We’ve been hearing a lot about guns lately, as we slide towards the deadline for campus carry. I won’t surprise anyone by naming the problems: the gaping loopholes in gun sale laws; the influence of the NRA that has blocked not only extreme gun control, but mild regulations which even most members of the NRA … Continue reading Campus Carry? Really?

This spring I’ve become aware of prairie burns. I knew they existed before; there were small burns where I lived previously in Wisconsin and Oklahoma. I had chuckled many times at the signs on Oklahoma highway: “Do not drive into smoke.” Never before, though, have I noticed such an intense smell of smoke in the … Continue reading Earth Day 2016

Strategic. Planning. Committee. Three words that people may find it hard to get excited about. Yet they’re very important to our future. We have an outstanding group of people looking at where we’ve been, where we are, and how we need to move to become the best UU Felllowship we can be. Strategic planning requires … Continue reading Strategic. Planning. Committee.

When I lived in Wisconsin, I was told it was bad luck to say farewell to winter, because it could always come back. As I write, the day is beautiful and sunny. By the time you read this, there’s no telling. Could be spring breezes. Could be snowstorms. The Farmers’ Almanac tells me the average … Continue reading SPRING!

I hesitate to join the moaning and groaning over the Presidential campaign. However, the trends concern me deeply. Like Pope Francis, I won’t name names as I critique the tone and content of some of the Presidential candidates’ statements and the news coverage. I wonder what it would be like if the media covered the … Continue reading Campaign Commentary

When UUFM chose to recruit a Developmental Minister rather than go through a regular search process for a minister, the Fellowship committed to change. The particular goals you deve- loped were to become more involved in the community, to accept ministerial leadership, and to grow in membership. It’s one thing to say we want change and … Continue reading Commitment to Change

In our service on January 10, I invited people to consider both who they as individuals serve and also, who we as a congregation serve and who we might serve. The members make up the congregation, and to some extent, the members are who are served. But any institution that serves only its own members is … Continue reading Who Does Our Congregation Serve?

When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, the heal the broken, the free the prisoners, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among … Continue reading January

As you probably know, a group of religious leaders in Manhattan has gone on record with the City Commission supporting an ordinance to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in employment and public accommodations. Here is what the letter read at the December 1 meeting says: Distinguished Commissioners: As religious leaders, our traditions … Continue reading Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

Peace on Earth. Goodwill to all. That’s what the story says the angel proclaimed. This season, peace on earth grows ever more elusive. When I originally wrote this column for the newsletter, the Paris attacks and Beirut bombing had not yet faded from our awareness. The immediate response to the events in Paris was increased … Continue reading Peace on Earth?