Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown

Dear Ones,

Grief and glee.  That’s what I’ve been feeling lately, since Dave and I announced that it was time for us to retire from parish ministry.  Glee because other needs are tugging at us — relationships, family history, art and music making, reading, community responsibilities here at White Horse Village. And as we age, ordinary householding and bodily maintenance become ever more time consuming.  It will be good to do all these things with more energy and attention.  But sorrow is coming to the fore.  How we will miss you!  In these short three and a half years, attenuated by being very part time, blighted by the shutdowns and restrictions of covid, we have come to love you all.

So we  offer  you these five expressions of farewell:

We Love You. We Forgive You. Please Forgive Us. Thank You. Goodbye.

We love you, individually and collectively.  You are a valiant small congregation, living your faith, caring for each other.

We forgive you. Well, there’s not much to forgive, so let us reiterate that despite the struggles in being a small congregation in difficult times, you have kept going, making progress, reaching out. Please forgive us. We are sorry for all we have not accomplished, for moments of inattention and carelessness. Please release us from the burdens of our failures and frailties.

Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you, to get to know you, to laugh and cry and eat and sing with you, to love you. You have enriched our lives and deepened our experience of ministry.

Goodbye.  We will let you go, knowing that you are in good hands — your own, and each others’, that you will work together  to become the congregation that you are meant to be. With the help all of you working together,  leaders and elders and children and youth, newcomers and long-timers, with denominational advice and encouragement, and mostly with your own deep spiritual resources and commitment, you will continue to bless the world.

And please forgive me if I weep at our last service.

Love, Kerry and Dave

Perhaps you’ve been wondering what religion will be like a hundred years from now, in Pottstown (in the U.S., in the world . . .). Here are some possibilities:

(a) While organized religion has continued its gradual decline, Unitarian Universalism, with its emphasis on social justice, its recognition of the climate crisis, and its realistic theology, has grown and has become the largest religious (some would say post-religious) group in the U.S., and perhaps in the world.

(b) In recognition of commonalities and in response to challenges, there have been some con-solidations: UUs have merged with Quakers, the liberal side of the United Church of Christ, the Ethical Culture Society, Reconstructionist Jews, liberal Muslims (or ex-Muslims), and westernized Buddhists to form the Universal Organization.

(c) The Roman Catholic Church has evolved in a liberal direction. Women have full equality. The bread and wine are no longer considered the actual body and blood of Jesus but are recognized as symbols. Abortions are okay. Popes (or Mopes) are elected to 10-year terms and are no longer considered infallible. Hell has been abolished, and upon death people are given the choice by St. Peter (or one of his assistants): eternity in heaven, fixed term in heaven, reincarnation (with memory wiped out), or extinction. Orthodox Catholics have merged with Roman Catholics. Episcopalians (and Church of England) and Lutherans have returned to the Catholic fold. The consolidated group has taken on the name the Universal Catholic Church.

(d) A few denominations – and independent congregations scattered across the country – are known for their racist, sexist, homophobic interpretation of Scripture.

(e) After a long period of decline, religious participation and affiliation among those under forty has begun to increase, reaching nearly 10% of those between the ages of 25 and 40. Most of the increase has been in Zoom churches and followers of the god Zooz.

(f) Around the year 2100 the earth received evidence of civilized life in a distant galaxy. Subsequently, a religion developed based on worship of the deity (or deities) and on the moral and theological values of that civilization. Needless to say, the creators and followers of that religion have no knowledge of that supposed civilization and have used their imagination to create the new faith.

(g) Religion is of interest only to historians and is remembered only by those over 50. Which, if any, of these seven paths seem the most likely or the most desirable to you? Do you have other (possibly better) ideas?

Love, Dave