My Dear Church Community,

Here we are one quarter of the way through our church year, and yet it feels as though it’s just begun. Fall (Florida style) is beginning, and the sweltering heat is over (we hope)! The Sunday Services Committee is already working on our church services for Thanksgiving week and Christmas/Hanukkah time!

Our wonderful board members and ministry teams have been busy. It makes me very happy to announce that Patti Underwood, one of our new board members, has agreed to oversee our Fun and Fellowship activities, most of which have regular volunteers, but since we are UU’s there has been no one leader or coordinator for the entire category of activities. Instead, we have relied on whoever knows how to do things and whoever steps up. Our church is great that way! We are newly categorizing a number of things under Fun and Fellowship, including Coffee Hour (usually teamed by Michael Newcomb and Jack Comstock and whoever else pitches in), Circle Dinners (organized by Linda Cobb), The LUUnch BUUnch (organized by Hugh Ed Turner), the MLK Day Parade (organized by Kate Wolverton), Potluck Meals (a group to be determined ad hoc), The Readers’ Group (organized by Laurie Winterberg) and the Church Campout (teamed this year by me, Denise Gunn, and Joe Vinson). We have been missing the Coffee and Conversation Time before church on Sundays, which before the pandemic was organized by our dear Rob Pallme. If you are interested in getting that going again, or have other ideas for Fun and Fellowship, please contact Patti!

Fun and Fellowship is very important to our community, and I, for one, NEVER say “That’s enough fun for one day.”

We have other folks who have stepped up to the plate to share their warmth, skills, and talents, too! We have two new folks joining with religious education to work with teens. Thank you so much to Crys Brockway and Honor Bell. The teens are going to have a rich and rewarding time!

Another new member is also sharing her talents. Charlotte Snyder, who lives in Milton and in in the landscaping business, first volunteered to work with our regular lawn person to make sure the grass is mowed regularly, and now has volunteered to write the new member articles for this newsletter.

So this letter to all of you is written in great gratitude for the new members AND the old, those who know how we’ve always done things, so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel, those who just carry on, taking responsibility and (without any fanfare and without much recognition) doing what needs to be done, and those who pitch in with brand new ideas and energy. There are those who can give a lot, and those who just bless us with their presence, or even stay in touch as best they can. We know you’re out there and we all benefit from you being part of our community. Let’s all remember to be grateful every day and express that gratitude whenever we can. I wish for you all a wonderful October.