point do we become more jaded, greedy, insecure, and hateful? Kids really do have a magical quality of innocence and beauty. They are quite free -- in their thinking, in their words, in their play, and in their world view.  

Our Soul Matters and worship theme for February is Trust. Living in a way that does not diminish the freedom of others is a practice in trust. Trust can be broken, but that does not mean it was not worth offering. Children give us a model of trust. As grownups, we know to exercise caution in where we place our trust. Though, sometimes, we perhaps overcompensate and create a guarded environment around us. Those kids on that playground were each being their full, authentic, joyous self. Free in mind, body, and spirit. And they were doing this in shared space, in a community of diversity, and in harmony. There were small spats to be sure. But they engaged the world with an excitement and openness that I admire.  

So, I am left to ponder and invite you to do the same - what keeps us adults from doing this? How might we do better?

With Love,
Rev. Scott

JANUARY 2019

Cold. Yesterday I woke up and the sun was shining giving that Oregon early morning false impression of warmth. After getting the paper from outside, I decided that my first morning run to jump-start my lapsed exercising could wait until later in the day. (It didn't happen then either.) Now, I understand that a January newsletter article should be full of forward-looking sentiments about newness and fresh starts and all that... but I am cold right now. It is what's on my mind and in my bones. My son is not having the same experience as me. He wants to wear t-shirts under his heavy winter coat in the snow. He cares not for gloves and hats until he needs them because things are blue or they hurt. Never preventative. He is only interested in "need-based warmth."

And so, I find myself having an experience that I recall from my childhood, only the roles are, of course, reversed. I remember that I, too, did not like bothering with all this over-protective, paranoid, puffiness that my parents wanted to bedeck me with in the winter: "I don't like to wear hats. The glove lining is uncomfortable. Scarves are scratchy on my neck." But now as a parent, I am administering a Basic Universal Principle that I assume every parent knows and every child resists: if I am cold, my child is cold.

Unfortunately, I extrapolate this Basic Universal Principle and apply it to all sorts of other unhealthy situations. Often times, what I think is correct, feel is normal, and believe is true, others must, too. We live in a divided world. Am I alone in finding it hard to accept that other people don't always think like me, and when people don't, am I the only one who at least considers the possibility that the other people are wrong or foolish?

Why would I walk a mile in someone else's shoes? Mine already fit! They should be the ones trying on my shoes so that they could see how shoes are supposed to fit. Mmmm... but my shoes might not fit their feet.

Each of us begins by experiencing and understanding the world through our own skin and mind. Unitarian Universalism affirms individual experience as the starting point of religious and spiritual understanding. We don't uncritically accept other people's interpretation of what is good or true. We each have a unique perspective because each of us is unique. We build a clearer, better understanding and faith through sharing and checking out our experience and understanding with others.

Remembering that just because I'm cold doesn't mean you are cold as well is especially important when we enter into conversation with people from diverse and multi-cultural communities. My way of walking in the world is not the only reasonable way to be human. Our ability to create and sustain healthy, vibrant, peaceful communities (including church!) depends upon individuals seeing beyond our own noses. We must learn to appreciate and honor the many ways of being human, and the subtle complexities and beauties of culture and identity. The way forward must embrace multicultural realities, opportunities of diversity, and the gifts of many paths. And we must be willing to call out the difference between living through your experience and causing others harm.

Dr. Martin Luther King affirmed that the Civil Rights Movement in America was and is about more than freedom and justice for black Americans. He said, "The Universe is so structured that things go awry if people are not diligent in their cultivation of the other-regarding dimension." The goal is creating an inclusive, peaceful, and just community where neighbor loves neighbor, not in spite of our differences, but because of them. He called it the Beloved Community, the World House, in which we are inextricably woven together in a common destiny, a common humanity.

I want people to be warm. But perhaps the best approach is not to force them to wear the hat I picked out, or to expect them to put their arms through the coat that I think they need. And I do think that it is okay to challenge people directly who go walking around throwing buckets of ice water on people in the middle of winter doing them harm. (Don't worry. No one is actually doing this that I know of. Just continuing the metaphor...)

What will work then? Love is a fabulous quilt. Compassion, a tremendous cloak. Even when we don't agree with others, understanding and respect are perhaps the best sweater and gloves for cold hearts and icy hands. Whether we are the ones warm or we are shivering, we all need a place around the fire.

With Love,
Rev. Scott

december 2018

(continued from home page)

"When I breathe in, I breathe in peace. When I breathe out, I breathe out love." We sing this song Meditation on Breathing together in church, and I am always comforted by it. I need comfort. In the last months, I feel like I have not always been breathing in "peace." I feel like I have been breathing in a good deal of anxiety, fear, sadness, and anger. We live under a government linked with misogyny, racism, xenophobia, ableism, income inequality, and homophobia. As religious people grounded in love, our voice will be needed in these coming years. Ours is a message of inclusion for all people.In December, our Soul Matters and worship theme is Mystery. To me, this feels like a needed exhale. I need to be reminded of some magic. Some miracle. I need to remember that life is a mysterious gift and full of incredible wonder that leaves me in awe. This month, we will ground ourselves in this holy mystery. Let’s face it, no one really knows what’s going on here.  

SO many things fill me with a sense of wonder and mystery. I only need to stop and look around to be filled with gratitude and astonishment. Look at anything closely enough and the mystery and wonder start to unwind. So many things. Anything. Everything is a part of this grand mystery!

