“You can’t change the past, but you can make adjustments to your present for a better future.” ~ Anonymous
While the turning of 11:59 PM on December 31 into 12:00 AM on January 1 is simply the passing of time, it has come to symbolize so much more. Many people, such as myself, take the time to reflect on the past year and do some personal assessment on how they want to move forward into the new year. For me, it is a time of optimistic thinking – What are the possibilities for this year? And, as President of the Board of Directors for the UUFP, I (along the other members of the board), will do the same thing for the Fellowship.
The year 2020 certainly presented the Fellowship with challenges that we have never faced before. In spite of these challenges, the fellowship continued to function (albeit in a whole new way) and is finishing the year solvent. That is something that all of us should be proud of. I won’t take the time to review all of the things we accomplished in 2020 (you can look at past Sojourners for that information); however, I will highlight some new things that occurred in December. The Fellowship participated in a clothing drive to support Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Pottstown. This church has a “store” where they provide clothing free of charge to anyone in need who comes in and “shops.” Through the generosity of our fellowship, we were able to fill two SUVs with boxes and bags of clothing. They were quite impressed with how much we donated.
In addition, a new walking club was started (Thank you, Kay). The first walk took place in December and many people took advantage of the opportunity to combine exercise with socially distanced comradery and good, old fashioned talking. If you would like to join in future walks, check the Sojourner for dates and times. And, thanks to Miranda Van Horn for spearheading and putting together a Christmas Eve service. That service is always one of the highlights of our year and due to Miranda’s efforts, we were able to have it.
The year 2021 offers so many possibilities for the Fellowship. The board will be spending the first quarter of the new year in assessing what we learned about ourselves as a fellowship during the pandemic and what we need to focus on in order to move forward. However, this type of review cannot be done in a vacuum. We will need input from members and friends, so consider this a “heads-up” that we will be reaching out for your perspective.
I will end by pointing out that 2021 offers new possibilities for friends and members who are thinking that they would like to become more involved with the Fellowship. Many of our committees are always looking for people to help out. If you would like to join a committee (or maybe start a new one), please reach out to the committee chairperson or a member of the board. Your efforts are always appreciated!
Here’s to all the possibilities that 2021 has to offer us and the Fellowship!! ~ Linda