Meet the First Parish Ministry Team
IMAGININGS
Kitsy was ordained in 1982, and has been a resident of Maine for more than a decade. In that time she has served numerous congregations up and down the Maine Coast and in Canada, including one in New Brunswick (where she continues to visit once a month). Kitsy’s main responsibilities are for Pastoral “Care Ring” and to the Life Long Learning Council, although as a resident of Portland she is also often available to respond in an emergency if none of the other team members are available.
When my children were small, I heard about an intentional community - Twin Oaks in Louisa, Virginia - which had been started by a UU woman in 1967. She had written two books over the years about the challenges and gifts of creating, then maintaining this "ongoing experiment". When I read that the community sold hammock kits as their "cash crop", my first spouse (the father of my children) sent for one, assembled it, and hung it in our large front porch. All of us swung in that hammock throughout the kids' growing years. I told my kids about the many varieties of intentional communities that I knew about, including the two 19th century Utopian communities started by Unitarian Transcendentalists - and friends - in New England (Brook Farm and Fruitlands), and how I often thought of living in community. Imagine my suprise when two years ago my daughter (born the same year that Twin Oaks was founded) informed me that she had applied to become a member there. Upon fulfilling the series of requirments the community made of her, she was voted in as a provisional member and, last May, drove from her beloved San Francisco to begin her six-month provisional residency on a farm in VA. Last November the community voted again - this time to accept her as a full member. This April 14th I plan to ride Amtrak to Charlottesville, VA where my daughter will meet me and take me home with her to a place I have long fantasized about, but never seen. Be the universe willing, I'll ride Amtrak home on April 20th - with stories to tell.
Before I even leave for Twin Oaks, we will have celebrated Easter together - another opportunity to celebrate what is the highest holy day in the Christian calendar. Unitarians and Universalists are, originally, the offspring of Christianity - separate from each other at first, then joined when we merged in 1961. For a number of us, the Christian story is still important, though we may interpret it differently from our more orthodox Christian sisters and brothers - and though we may have found additional sacred stories and writings to inspire us. And for some of us, myself included, Jesus is still a significant figure in our lives, though we may not think of him as divine, but fully human - and, hence, mortal like us.
May we all delight in the return of this season of renewal, however we celebrate it. May we give thanks for this life, for each other and for First Parish by supporting all three with joy and whole-heartedness. In gratitude and love, Kitsy
Will’s Quill
Will was ordained in 1972, and began his ministry in Brunswick, ME in 1976, while still completing his PhD in American History at Columbia. Will recently retired and was designated Minister Emeritus by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Portsmouth, NH, although he continues to serve the UUA actively in other ways, most prominently as the Trustee from the old NH/V District (which has now been consolidated with our district here in Maine). Will’s primary responsibility is to work with me, the rest of the staff, and our deeply devoted lay leadership group in order to develop a set of working “Standard Operating Procedures” that will allow us to grow. His experience and expertise in this area make him a valuable “coach” to our entire congregation, but it should also be said that Will is here to serve as my “back-up” in the event that my own health should suddenly take a serious turn for the worse.
wcs@hermitageinthewoods.org or wsaunders@uua.org
The preacher said, "Let's walk," and the people said, "Amen." The preacher said, "Let's talk," and the people said, Amen." The preacher said, "Let's pray," and the people said, "Amen." The preacher said, "Let's pay, and the people said, "Let's walk." Precisely because discomfort is such a common response to money, we need to talk about it, not just when it comes to the national debt or property taxes, but when it comes to faith, to religion, to matters of the spirit.
Many of us have been brought up to believe that religion is "spiritual" and money is "material." That is a false dichotomy. Everything is interrelated. Religion is as much material as it is spiritual and money is as much spiritual as it is material. Our chief discomfort in talking about money is that our attachment to the material is much stronger than our attachment to the spiritual, despite protestations to the contrary.
Giving is as important as receiving, maybe more so. The issue is where we place our trust and how we show our trust. The issue is one of faith and the way we frame our lives. Do we think in terms of what we do not have or what we have lost, or in terms of what we do have and what we have gained? Do we approach life as being half empty or half full? What matters is our attitude toward life and all that is Holy. We are here to celebrate life and live with love and compassion for all creation and return to the commonweal from the gifts we have received. Life will sustain us through trials and tribulations. All shall be well. Life is about giving, not about holding.
Our annual pledge campaign for the life of First Parish is beginning. Please pledge generously??and something more. Consider ? not just today, but as a part of your ongoing spiritual journey ? your giving not in proportion to what you have but in proportion to what you have been given.