Life, the stars above, the sun, the blue sky filled with clouds, children’s laughter, fingers, toes, pandas, river currents, ocean life (that is a big one!), gravity, life cycles, eyes, smart phones, empathy, water, recycling, choirs, hope, running, tomatoes, baking bread, evolution, colors on a duck, generosity, a flower rising from a sidewalk crack, skin to skin contact, feathers, veins, numbers, humility, glitter, warmth, showers, teeth, medical science, snowflakes, puppies,  poetry, roots, seeds, wind, stories, self-expression, muffins, soccer, toilets, balloons, horses, lighting and thunder, rope swings, bouncy balls, wheat, engines, musical instruments, beans, kites, tears, beaches, breath, dirt, pencils, a chalice, friends, bees, hoola-hoops, math, bicycles, art, penguins, vinyl records, clouds, dreams, smoothies, heart pumping, snails, magnets, jokes, mountains, creativity, eagles, weeping willows, robots, hollow logs, dancing, lamps, movie-making, optometry, caterpillars, bark on a tree…

I could go on… What do you see or feel  that creates a sense of wonder that points toward the grand mystery of it all?     

With Love,

Rev. Scott

NOVEMBER 2018

I talk a decent amount about Love on Sunday mornings. It is because I believe in it. I believe that it is generative, that it is cohesive, and true. One Sunday a person said, "Well, Love, to me, seems to get right at the heart of it. Everything we do or try to be is based in Love." I would have to agree. This is our Universalist heritage peeking out.

I have also heard from a person that because the word is so big, they find it troubling. Fair enough. For me, Love is more than the energy flowing between two individuals. Love is about our whole approach to our lives and existence. It is about how and to what extent we are willing to open ourselves to the world's joy, beauty, pain and tragedy. Love is about compassion for others and allowing ourselves to be woven into the fabric of life.

There is a powerful scene in the 1982 movie Gandhi with Ben Kingsley that taught me about Love. The Hindus and Muslims are rioting, killing one another in the city and Gandhi has gone on a hunger strike to quell the violence. He is weak. Suddenly a wild-eyed man, a Hindu, races into Gandhi's chamber and, weeping, falls at the Mahatma's bedside.

"Save me. Save my soul!" he pleads.

"Why? What has happened? What have you done?" Gandhi asks.

"I have killed a child," cries the man. "My son was killed in the rioting. I was mad. I found a Muslim child and I killed him."

And then you see in Gandhi's face such an expression of sadness and pain and love. You see that he so loves this man and the two murdered children and all the people, that their pain is his own; their sorrow, their madness and fear all are part of Gandhi. For Gandhi this was not just another child's anonymous death. It was not just another act of mad violence. For Gandhi it was a particular child and a specific man, and through them, all men and women, all children who suffer and who cause suffering.

"I know how to save your soul," Gandhi says after a silence. "You must find an orphaned Muslim child and take him as your own. You must raise him as a Muslim." This is not Hollywood. This is a true story--a real love story about the kind of love that heals and unites and transforms our lives and our world.

This is Love as God, a God worthy of devotion. This is compassion for one another, love of neighbor as self, the fundamental cohesive energy within the Universe. It flows between individuals. It flows among friends and families. It flows amongst neighbors and communities. It flows across cultures and continents and time.

Be sure, good people. I love our fellowship. I love what we create together. And I love you.

Scott

october 2018

We had our highest ever attendance at a Sunday service last week (September 23 — other than Easter Sundays) with 307 adults and children. This is a sign of the times for our congregation. And even though we had more people with us, because we began our new format of two services, both worship services and Community Hour felt more connected and intimate. I am grateful to the Growing Together Task Force, the Worship Team, and the staff for the grace and dedication they brought to the transition. Also, we are thankful to everyone who offered input into the process. It has been and will continue to be a work in progress. I once heard someone refer to this style as "building the airplane while in flight". Makes sense to me.

After four years of service, Ayla Halberstadt, our Director of Religious Exploration, is resigning. We hope that you will be able to join us for our service on October 14 when we will celebrate her time with us. We are grateful to Ayla for the many ways she has given to our community.

On Sunday mornings, we will be experimenting and tweaking things here and there. We know that moving the service from an hour and fifteen minutes to one hour necessitates some changes. One place the Worship Team decided to alter was regarding inviting our visitors to stand and introduce themselves. This is not a new conversation for the Worship Team. There were several considerations. Primary is that we have heard from visitors and from our research that many do not experience that practice as welcoming. Maybe the extroverts among us enjoy it or out-of-town guests. But most people find it intimidating and anxiety-producing. Often, visitors want to slip in and out without being noticed while they check us out. Someone at church two weeks ago said that it was the first time they had come back in four years. They did not return after their first visit because of the visitor welcome.

It is important to distinguish between intent and impact. We all operate with good intentions and intend to be welcoming, but sometimes our intent does not have the desired impact. One article we came across challenged some of our assumptions. It expressed that the number one concern visitors have isn't "will I fit in," or theology, it's "Please don't let me be embarrassed."

I witness a lot of discomfort during this section of our worship. I see reluctant visitors shrinking down while mic runners are looking for them. I see nervous people standing up to introduce themselves, and I wonder if they felt coerced. I wonder how much our tradition is really for the visitors and how much it is about that "we" like to hear the "new people and guests" introduce themselves.

