Select a statement... Joyce Ambler Steve Braun Jennifer Brock Brad Brown Natalie Browne Carol Burrus David Collins Tom Cowen Audrey Crawford David Damico Lindley Doran Virginia Drapela Cindy and Mike Hart Ruth Hoffman Mary Jane Hurlbert Mary Koch Lydia Luz Melanie Mayeaux Laura Nagel Barbara Nelson Martha Northington and Grace Amborski Jim Null Sue Null Pam Perry Deborah Rothschild Al Sevcik Dema Solberg Allison Stovall Wendy Van Syckle John Walsh Joe Zuchlewski

Stewards are caretakers who share responibility for a community of people. Joyce Ambler - 2006 It was a hot and dusty journey from Berkeley to Houston in our non-air-conditioned, battered VW bug.  Crammed into the back seat were all our worldly possessions and our weepy 9-month-old daughter, Laurie.  John had us on a tight schedule.  He was to begin teaching at Rice in three days.  It was August, 1964.  I knew that one of my priorities in this large city was to find a Unitarian-Universalist church for our family.  The day after arriving, a Sunday, I went out walking from our temporary garage apartment on Southmore and two blocks away I found First UU.  I walked in and met members who proudly told me the story of how First UU had chosen to desegregate.  The vote had not been unanimous and some members left the church, but the next year attendance at Sunday School rose from 100 to 360 children.  Liberals across the city celebrated this church as the first in the city to desegregate.  This is the first story that I tell visitors about our church.  I joined the church six weeks later and soon thereafter began volunteering at the Martin Luther King tutoring program, run by First UU.  That spring several church members, including the minister, Horace Westwood, participated in the famous civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in honor of the UU minister, Reverend Reeves, who had been murdered in Selma for his civil rights activities. I have been at First Church most of my adult life, from my late twenties to seventy.  I found female mentors in the women's groups.  Our children found friends and a very active RE program.  For John and me, friendships developed and deepened and have lasted for decades. One of the most important hours in the week became the worship service, where I found intellectual stimulation, good music, meditation and quiet.  I am proud of the many social justice programs initiated by this church.  First UU remains a beacon of progressive thinking in this city.   I found new opportunities for personal growth through serving on the board and the executive committee, and chairing other committees.  One of the richest of these experiences has been In working with the Stewardship Committee.   Here I became acutely aware of the many financial needs of the church.   John and I began wondering if we were doing our fair share of giving back to the church.  When we increased our giving, I felt a new sense of belonging and commitment. I know that I am a more loving and compassionate wife, mother and psychotherapist because of what I have received at First Church.  My entire family joins me in saying "thank you" to the ministry, staff and to this community for the generosity, support and vision that we have been given at this church. Top Steve Braun - 2006 My name is Steve Braun and Grace Amborski asked me to be one of the church members to give a short "Stewardship" Testimonial regarding my history here at first UU.  (I'm sure those of you who know Grace know she's very hard to say "NO" to.)  So here I am! The two areas I'm to address this morning are: 1) How I came to First UU, and 2) How First UU has changed my life. The first part I've shared many times in smaller settings, and there's a serious and not-so serious side to this story.  The second part...how First UU has changed my life...I have not shared much, because frankly I had not thought deeply about it until Grace gave me this assignment.  The second part also has a serious and not so serious side. So.... how did I come to First UU?  Well, after not attending church in any regular manner for approximately 30 years, I first came here on Sunday morning, April 1st, 2001.  That was on April Fools Day and I had a great time.  Because it was April Fools Day, the minister, Bob Schaibly, made fun of everything...his gayness, his baldness, his tendency to not always be funny!   Other speakers that morning, following the April Fools theme, also made light of..... the congregation, the liberalness of the place, of Bob Schaibly, etc., etc.    I laughed and laughed and felt like this was a place I should get to know much better.  (I had been raised Southern Baptist here in Houston so this was incredibly refreshing because I still thought of church services as being primarily "Hell, Fire, and Brimstone".) The serious side of the story is that I came here that April Fools Day at a time of deep crisis.  Without going into the gory details, I came seeking connection and spiritual guidance.  I came seeking spiritual relevance.   Because of this personal crisis, it was pretty clear to me that the work to which I had devoted the last 5 years of my life would be unfinished....yet I needed to go on with life.  To regroup, to survive and to move on!  