In his recent New York Times op-ed, David Brooks declares that the American Renaissance has begun. He posits that, although Covid-19 has disrupted American life, the disruption has created space for something new. He discusses some ways this experience has changed us and closes his piece by saying “People are shifting their personal lives to address common problems – loneliness and loss of community. Nobody knows where this national journey of discovery will take us, but the voyage has begun.”

As I read the article, I could not help but think of our UUCP community. We have been affected by all sorts of adversity for more than a year including fear, illness, losses and social isolation. We have had to rely on ourselves, personally and collectively, to find new ways of navigating life as the old patterns were disrupted or de-stroyed. We intuited at the beginning of the shutdown that everything was changed, and we would come out the other end somehow different. No one knew for certain what that would look like.

But new space opened up. Inspired by love, Past President Lauren Anzaldo, Reverend Alice Syltie, the Governing Board, and Ministry Teams – especially Sunday Services, CRE, Membership and Fun and Fellowship – had to find new ways of meeting spiritual needs and countering social isolation to keep our bonds of community strong. That meant thinking creatively and developing skills in new areas such as Zooming, video production, Facebook live streaming, and establishing our own YouTube channel. Thanks to them, we now have an expanded digital presence that has created new possibilities, and these platforms will continue to serve us as we evolve.

We have been apart together, and we have all looked out for each other. Our Safer Congregation Team sought ways to bring us back together physically as soon and as safely as possible. Through it all, our life went on and we never flagged in our mission to celebrate diversity, strive for justice and inspire love.

We now come to a new turning, a new year replete with possibilities and new beginnings. What will we discover? How have we changed? How have we remained the same? Where will our journey of discovery take us? I do not have the answers to all these questions, but I do know this: our new journey has begun, and we will voyage together.

Faithfully,

Arnie Ondis, Board President