The other consideration is how we can truly be welcoming. Having visitors introduce themselves is a very passive way for us to be friendly and welcoming to new folks or people. It begs the questions: "Whose responsibility is it to introduce themselves? Should a newcomer have to stand and "out" themselves in public? Or should they expect that our welcoming congregation will personally reach out to them after service?" If you introduce yourself to the people you don't know or to people with paper name tags, you just might enhance your own morning as well! This is an invitation to make a practice out of being the welcoming and kind congregation we are.

We are also going to be have a table set up at the southwest corner of the Gathering Hall so that newer folks might have a place to congregate, ask questions, and make themselves available for introductions should they choose to do so.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped us in the transition -- that is likely all of us, because showing up on Sunday mornings is an important part of our success. Just as the flame is continuous from the chalice in our first service, to the candle, and back to the second service chalice, we are all connected and one community.

In the coming months, I look forward to hearing from people how all our recent changes in our Sunday morning are working. We are committed to continuing the tradition of being open to paths that lead toward the fulfillment of our mission and doing it together. So glad to be walking and sometimes forging these paths with you.

With love,
Rev. Scott

september 2018

They say that "90 percent of life is showing up." They say that "history is made by those who show up." I would humbly add that community is also made by those who show up.

When people first met the Buddha they were confused as to what sort of being he was. "Are you a God?" they asked. "Are you a yogi? A human?" He answered, "I am awake." He showed up. He was open to his experience, to the experiences of the people around him. He was open to the possibilities for peace and love and justice and the end of suffering around and within him. He wasn't hidden. He wasn't locked in a dark room in his home. He wasn't locked into the insular chambers of his mind. He was awake. He was present. He showed up. Sure, he would sit by himself from time to time. But that was just in preparation for engagement in the world.

The Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed -- each encountered Divine Truth in solitude on their own in the mountains, deserts, and forests of the world. But each also devoted himself to communities of faith which gave form, power, and life to the truth and love they carried inside. I believe it would be near impossible for someone to be whole -- spiritually and emotionally whole -- without entering some sort community. Like it or not, we are part of an interdependent web of creation. It only makes sense to rejoice in it, experience our connectedness, and share our lives.

In my experience, investing in a community of deeply shared values, whatever form that may take, is one of the most important investments a person can make. We need one another. We need time and space to reflect on our lives so that we can more fully live. Participating in the life of the church keeps us connected not only to our values and commitments, but also to our neighbors and to the sacred, loving mystery that makes life real and meaningful.

At our multigenerational ingathering Service on September 16, we will celebrate Water Communion. AND for the first time, we will be gathering at two Sunday morning worship services at 9 and 11 a.m. I am so grateful to the Growing Together Task Force for their work in facilitating this process and to the congregation for all your input.

As we have been experiencing growth in our congregation, we hope you will continue to show up and commit yourself to sharing your precious life with others in the congregation. I hope that you will challenge yourself to grow in love and understanding and not be satisfied with simple, easy responses to life's immense possibilities.

As the church year begins and as teams, committees, and activities get started, I encourage you to find a place. Find something in the church that you feel you would enjoy, something you would be good at, or something you have always been curious to try. We always encourage to approach the congregation with both the ability to give and receive. So what are your plans for the church year?

I look forward to seeing you at church on Sundays as our congregation explores this new form of being together.

With love,
Scott

AUGUST 2018

The rapper the Fresh Prince (a.k.a. Will Smith) kicks off his song Summertime with these words: “Here it is - the groove, slightly transformed. Just a bit of a break from the norm...” Summertime is like that. The shift to different rhythms of our days and nights. My schedule shifts as well. At the end of July and through the first half of August, I will have had some vacation and have taken some study leave to begin planning, dreaming, and considering some nuts and bolts. It is an important time for me as I recharge and have space to think about our congregational life with a different lens in a different headspace.

In that spirit, I like to use my summer newsletter space in a different rhythm as well. Here are a few poems and other inspirations that I happened upon during the year but never found the right place for in a sermon or article. There is no tie that binds these poems or words other than that they each in their own way pressed upon me when I came across them – either for the first time or after many visits. I hope they create some movement somewhere inside of you.

Thoughts Scott Begot
Rev. Scott Rudolph

From The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
"As long as this exists," I thought, "and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts, I cannot be unhappy." The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.

“Millennium Blessing”
by Stephen and Ondrea Levine

There is a grace approaching

that we shun as much as death.
It is the completion of our birth.

It does not come in time, but in timelessness
when the mind sinks into the heart
and we remember who we are.

It is an insistent grace that draws us
to the edge and beckons us to surrender
safe territory and enter our enormity.

We know we must pass beyond knowing
and fear the shedding.

But we are pulled upward
nonetheless
through forgotten ghosts
and unexpected angels
realizing it doesn’t make sense
to make sense anymore

This morning the universe danced before you
as you sang — it loves that song!

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors tolive the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with thelicense of a higher order of beings.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“Questionnaire” by Wendell Berry

How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.

For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.

What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy.

In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.

State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security;
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.

"If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem.
But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."

— E. B. White

JUNE 2018

Our Water Communion and Flower Communion worship services bookend our fellowship program year. While our activities do not stop throughout the summer, they do take on a different rhythm. Things move a little slower and people are often in and out due to travel. I have been delighted to understand that worship attendance does not drop too. (We do have good air conditioning, after all.)