I knew traditional churches had never provided plausible, salient answers for me, but the depth and wisdom of the sermons I heard here in 2001 gave me hope that I could make it through this crisis and find meaning and direction for my future life. Part TWO: How has First UU changed my life? Well, starting again on the not so serious side....... I go to church now. (That's a HUGE change in my life.)  (I just tell my mostly conservative REPUBLICAN family that I go to "Liberal Church".)  (They still don't know what to do with that!) I now have a place to hang out on Sunday mornings if I choose not to sleep in!  I have a whole group of new friends and acquaintances who are not shocked by my beliefs or lack of beliefs.   This I find to be a very great benefit in conservative Texas! On the serious side of "How First UU has changed my life"........First UU has served as a shelter for me to explore my personal spirituality.   Thru the many interesting sermons I've heard, the many thought-provoking adult discussion groups I've attended, and the many informative classes I've been able to take here, I've been able to explore Spiritual things without feeling that I must arrive at one required, narrow "Christian" truth. Surprisingly, I would have to say this spiritual exploration (at First UU) really has changed my life because it has taken me from a hardcore Atheist to somewhat of a Theist.  (Not a hardcore Theist, but more of a Zen, "One all-pervasive Spirit", very loosely-defined Theist.)   This is a continuing journey for me, and I enjoy taking it in the friendship of all the other reformed Baptists, Catholics, Jews, Hindus, etc, etc, who have also found a spiritual home here at First UU. Well that's about it!  Thank you for listening....and MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!  Top Jennifer Brock - 2006 Looking back I realize my final destination of First Church was inevitable. My father passed away when I was quite young, but I remember attending a UU congregation with him from time to time.  After his passing, my mother took my siblings and me to her Christian church on a regular basis.  Never feeling quite comfortable with the answers I was given to my religious questions, I would continue to go, because I was told. Once out in life and on my own, I met beautiful people of all religions, and some really cool and very nice, Atheists.  I would ask myself, “How do we know whose really right?” We don’t! But I must say the Atheist’s gave me the most sensible answers. Now as a Humanist Adult, and a parent, who is a minority in my area as a liberal, I needed community and guidance on how to deal with people’s comments and convictions. Most important, I needed knowledge on how to teach my young child that it’s okay to believe in different things or, not to believe at all. As long as you treat people with kindness and respect. My final challenge that lead me to First Church was when my two year old’s day school, refused to have a Halloween party for the kids because they felt it was worshiping and supporting paganism. However, all the parents were expected to volunteer in the schools “Pumpkin Patch” to sell pumpkins and spooky stickers, so the school could profit.  That’s when I knew I had to find a congregation and make friends that shared my and my husband’s views and to find a better environment for our young daughter I found it!  Ironically, our first Sermon here was regarding how we SHOULD let the children celebrate Halloween. It’s fun and death is a part of life so why not talk about it and yes, even make light of it while still remembering those where were once with us.  Children know “scary”, not “evil”.  Gail gave that sermon. We joined two weeks later. Our decision to join was confirmed when we looked around and saw such a mix of people, ages and orientation. It was so great to see same sex couples with children, and a female couple holding hands and the aura of their love just bouncing off of them. This was a great thing to my husband and me. Love in anyway should be condoned, not condemned.  Now at the end of my freshman year at First Church, I attend two Chalice circles. The parents group, and Common Threads. In addition, my husband and I help with the Pre-K Religious Education and I help with the News Letter Team when I can. I always leave these groups with great advice and a smile on my face. We found the perfect place. When I walk through these doors, I know I’m supported in my liberal views and humanist values and beliefs (or non-beliefs) and most important I know it is a great environment for my child.  I feel like we really belong.  It’s a great feeling.  Thank you First Church. Top Brad Brown - 2007 I knew at the age of five that I was a Unitarian. The story is a little complicated.  My father grew up as a Unitarian in Plymouth, Massachusetts and attended Sunday school in the First Church.  My mother grew up as a high Episcopalian.  My father was required to submit to baptism before he could marry my mother.  He never attended church again except for weddings and funerals.  I attended Sunday school at the Congregational Church of suburban West Newton.  The Congregational (now United) Church is the other tradition descended from the Pilgrims and Puritans.  My best friend at the time, Jon Hitchens, who was the son of the Minister of the Unitarian Church, invited me to a Christmas party at the Unitarian Church.  It was wonderful.  I knew I had found the church where I belonged. I was a Unitarian!  But I did not get to attend that church.  