Dear WUU community,
Have you seen the Visioning Circles report? What a powerful summary of the hopes and dreams so many of you (over 100!) shared in last month’s Visioning Circles.
You spoke of fellowship, worship, religious education, social justice, music, and so much else that has made WUU a special community over the years. You shared things you love, and things you wish were different. You’ve challenged each other and our congregational leadership to do the deep work of reimagining and reinventing how WUU will serve our mission in the months and years to come.
So what’s next? We’re already moving forward on hiring music staff. This month, a small team of diverse music leaders will be developing job descriptions based on your feedback, while our Board begins to put together a search team. Our hope is to have positions posted no later than April. We’ll keep the congregation in the loop every step of the way.
In the meantime, our congregational leaders are reading your words with great care. Board members, ministry team leaders, and staff are planning a leadership meeting this spring, to begin translating your feedback into strategic priorities and concrete projects. I’m excited to be working with everyone as we enter the congregation’s 34th year and discover together what’s next for WUU.
I’m also excited to share with you some news about my upcoming sabbatical. Starting on August 1, thanks to the generosity of the congregation, I will be taking four months away from my normal responsibilities, to rest, refresh, and recharge.
In UU congregations, it’s typical for ministers to take sabbaticals every few years. This August, it’ll be five years since we began our shared ministry together—I can hardly believe it’s been that long already.
While I’m away, the congregation will be in great hands, thanks to our highly skilled, hard-working sabbatical committee: Linda Lane-Hamilton and Pat Russo, co-chairs, plus Phoebe Kent, Jane Reilly, and Angela Surber. They and I will be working closely over the next few months to make sure we’ve got everything covered. (To reach the sabbatical team, you can email sabbatical@wuu.org.)
During the sabbatical time, I’m planning to do some travel and study, and also build in some periods of retreat and rest time. For many years, I’ve been wanting to go back to the Burren, a beautiful place on the west coast of Ireland that I love dearly. (You might know it as the ancestral home of the late John O’Donohue, one of my spiritual mentors.) So I’m planning a trip there in September, to walk and be on the land, and take in the writings of the Irish mystics who have called it home. I’m hoping to add in a side trip to the Cotswolds in England, to explore the history and spirituality of the Arts & Crafts movement that flourished there in the 19th century.
Many ministers also use sabbatical time for a deep dive into spiritual practice. For example, some might go on a meditation or yoga retreat. In October, I hope to take an extended class in shamanic journeying, the practice that has helped me align most deeply with spirit. The Foundation for Shamanic Studies offers a two-week intensive course that I’ve applied for, just a couple of hours away at the Sevenoaks Retreat Center. The focus is on learning healing practices rooted in indigenous cultures around the world, in a way that is respectful and non-colonialist.
For the rest of the sabbatical time, I already have a stack of books I want to read and a whole list of webinars I want to take. But I’ll balance my impulse to study with some time devoted to rest, including a couple of trips to retreat centers nearby. Then, I’ll get to return to you just in time to celebrate the winter holidays together.
Once more I want to thank the entire WUU community for making it possible for me to take this sabbatical time. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much! I can’t wait to see what we all learn as we go.
In faith and with love,
Rev. Laura