Flower Communion is on June 10, and I can hardly believe it. Our first year together is winding down. Though... actually, I can believe it when I stop to think of all that we have experienced this year – the Sunday mornings week after week, the congregational events, the growth in relationships, the tears and laughter, the different ways the world around has changed since last September. It has been a thick year. For all of us, difficult in some ways; beautiful in some other ways.

In my annual report, I reflected on what has happened in the congregation. I would like to take a little space here to share some reflections on what has happened between us relationally. I try to make these articles on the shorter side, but this will be a long one. (Get comfy.)

I began my annual report with a tone of gratitude, and I can only do the same here. On the heels of what is likely the most stressful section of our lives with buying and selling houses, saying farewell to a congregation, and moving across the country for a new life and ministry, my family and I arrived in Bend, Oregon. We did not know a soul except for the good people we had met in the congregation. Though everything here was unknown, we knew in our bones that this was the right place for our new home. I felt my call to ministry and to life deeply in line with each other. When we got here, we were greeted with such warmth and welcome. This did not dissipate over time, but rather changed forms as we transitioned into living within this community of kindness. My family and I will be forever grateful to the people of UUFCO and how the first pages of this new chapter in our lives began.

I have said often that the Ministerial Search Team did an incredible job. Not because they chose me (though that was nice), but because they accomplished their task of understanding the congregation so well and presenting it so fully and honestly. There have been very few surprises this first year, and that is something that new ministers cannot often say. The congregation I first met through the team and through the search materials has been the congregation I have gotten to know in more depth through all the wonderful particulars this year. During my own search process, I was committed to honesty, authenticity, and integrity. All I could do was present myself and my vision of the ministry I believed in and wanted to be a part of. I feel so blessed and fortunate that what the congregation was looking for and what I am offering matched up. I pinch myself daily.

Leslie Koc began one of our Leadership Development meetings with a reading from a book titled Leadership Presence that used the 15th chapter of the Tao Te Ching. In speaking of the Old Sages, it says:

They were careful
as someone crossing a frozen stream in winter.
Alert as if surrounded on all sides by the enemy.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Whole as an uncarved block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Turbid as muddied water.

Who can be still
until their mud settles
and the water is cleared by itself?
Can you remain tranquil until right action occurs by itself?

The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
For only those who are not full are able to be used
which brings the feeling of completeness.

In large part, this describes the ministry and presence I aspire to create here. It is a style that likely feels different than other ministerial leadership. It aims at a slower pace in a frantic world. It focuses on presence and being in the moment with people. It asks of us to be open, curious, alert, careful, kind, solid, and fluid. Sometimes, holding space for a question allows an answer to come over a period instead of immediately forcing one out. Even among the all the transition this year, I feel this way of being together has been welcomed (even if it means that emails are not answered quickly unless they are an emergency or scheduling). What the Tao Te Ching describes above is also what the search committee understood that the congregation hoped for in the culture we shape together. My hope is to offer this community spiritual leadership and not simply the function of ministerial tasks.

As luck would have it, I happen to personally know all the ministers that preceded me at UUFCO. I met them at collegial gatherings, justice events, or in a seminary class. I have learned some things from each one of them, and each in their own way, they have helped form my own ministerial understandings. I no doubt share some similarities with the ministers who have come before me, and I am also different in many ways. There may be gifts from these previous ministers you appreciated and miss. It is hard to say good bye to people we love, no matter if it was a decade ago or last year. Or perhaps there were more difficult experiences that still rattle around inside you. For good or ill, the ghosts of ministers past are always lurking around a church. Given all this, you have offered me a space to be myself and bring my own gifts into this community. I have encountered curiosity of spirit, open minds, and open hearts as the Tao describes. You “gave the new guy a chance.”

One significant way this year has been different is that for the first time in Rebecca’s and my shared life, we do not have a “next move” planned. And this congregation has never had a longer-term minister. We are exploring together the ways that this affects how we build our foundation. A lot of this year was finding a mutual trust with each other. This has been between“minister and congregation,” but I would also say, we have been building a greater trust between congregants as well. This work will be ongoing. Trust is the foundation of any ministry as well as a basic fabric that binds our meaningful relationships among all fellowship participants. It is what helps establish a space into which we can open and grow.

I feel a part of this community and that is a special thing to me. I do not want to minister from afar, but rather from within. This was perhaps most clear to me by the way I felt when I returned to the fellowship after being away for my father’s memorial service. Coming back to Bend felt like coming home. Coming back into our congregation felt like returning to my spiritual home.

Part of my hope is to always be in formation as a minster though new learnings and by leaning into my growing edges. The fellowship is, of course, an imperfect congregation, and I am an imperfect person and minister. I understand that as we hold our shared imperfections with humility and patience, it is not perfection that we seek from one another, but a commitment to our relationships, our mission, and to our fellowship. As Unitarian theologian James Luther Adams said, “Church is a place we get to practice being human.”

I have already been changed for the better by being here with you. I look forward to the unknown ways I will grow as a person and as a minister in the coming years by being in relationship with all of you. It is my hope that each of us arrives into our congregational life opento the mutual ways that we can inspire one another toward love. “Possibility” is a word that continually comes to mind when I think about the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon. I said in my first sermon that I don’t know where we are going, but we are going there together. Here’s to the journey!

With love,
Rev. Scott

MAY 2018

Baseball season is here. We are Cubs fans in our house. Last year, we traveled to Washington D.C. to see an old friend – Alex, a Cardinals fan. We pulled in late for the weekend visit around midnight after many hours on the road. We carried the kids into the house asleep and put them straight into beds that had been prepared for them. It had been a long drive and everyone was ready to call it a day.

