FROM THE MINISTERS

Rev. Kelly Crocker, Co-Senior Minister

There are many rituals in our shared life that we hold dear. Our annual Water Communion and Flower Communion Services, which begin and end our church year; Winter Solstice and Christmas Eve Services, which remind us of the light in each of us and the beauty to be found in darkness; and the Coming of Age service, when we hear heartfelt and thought provoking Belief Statements. For Unitarian Universalist clergy, as for clergy in most faith traditions, a ritual we honor and value is that of sabbatical leave.

A sabbatical is an extended period of leave from one’s usual work, especially for rest or renewal. The root word literally means “ceasing,” and has its roots in the Sabbath ritual of a day of rest and in the practice of letting fields lay fallow for a season so that rejuvenation of the land can take place. The recommended guidance from the UUA and the UUMA is for ministers to accrue one month of sabbatical for each year served, to be taken between the fourth and seventh year of ministry. The average ministerial tenure in a UU congregation is five to seven years, so the practice of sabbatical provides an intentional time of renewal and rejuvenation to help make longerterm ministry healthier and more sustainable for both minister and congregation. They provide opportunities for new perspectives and continued growth—personal, spiritual, and institutional. Kelly and I both accrue this sabbatical leave as part of our covenant with you.

I have gratefully served FUS since July 2001. This coming year marks my 23rd year of ministry here. I have previously taken one sabbatical: four months in 2010. After the past 13 years of ministry, including 5 years of ministerial transition and interim work, the Board of Trustees has approved a sabbatical for me for six months, February through July of 2024. I plan to use this time for rest, reflection, renewal, intentional spiritual practice, time with my children and family, refilling my spiritual well, and hope to return to FUS rejuvenated and refreshed.

More information will be coming to you as the sabbatical time approaches. Rev. Kelly AJ and the FUS staff, along with the Board of Trustees, plus all our committees and ministry teams who share responsibility for our ongoing programs and operations, will ensure that FUS will remain a vibrant and busy place in my absence. In addition, we will be hiring a ¼ time Sabbatical Minister to work alongside Rev. Kelly AJ.

Sabbaticals are opportunities to move more deeply into our hope of shared ministry. One of the greatest ways for you to embrace this opportunity is to use my absence to care well and often for each other, serving one another and this community with compassion. A minister’s sabbatical is a time to draw upon strengths as a congregation, a time for personal and institutional growth, and an opportunity for renewal in commitment to the community. It can also be a time to reflect on the congregation’s relationship with us, your professional ministers, and how we can best collaborate together in years to come. This is a wonderful time to celebrate the shared ministry of our community and each member’s work and commitment to our shared congregational life.

Rituals help us mark the passing of time, convey values, make meaning, and return to deep wells of regeneration and renewal. Done well, ritual is a pathway to new ways of being and a shelter from life’s storms. I am so deeply grateful to have this time to engage in the ritual of sabbatical renewal and look forward to sharing more in the months ahead. ◊

We gathered in the month of May to recognize and celebrate certain milestones in our congregation. Full of promise, commitment, and transformation, the rites of passage we witnessed included children, youth, young adults, and adults in our faith community. These rituals serve to remind us that we are a part of a long history of faithful and loving members who have come together over time to create beloved community.

We celebrated New Member Recognition , acknowledging and naming those who had recently—or not so recently—signed the Membership Book. We had not held a ceremony to honor the newest members of the congregation since 2019. What a joy to again be in person to share in this celebration!

We participated in Child Dedication to name and affirm our commitment to this named child, and to all our children, as they grow and change and learn. We agreed to love, guide, and cherish each one.

We witnessed our Coming of Age teens step into a deeper role in our shared life. Following a year of creating intentional community with their peers and class facilitators, our youth shared thoughtful and engaging worship in their Coming of Age ceremonies. As a faith community, we promise to walk with them in the work of living our faith within our walls and in the world at large. We hold firm to the promises we made to them when they were young children, and we continue to companion with them on the path of open-minded understanding and open-hearted presence in the lives we share.