Our prayer is for democracy to be a spiritual practice of accountability that resists fascism.   — Rev Elizabeth Nguyen With November come elections, so it’s the perfect time to talk about democracy as a central value of Unitarian Universalism.  It’s right there in our fifth principle (the right of conscience and the use of the … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — November 2019

I’m continually amazed at who feels they belong and who feels they don’t belong.  Not because of any particular qualities of either group, but because feelings of belonging seem so unpredictable.  This can be especially pronounced in a congregational setting because of our expectations of church. Of course, some feeling out of place can be … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — October 2019

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus has often been quoted as saying, “Change alone is unchanging.”  That is, life is permanently in flux.  As we enter this month of considering our expectations, we need to remember the permanence of change.  Sometimes, we go along as if everything will stay the same and are startled when change happens. … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — September 2019

Almost every week, I see something that reminds me that religious affiliation in the US is consistently and rapidly dropping.  Nearly as many people identify as unaffiliated (22.8%) as Evangelical Protestant (25.4%), the largest group.  Most who identify as “nones,” that is, having no religious affiliation, have questioned the particular beliefs taught by religion and/or … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — August 2019

This year’s UU General Assembly proclaimed and explored “the Power of We.”  Each year we gather as representatives of congregations to shape the work of our Unitarian Universalist Association.  This year, we took a step back to consider a larger perspective.  Who are we together?  What do we want our faith to be?  One of … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — July 2019

What does UUFM mean to you? Here are some possible answers (no one of these will be true for everyone, but each is true for someone): Place of inspiration and learning about myself and the world Place where my children feel comfortable playing and making friends Sense of knowing others and being known Opportunity to … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — June 2019

On May 5, 1819, two hundred years ago, William Ellery Channing delivered an hour and a half long sermon on the Biblical text, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”  The sermon did more than focus on the role of reason in religion, though that was part of it.  It laid out the … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — May 2019

In February, our theme was trust.  Have you noticed how the themes move into one another?  We went from trust, to journey in March and to wholeness for this month.  We need trust to make the journey.  We need to journey to reach wholeness.  As we strive for wholeness, I thought it might be a … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — April 2019

In the last year, UUFM has had a sudden uptick in membership.  Currently, more than a quarter of our membership is new in the last year.  That’s a tremendous amount of change for everyone. This congregation does well with change.  When we’ve experimented with how we worship and with how we organize ourselves, people have … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — March 2019

As we approach Valentines Day in this era of #metoo, trust may be a good thing to think about in our personal lives.  We’ve witnessed tremendous violations of trust in the public sphere, and the reports just keep on coming. For most us, though, trust doesn’t feel like a public issue, or even a theological … Continue reading Jonalu’s Journal — February 2019