My seven-year-old son, Simon, woke up early in the morning before everyone else in the house. He was playing in the living room when Alex came downstairs and started making coffee. Simon and Alex had met once before during a weekend I had the joy of marrying Alex and his wife, but I do not think Simon really remembered him. I overheard Alex giving a valiant effort to get to know Simon, but Simon was feeling shy and uncertain since Mom and Dad were not in the room yet. The conversation could find a foothold. Alex is a huge baseball fan and had a baseball news show on the television as a part of his morning routine. He saw Simon watching it andasked, “Do you like baseball?” A home run of a question...

Simon excitedly told Alex all about the baseball team he played on, about the game the day before, and about how last season he was on the Blue Jays and how now he was on the Cubs. Then Simon brought out his baseball hats to show off. Alex was listening with great interest and asking lots of questions, enjoying hearing this new fan’s perspective on the game. To Simon’s amazement, Alex had a large baseball hat collection of his own hanging on a wall. Alex began explaining some of the game's finer points and Simon listened intently. By the time I came out and joined the conversation, a bond based on baseball had formed.

As Unitarian Universalists, we talk a lot about our diversity and differences. “We need not think alike to love alike,” we say. We come together believing many different things theologically and from many paths in life. We appreciate that we have a religious freedom that allows each to respond to the holy in the way it speaks to them. There is a great deal to learn and be curious about in our diversity.

AND, we also have a lot in common. Like Simon and Alex, these places might not be apparent at first. They may take conversation and courage to find. Once we locate them, the ways our lives, beliefs, and values overlap can offer us the opportunity to connect with each other. Commonalities create a bridge to relate with people. Finding similarities enables us to form relationships with nearly anyone. Overlap might not be obvious. It might be elusive. You might think it is impossible to find something in common with some people. But even someone you believe is your opposite in every way is, at the very least,  a fellow human being on our planet hoping for a positive experience of this odd thing called life. We all are here together (wherever “here” is). That is our great similarity. At the very least, if we recognize this commonality we might find some new teammates.

There are a lot of new people at the Fellowship. Coffee hour is pretty crowded. It can be easy to become overwhelmed. So we are being intentional about trying to find new ways to facilitate connections and will continue to do so. The One-to-One conversations hosted by the Healthy Congregations Team were a giant success, with over 60 people participating. We plan to do it again. Neighborhood groups are also being started. And there are always ongoing activities and offerings to take part in. Teams and committees are another way to get involved. Justice events are unfolding. If you'd like help finding a place to plug in, our congregational life facilitator, Chela Sloper, is just a phone call away.

Looking to make some connections at UUFCO? Guess what? So is everyone else. There is someone at the Fellowship you have never spoken to who shares some overlap of life with you. I know it. We just have to find it. Alex and Simon were able to find an unlikely connection and create a bond over a love of baseball. But don’t expect everything to match up. And that’s okay, too. It was clear at the end of the trip that Alex will remain a diehard Cardinals fan, while Simon remains adamant that the Cubs are the best baseball team in the world. There is connection to be found in our similarities and our differences. Let’s find some together. Play ball!

—Rev. Scott

APRIL 2018

In A Search for Meaning, Susan G. LaMar writes about the importance of Unitarian Universalist ordination and installation. Ordination is the process by which a congregation formally bestows a person with the office of minister. Installation is the process of a minister formally entering intorelationship with a congregation. I am switching the word ordination in the following passage with installation, as I feel the sentiments apply to both:

What is important is that through installation, something changes, both within the installed and within the community. A new and different relationship is acknowledged,recognized, and committed to... It is a privileged moment of life for both the installedand the congregation – something special is occurring at the initiative of the gatheredcommunity. It follows a tradition, is connected to the congregation’s understanding of “church,” both immediately and historically. Can it be seen, tasted, smelled, touched,or heard? No, except to the extent that actions evoking those senses are part of the liturgy. But the change itself is invisible, ineffable, silent. The elements of the rite are outward signs of an inward or spiritual grace – a sacrament. These are not words often uttered in Unitarian Universalist churches, but they capture what happens in an installation.

A sacrament is a rite in which the holy and sacred are present and uniquely active. We did create a sacramental act on March 10 when I was installed as the minister of UUFCO. There was great significance and spiritual depth to the service. As Unitarian Universalists, there was sacredness in the act of installation. We believe that the most profound, effective, and God-filled way to be religious is be together freely in the spirit of love, to walk side by side, and to use our reason, collective wisdom, and principles guide us. In our tradition, no outside body appoints a minister. That is the right and responsibility of each congregation. Calling a minister is one of the richest and most foundational ways that we exercise our form of church.

People have asked me what my favorite moment during the service was. It is hard to say. There was no one moment. There were many that took my breath away, that touched my heart, and that kindled the fire inside. But among all the moments, one that stands out among the rest is looking out at the people gathered as the words for the Act of Installation were being read and hearing the congregation say, “We do hereby install you, the Reverend Scott Rudolph, as the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon.”

You did that. A group of people seeking justice, using compassion, hoping to heal and grow, wanting to strike chords of joy in life believed in and affirmed my ministry. You have installed me as your minister. I am deeply honored, humbled, and charged. It is my hope that we all grow together, as individuals and as a community – that we will be blessings to one another and to the world around us. I am deeply grateful to this congregation. Thank you. Now... what’s next?