I also knew at the age of seven that I would attend Harvard.  At seventeen I was not that sure.  However, I did make it to Harvard and by the time I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics I had learned enough history and philosophy to know why I was a Unitarian.  I remember when Adlai Stevenson, a Unitarian and presidential candidate, came to Harvard and announced in Latin “Via Ovicapitas dura est.”  In English, “Difficult is the way of the egghead.”  I started attending the Unitarian church. Since then I have belonged to and attended seven Unitarian or Unitarian Universalist churches.  I was a corporate gypsy with DuPont for 30 years working in six different locations.  My key criterion for accepting a transfer was, “Is there a Unitarian Society there?” I find it easy to be a Unitarian.  I am an agnostic, humanist who believes in evolution and mystery, multiplicity, and ambiguity.  Mystery is not magic. There is mystery because we can not understand everything we want to know.  There is multiplicity because there is more than one way think and to act.  There is ambiguity because sometimes we think contradictory things and sometimes we do contradictory things.  I am still learning to be a Universalist.  I see Universalism as offering a way to deal with mystery, multiplicity and ambiguity.  The 19th Century Universalists believed that a loving God would never create a soul who was condemned to Hell.  I do not expect to participate in an afterlife.  It makes no sense to me for a person to toil through this life to spend eternity in a Club Med in the sky or in a boiler room down below.  Truly, humans can and do make places and periods of Heaven and Hell here on Earth.  I have experienced both.  I fully expect to do so again. The reason I want to be a Universalist is that I want more Heaven and less Hell and I want it in this life.  A strong message of evolution and history is that humans have survived this far only through cooperation and the development of civil society.  The motives of personal profit and personal power work against cooperation and civil society.  Historically, leaders have tried to legislate or compel people to cooperate and behave.  The results are always mixed.  It is my observation that the key to a better world is the community and work of voluntary associations.  Our Unitarian Universalist Church is just such a voluntary association.  It has been my first choice of the many voluntary associations to invest my energy and resources.  I believe it helps internally and externally.  Internally, we can grow individually in our understanding of what it means to be human and live in a loving community of diverse individuals.  I contribute to First Church to support its programs – not just my favorites, but your favorites also.  That is multiplicity in practice.  Externally, we can grow in our understanding of social justice.  Only more social justice can promote more Heaven in our community and in the world.  We need to dedicate some of our energy and resources outside our church community.  I look forward to the day when First Church tithes – The day when First Church uses at least 10% of our pledges outside our church walls and outside the UUA.  Then we will be true Universalists.  Please join me in bringing more Universalist Heaven into this church, this community and to this beautiful world into which we were born. Top Natalie Browne - 2007 Hi, I’m Natalie Browne.  My husband Al Kondo and I have been coming to First UU for four and a half years. I come from a rich Christian background: my father was a fifth generation minister; my mother’s father and grandfather were ministers.  I was born in China where my parents were serving in the relief effort after WWII, and I was raised in Brazil where my parents worked for twenty-five years.  Religion was all encompassing in our home.  When I came to my father upset with a friend, the response often was, “Well, lets think: how can we be of service in this situation?” Not necessarily what a little girl wanted to hear!  But it was daily training in looking beyond self to the needs of the whole.  Church itself was Sunday morning and evening plus Wednesday evening.  When I got to college, I thought I had o.d.’d on so much religion and that was why I stopped attending church.  It was only later that I realized most of my peers were finding meaning outside the structures of the institutional church at that time.  I belonged to the infamous class of 1969 that was ready to protest and confront almost any institution. I remained on the fringes of formal religion until the need to choose how best to love and serve became strong enough for me to consider the call to ministry.  I was seriously contemplating seminary when I met Al, an avowed atheist.  We decided our friendship was for the long term and, had we known more about Unitarian Universalism at that time, he might have accompanied me to seminary.  Instead, I came with him to Texas! A few years later, my yearning for spiritual community and my desire that our two young children grow up within one led me to the Episcopal Church.  There, I re-encountered God as an adult and integrated my academic and secular understanding with contemporary theological language and symbolism. But, I also yearned for Al to speak the same language.  