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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 07/01/2008 - 1:00pm
Greetings from Southern California where, even as this column went to press, gasoline is inching towards $5, numerous library books are coming due, but the jacarandas are still in full bloom. The educational leave granted me by the congregation has been restorative and fruitful, giving me some blocks of time for study and reflection. Thanks, congregation, for this break. And thanks, staff, Board, and leadership, for keeping the hinges oiled and the mission front and center. Here are a few highlights from my recent experiences here in CA:
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 06/01/2008 - 1:00pm
My educational leave continues. I am enjoying the reading, the study and the beauty of southern CA. The stroll through the libraries of the Claremont Colleges is a feast, a banquet for the mind.
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 04/01/2008 - 1:00pm
I am currently on educational leave for the three months of April, May, and June of 2008. I am adding four weeks of vacation time to the leave, so that my actual time away from the congregation will be from April through July. I am dedicating the time away to reading, reflection, writing, and renewal as visiting scholar at Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, CA. I plan to attend classes at Claremont and have access to the school library.
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 03/01/2008 - 1:00pm
✔ A high school student, whose school bus passes our church every week day, emails our church and asks for advice. He sees our “welcoming congregation” message on our sign. But he can’t attend our church because he (being 17 years old) must attend the church of his parents, a church, he claims, is un-welcoming towards gay people. What should he do? Here is an excerpt from my written response to him: “ . . . Often religions simply say: ‘Don't and thou shalt not’ and attempt to remake other people in an image that does not honor the unique core of a human being.
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 02/01/2008 - 1:00pm
✔ Change at the Chalice Lighting
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 01/01/2008 - 1:00pm
✔ Change is inevitable. Even while trying to hold onto things as they are, we change. Songwriter Jacques Brel wrote, “Everything must change . . . the young become the old. Mysteries do unfold. That’s the way of time. No one. Nothing goes unchanged.” With the calendar flip, I covet for you clarity, consciousness, a generosity of spirit, and a hopeful expectation of the dawn.
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 12/01/2007 - 1:00pm
✔ Enjoy the holidays here at our church, full of wonder and aglow with ambience and delight; alive with laughter and music. Unitarians were the first Americans to adopt the European custom of bringing a tree into the home at Christmas time. Charles Dickens was a Unitarian. Clara Barton, Universalist and founder of the Red Cross, was born December 25. The winter solstice touches upon ancient rituals and feelings, a remarkable celebration for children and adults alike. There is no reason to be lonely during the holidays. Come and bring your friends. Or, come and make new ones.
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 11/01/2007 - 11:00am
 Late breaking news: The UUA supports and encourages us to continue our racial justice work. You will be pleased to hear that we received a grant from the UUA’s James Reeb Fund, making it possible for us to employ William Winters as Racial Justice Coordinator.
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 10/01/2007 - 11:00am
 The Advocate and local electronic media have reported our church’s recent activities in support of “public and private action in support of justice and reconciliation in Jena, LA.” The resolution, brought to our congregation for a vote by the Board of Trustees of our church, was composed
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Crump's Expressway
Post date: 09/01/2007 - 11:00am
Staff covenant of right relations ~Two years ago, members of our staff --Leslie Hebert, Jessica Gray, Diana Dorroh, Ila Stoltzfus and I-- began working on a document of right relations. In most UU congregations, such an agreement between persons on how they promise to relate with one another is called a covenant. We thought you’d be interested in the language of our covenant: • “We promise to value our ministry of leadership to our congregation as a team and to offer our loyalty to that team.
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