—Rev. Scott

march 2018

The authors of Interdependence: Renewing Congregational Polity write, “Congregational polity is itself a shared understanding, agreement, and commitment — in a word, a covenant — among various congregations; it presupposes their being in community and it furthers and sustains the actuality of that community... it is an expression of our spiritual vision.”

Here in Central Oregon, there are not too many other Unitarian Universalist churches around. (Okay... there aren’t any other ones around.) So here is your wonky structural lesson of Unitarian Universalist organization for the month. We are a part of the Pacific Northwest District (PNWD – www.pnwduua.org). The PNWD is a voluntary grouping of 58 UU member congregations in Alaska, Western Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The PNWD is a part of the Pacific Western Region PWR — www.uua.org/pacific-western.org, one of five regional bodies of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA – www.uua.org). The UUA is the national body of over 1,000 UU member congregations. Congregations vote for the leaders of the UUA, who oversee the central staff and resources. The UUA supports congregations in their work by training ministers, publishing books and the UU World magazine, providing religious education.

We hope to make good on the promise that lies in our polity when we come together with other UUs. Again, from Interdependence, “The benefits of congregational polity for a single church cannot be fully enjoyed in isolation, for true congregational polity can thrive only as part of the community of autonomous congregations.”

AND SO... the Pacific Western Region is having is Annual Assembly, and we hope to get as many UUFCO members there as possible. There is so much to experience and learn that people could bring back into the life of this congregation. Scholarships are available to all members for half or full registration fees depending on need. WE HOPE YOU ATTEND! We will be organizing carpool and possible room shares at UUFCO as well. Contact Chela Sloper, our Congregational Life Facilitator, with questions or to request a scholarship at lifefacilitator@uufco.org.

About the assembly:

Stories of Hope, Courage, Resistance, and Resilience
April 27-29, 2018 — Lloyd Center DoubleTree in Portland, OR.
https://www.uua.org/pacific-western/regional-assembly

• The opportunity to worship, workshop, live, love, and laugh with about 700 other Unitarian Universalists from across the region! If you have never had this experience, it is amazing.

• Great workshops during the day on many topics, including leadership development, worship, youth programs, multiculturalism, and congregational stories of hope.

• The keynote speaker on Saturday, April 28, will be U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress.

• Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray, the newly elected president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, will speak to us to share her emerging vision for the future of the UUA and our wider movement.

• The whole family can enjoy. Infants through age 4 will have skilled childcare available on-site on Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning, kids aged 5-14 can join in the fun at UU Kids Day Camp, and high school youth have a track of their own.

• Gathering with other UUs is a great way to be inspired and experience what we feel like as a wider faith. Folks who attend will bring back excitement and new ideas. Imagine how having our good folks there might help make UUFCO a more vibrant place. Whether it is on Sunday morning here in Bend or for a weekend in Portland, Oregon, it is good when we come together!

We hope you will consider attending.

February 2018

“One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”
   ~ Maya Angelou

To be generous takes courage. And certainly courage is involved in stewardship season here at the Fellowship. At this time of year, we look at the financial realities of our dreams for the future. It is exciting to consider what this community means to us and envision what the new year might bring. All that we are is the product of what we have been. And so we meditate on what will be required of us to bring our vision to fruition — both with our combined efforts and our combined financial pledges to support our Fellowship.

This work takes courage. Anytime we ask honest questions, it takes courage to hear — and respond to — honest answers. Then there is the courage it takes to even have conversations about money. Such conversations can bring up anxieties or patterns, hidden and seen, around our past experiences with giving — feelings of scarcity, feelings associated with being a steward of a church. Perhaps we carry the baggage of previous church life in which financial matters were handled poorly. And finally, there is the courage it takes to give bravely — to trust in a church and what it stands for, to trust that your hard-earned money will become something of beauty.

Giving takes courage. Should you need to bolster your courage, I invite you to look around our community. Look at the young children who are learning to be discerning and loving young people in our Religious Exploration program. Witness the many faith development groups and programs that offer our members and friends a place to explore, share, and grow in our understanding of faith and possibility. Be with our gathered community on Sunday morning as we create an embodied spirit of love. Know that our Fellowship champions the causes of people in need, people who are fighting systems of oppression. Hear the laughter and songs in the air. See the full range of generations gathered around common values like a fire that warms us, directs us, and illuminates our way. Know that our Fellowship staff is dedicated and working hard for this community.

This is all very real. This is a sacred place where the holy is present to play and heal. We have great reason to have faith in, and be faithful to, this church because of the ideals we hold and because of our people. May this faith enable us to find courage as we support our Unitarian Universalist church .

—Rev. Scott

 If you are proud of this church, become its advocate.
If you are concerned for its future, share its message.
If its values resonate deep within you, give it a measure of your devotion.
This church cannot survive without your faith, your confidence, your enthusiasm, your generosity.
Its destiny, the larger hope, rests in your hands.

   ~ Michael A. Schuler

JANUARY 2018

Hello! You there, in the future! It’s me, Scott, from the past! It will be 2018 when you read this! As I am writing, it is only December 20. It is not even Christmas yet here in the past. Oh, the things we all will have experienced by the time you read this! Your holiday season will be done, and you will have brought in the new year. I hope you had a lovely time! Or maybe it was terrible. And that is okay, too... Sometimes it happens like that.

