Dear WUU Community,
Have you seen the signs on Ironbound Road? Thanks to the efforts of an ad hoc team of Program Council members, WUU is boldly witnessing to everyone who drives by that Black Lives Matter. 
We’re getting local print and TV coverage of the project, and best of all, we’ve heard that families from the community are visiting and using the signs to teach their kids about equality. Go, team!
You may have noticed we’ve made some changes on Sunday mornings to strengthen our racial justice commitments, too. Throughout July and August, we’re doing a special racial justice series of From the Heart talks by many different WUUs.
And in the worship services I’m leading, I’ve been experimenting with naming the racial background of each author or composer whose work we use in the service. Why? Well, many people of color have pointed out that, if we only identify someone’s race when they are not White, that implies that Whiteness is the norm or the default. It’s a subtle way that systems of White supremacy can invade our consciousness. When we deliberately speak of “the White writer so-and-so,” it may sound a bit jarring at first—but that’s the whole point! It’s meant to disrupt those false and harmful thought-patterns that Whiteness is somehow “normal,” even invisible, so that only deviations from Whiteness need to be named and pointed out. At last month’s UUA General Assembly, my colleague the Rev. Patrice Curtis, who is Black, strongly encouraged congregations to begin this practice if they have not already. Going forward, I hope you’ll join me in observing and learning from your own reactions when we explicitly name Whiteness in worship. (By the way, have you heard about the recent public conversations around capitalizing Whiteness and Blackness? Here’s a recent article to check out by Black historian Nell Irvin Painter if you’d like to know more.)
Lots of other good things are happening in the congregation too, even though we’re still doing most of our connecting here in Zoom-land. I do want you to know what a treasure our Caring ministries have been in this time, as our volunteers make calls and send cards to WUUs who are feeling isolated, every single week. Let me also lift up the beautiful work of our WUU Choir, Jamie Bartlett, and Dave Robbins in making their first-ever virtual choir recording—Blue Boat Home was the perfect choice to help us feel connected!
Meanwhile, our social justice work continues full steam ahead, as volunteer teams support the Journey to Asylum project, a recent food drive for Williamsburg House of Mercy, and so much more. We’re also continuing to deepen and strengthen our online religious education program for all ages. Right now a new team is preparing to offer some adult online classes this fall. Our high schoolers continue to meet weekly, and our middle schoolers are getting ready for a celebratory online Coming of Age service this fall.
As for me, by the time you read this, I’ll have begun my annual “study leave” time away from regular congregational duties to plan for the coming year. On that note, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to all the volunteer leaders at WUU who contributed feedback to my ministerial evaluation this year. Your insights, suggestions, and encouragement have been invaluable to me as I consider how I can best serve this wonderful congregation in these times.
Through August 11, I’ll be digging into books, webinars, and big-picture thinking time…and then, I look forward to being back in the virtual pulpit with you on August 16, when we’ll celebrate our first-ever online Animal Blessing! I wish you a beautiful, safe, and joy-filled couple of weeks, and I’ll see you again soon.
In faith,
Rev. Laura