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A bright future for healthy congregations
The Rev. Steve Crump, after serving the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for thirty-six years, is leaving active ministry. Crump has spoken up on a wide range of justice issues, from abortion to gun control to same-sex marriage, and sees a bright future for healthy congregations. “Any good church has a great future because it will be more imperative to be face to face in a high-tech, low-touch world, which is the kind of world we’re living in,” Crump said. (The Advocate, 1.11.19)
Chalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Escondido, California, long ago outgrew its existing space and will soon break ground on a construction project that will provide “much needed space for this vibrant congregation,” president Marshall Fogel said. The congregation’s minister, the Rev. Sharon Wylie, said, "We are diverse in faith, ethnicity, history, and spirituality, but aligned in our desire to practice our faith in tangible ways.” (San Diego Union-Tribune, 1.10.19)
UUs offer assistance to those in need
Members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbia, Missouri, returned from a service trip to Honduras. Gabriel Gassmann, 17, reported that: “This past summer’s trip was my third time going to Honduras. Each time, as I’ve aged, I’ve begun to perceive this aspect of the communities in which we’ve worked more and more. . . . This time, . . . I both worked and talked, and I was treated as an adult by the Hondurans themselves. And so I learned more about what life there is actually like than I ever had before.” (Columbia Daily Tribune, 1.11.19)
The Rev. David Helfer, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of South County in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, is preparing to travel to El Paso, Texas, to help immigrants at the border. Helfer, who created a GoFundMe account to purchase supplies needed by immigrants, said, “At some core level, these are our siblings. . . . We just are in different circumstances, but it’s common humanity. I believe I can’t preach the values I preach if I’m not putting them into action.” (Narragansett Times, 1.11.19)
The Matthew Mission of First Parish Church in Taunton, Massachusetts, is helping workers affected by the government shutdown. Matthew Cook said that the mission is helping out both directly and indirectly: “I do know of one family that needs about $600 for prescriptions for a child. We can’t directly help out with any medication-related costs, but we can provide other things so that (employees) can afford them.” (Taunton Gazette, 1.14.19)