Our theme for January is intention — a likely theme for the new year as we all reflect upon what we have been doing and what we may want to be doing differently. It is one of the most profound ideas for those who seek a path of spiritual living and growth. The idea of living intentionally is supported by understanding where we are in our lives and how we are showing up in any given moment (remembering that these moments are the actual minutes and moments of our lives). In beginning this new year, let us take a moment to be intentional about how we move forward into 2018. Here is a simple (yet not so simple) fill-in-the-blank quiz. Please take it when you get a moment in the hopes it may help you live with intention.

I would like to let go of ________________________________.

To let go of________________________________, I will need to ________________________________.

And that may not be easy. To make that happen, I will need to ________________________________.

Letting go of this scares me a little because ________________________________.

But I want to let it go, and I believe it would be worth it because ________________________________.

The first step in doing this is ________________________________.

So, I will begin doing this first step on this date at this time ________________________________ .

Something that would bring release and rejuvenation to my life would be ________________________________.

I currently do not do this because ________________________________.

It would be possible to bring this into my life if I ________________________________.

To do that, I will need to________________________________ .

And that will require that I ________________________________.

I want to do this, and I believe it would be worth it because ________________________________.

The first step in doing this is ________________________________ .

So, I will begin doing this first step on this date at this time ________________________________.

Something I would like to intentionally bring into my life or something I would like to be intentional about doing is ________________________________.

To do this, I will need to ________________________________.

And that may not be easy. To make that happen, I will need to ________________________________.

Doing this scares me a little because ________________________________.

But I want to and I believe it would be worth it because ________________________________ .

The first step in doing this is________________________________ .

So, I will begin doing this first step on this date at this time ________________________________.

New years are full of promise. I wish to you all the courage and grace to move forward into those dreams.

With Love, Rev. Scott

DECEMBER 2017

December is here. A month of holidays! Hanukah, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and Festivus, all leading into the New Year. Of these, Christmas is the one that is the most culturally omnipresent this time of year. People celebrate Christmas in many different ways, ranging from completely secular to deeply spiritual. In the Christian tradition, Christmas observes the birth of Jesus. Now, there are far more ways of thinking about who Jesus was than there are holidays in December. Pondering all the different ways that people consider Jesus reminds me of an experience I had long ago. This different vision of Jesus may offer some insight into how to stay calm in this hectic holiday season.

I was at church camp as an eighth-grader at Montreat in the Black Mountains of North Carolina. Church camp was a special and holy place for me growing up. It was a hard place as well, as I struggled with the Christian theology, self-expression, and self-acceptance. One night the youth minister led us on a guided meditation. He asked us to close our eyes and get comfortable.

In a very slow and deliberate way, we were asked to picture ourselves somewhere, anywhere. What do you see when you look around you? What are you doing? After a time, we were invited to imagine that Jesus arrives in this world in which we have found ourselves. What does he look like? What does he say? What does he do? What does it feel like?

I wanted my encounter with Jesus to be lofty and deep, so I tried to have Jesus say important things. I tried to craft some story or experience that would resonate for years to come. I tried to force it, and it didn’t work. I wanted the experience to be something specific, so there was no room for it to “just be.”

I do remember what Roger imagined, though. Roger was an older kid I looked up to in the youth group. He was kind, inclusive, honest, quiet, and quick to laugh his great chuckling laugh. He also played some mean bongo drums. I was always impressed by his ability to simply be himself — to be Roger. When it was Roger’s turn to share, he said he imagined himself lying in a big field on his back with his hands behind his head. The sun was shining brightly. The grass was tall. There was a soft breeze. Then Jesus walked up and lay down next to him with his hands behind his head and his legs outstretched. Jesus didn’t say anything. They just hung out together quietly enjoying the surroundings. He said it was really peaceful. And that Jesus was just really full of “good vibes.” To this day, that remains one of the most profound images of Jesus I’ve ever encountered — stables, mangers, and crosses included.

Looking back, I have no idea what I imagined that evening, and that is because I was too busy trying to force it.

Perhaps this holiday season I will try less to create the perfect holiday experience and try more to just let it be what it is. This will be our family’s first Christmas here, so the pressure is on! But it rarely works for me when I try to force something good. It almost always works better when I stop trying to control things and allow a little more space for life to unfold as it will. There are plenty of seasonal and self-imposed expectations this time of year. My hope for all of us is that we can find that sweet balance of engaging the best of what this season offers and going with the flow enough that we enjoy it all as well. No matter how you are celebrating this holiday season, may it be a wonderful time of hope, wonder, and love.

—Scott

NOVEMBER 2017

Last year, my family went to New York City for a few days. We saw the Statue of Liberty, ate breakfast in a New York diner and lunch in Chinatown, enjoyed a picnic in Central Park, walked through Times Square, had a daily intake of New York pizza, and, of course, rode the subway — which, if you ask our kids, was the highlight of the trip.

For me, a highlight of our trip was worshiping with the Unitarian Church of All Souls one Sunday morning. It is one of our most historically significant congregations, both for its people and its actions. For me, visiting that church was a pilgrimage of sorts. Founded in 1819, All Souls was the first Unitarian congregation organized in New York.

At that time, William Ellery Channing, now known as the father of American Unitarianism, was the minister of the Federal Street Church in Boston. In 1819, Channing delivered a sermon in Baltimore titled, “Unitarian Christianity.” With this address, he codified a way of being Christian that rejected the trinitarian structure of God and instead proclaimed the unity of God. He also declared the absolute necessity of using reason to interpret biblical scripture. Channing arrived in New York with his message boiling over. His sister, Lucy Channing Russell, gathered people into her home in Manhattan to listen to the ideas of her brother. And a church was born. It is because these people before us lived and spread their values that we gather together today as a religious community in the way we do. Our congregations look and feel very different today.

All Souls Unitarian Church is in the middle of Manhattan, a few blocks east of Central Park. The church is old and formal. The organ fills the cavernous space, and statues and plaques adorn the halls with lofty names from our history. In that New York church, my 5-year-old daughter reached out to the back of the pew in front of us and pulled out the hymnal. She said with amazement, “They have the same one here that we do at our church!” The chalice was lit. We sang familiar hymns. We gathered around shared values. It was the children’s first experience of a UU congregation that wasn’t their home church. 

This summer, when the kids came to UUFCO for the first time, my daughter again noticed that we have the very same hymnals we used in Pittsburgh! Each Unitarian Universalist congregation is a unique expression of its history, its current actions, and its dreams for the future. And every congregation is also connected to our larger tradition.

Getting to know this congregation over the past three months has been an absolute joy. It is so exciting to be here as we continue to create the life of this fellowship together.

—Scott

october 2017

Ever wonder when or why you might reach out to your minister? You are probably not alone. Many years ago a Unitarian Universalist minister named Peter Lee Scott wrote a column called "When to Call the Minister." The column has been passed along and adapted many times over for many years. The following list should be read with the lens that as a minister, I am not a “fixer,” but I am a source of care and perspective. Here’s my take on it:

• When you don’t know me but would like to or you would like to know me better.

• When you’re planning to be married.

• When you are going through marital difficulties, separation, or divorce.

• When you are having difficulties in health.

• When you have given birth to a child or adopted. Or wish to have a dedication ceremony.

• When something in your life is going wonderfully and you would like to share that with someone.

• When you have problems or concerns you’d like to discuss — problems with your job, children, partner, health, wellbeing, or anything else where a listening ear might be help. I do not do ongoing counseling or therapy but can usually provide referrals when it is needed.

• When someone close to you has died, is suicidal, or is critically ill.

• When you’d like to plan or make advance plans for a funeral or memorial service.

• When you are pregnant and glad you are or you’re pregnant but wish you weren’t.

• When you want to know more about Unitarian Universalism or have a friend who is curious.

• When you’re considering joining the church, but you still have some questions.

• When you have decided you would like to join the church.

• When you’d like to get involved in church but are not sure how.

• When you would like to offer your time, talent, or treasure to our fellowship.

• When you’re upset with me or have concerns and would like to talk about it. Or if you’re appreciative and would like to share.

• When you need help, but you’re not sure who to call.

• When you have questions you don’t know what to do with.

• When you’d like to talk about religion, theology, or spirituality.

This list is, of course, incomplete. There are many other reasons that you might be in touch. But you get the idea. The point is – be in touch. I like to remind people to share good news as well as trials. Joy loves company just as much as misery. In time, I plan to establish a Pastoral Care Team here to expand how we care for one another. And there are always the good people next to you in church, friends established or new, to whom you can reach out.

We are a caring community. We are a place where we hold, nurture, and lift one another up. To do so, we must be willing to offer help and ask for it as well. Talk to you soon.

With Love, Scott

September 2017

Thank you.

Occasionally in life there are times when we find ourselves overwhelmed at being the recipients of great kindness and generosity. Words do little to capture those feelings of deep gratitude swirling inside. At times such as these, I find that there is little to do but offer a heartfelt and sincere “thank you.” (But I am a minister, so I will continue on with more words when a few might have sufficed.)

The congregation of UUFCO has invited Rebecca, Simon, Tessa Jane, and me into this community with an abundance of warmth, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness. We have been greeted with friendly smiles and open hearts. People have been generous with hugs and handshakes. We received a welcome basket with a museum membership to learn, stuffed otters to snuggle, books on Bend to read, eclipse glasses to view celestial events, and water bottles to hydrate. In short, we have been made to feel welcome, and there is no greater feeling when arriving in a new place and a new home. So “thank you.” A feeling of intense gratitude swirls inside of me. Kindness transforms the recipient (as well as the giver). Please know that we have been forever changed by the kindness we have been shown upon arriving at UUFCO.

Part of my beginning here (the largest and most important part) is getting to know you. There is no substitute for sitting down for a conversation. During September, I will be hosting some informal gatherings here at the fellowship called Histories and Hopes. I’ll meet with groups of eight people or so to answer any questions, to talk about the life of the church, to hear your stories, and to understand your hopes for the future of this congregation. There will be sign up sheets on the kiosk offering different times and dates. Or you can email the office (mailto:admin@uufco.org) and sign up that way. If a substantial group self-forms around a particular time and date not listed, let me know and we will try to make it work.

HISTORIES & HOPES—Location, dates, and times

Bend - UUFCO: Wednesday, September 6 at 2 p.m.
Bend - Jackson’s Corner (Eastside):  Thursday, September 7 at 10 a.m.
Bend – UUFCO: Wednesday, September 13 at 6 p.m.
Bend - Deschutes Brewery: Tuesday, September 19 at 7 p.m.
Sisters – TBD with group
Redmond – TBD with group

Here we go!

—With Gratitude and Excitement, Scott