He found that even the liberal Episcopal Church -- as welcoming and as likeminded as many of its members were -- bottom line, was exclusive.  And the more I studied and pondered, the more I came to agree with him that we were exclusivist and that I understood the teachings of Christ much more broadly and God’s love as universal. So Al and I began a search for a place we might grow spiritually together. It didn’t take long.  This was the second UU congregation we visited.  As we left this sanctuary after our first visit, we agreed we had found a potential home.   We’ve been here for over four years and we still don’t speak the same language!  However, we have a community that supports and accepts each of us as we are and where our shared values are enhanced. In my four years here I have served as a greeter, a summer Spirit Play storyteller, blood drive coordinator, note writer for the Care Team, worship associate supporter, member of the Membership Committee, part of the prison pen pal ministry and, most recently, as a member of the Board of Trustees. I choose to serve not only because I don’t know how not to, but also because I believe in the core of my being that this is a holy place, where all people are loved, supported, and encouraged to grow.  I keep discovering new aspects of us; for example the depth of our ministers’ pastoral care -- which often occur unseen -- be it one-on-one support, financial assistance through the use of their little known and often under-funded discretionary fund, or helping members make connections to community services.  And currently, I am excited that regardless of perspective, the membership of this church seems to be welcoming the self-search we are conducting to become more open to each other and to the world.  My upbringing taught me the importance of being a good steward.  I can think of no place that I would rather be one. Top Carol Burrus - 2006 Charlie & I were married at this church, 15 years ago.  Our children have been here since birth & were dedicated here.  I have been coming here for more than 20 years, a few of the years I worked here.   Some of you have histories that are much longer than ours.  Some of you are new to this amazing place this amazing place where this past year in the 4th grade R.E. class, the kids learned about consensus, about taking care of the earth, about different religions this place where the people we meet in coffee hour, whether young or old, see the world as a place where folks of all kinds matter.  This place where we find friends who are open to the world – open to different answers to the big questions.   Most of my friends I found here. I am here this morning to ask you to increase your pledge.   Here is why.  We are here together, you and I, trying to create the church we want, the world we want, here at 5200 Fannin.   Unfortunately we are human and sometimes we go in the wrong direction.  We haven’t fulfilled all our dreams about how we want this church to be.  We need to figure out how to move ahead for the future.  We need to figure out what we want as a collective "we" and decide how to move to that.   And doing so takes time.  Our Unitarian Universalist Principles uphold the democratic process.frankly, this is a very difficult process it is slow, confusing and requires vision and leadership of all of us who can do so.  It requires time, a clear plan, and committed participants.   Fortunately a clear plan is emerging and I will tell you about that.  We need commitment from us, the members of the congregation. I am very committed to this place and to its future, in the long term.  Right now we must take the first steps, the next steps in the short term.  The first next step is to get enough money to continue the next few months while we figure out what we need as a congregation, what we vision and what we need to get there.   Here's what is planned to help us in the next few months: #1   The Committee on Ministry recommended to the Board of Trustees that the Board consider a consultant from outside the denomination to help the Congregation reflect on the needs for our church, what is working and what is not.  Watch the newsletter for updates on this and your opportunity to give input. #2 The Board has started working on a plan for us to create a vision for the next few years.  This involves everyone who wants to participate to create the vision for this church for our future.  #3 This afternoon in our Congregational Meeting we will be voting on extending the budget for 3 months, to give more time to this process and give information on where we are and where we need to be financially. So first come this afternoon, then mark your calendars to participate in this very important opportunity for change in our church.  Participate openly and fully.  Next, give some more of your money, so we can continue the next few months, covering our expenses as we move forward to create our vision of the future.  This is our church.  We are the members & friends of this congregation.  It is our privilege and responsibility to make it work.  Let's do so. Top David B Collins - 2006 The Chronicles of DB, Volume One DB had made some mistakes in his career, his finances, his marriage.  He figured if he did one big thing right, nurturing his child into a sensible, functional, compassionate, well-grounded, well-rounded citizen; a true Mensch, in other words; it would make up for all the wrongs. One of his friends was happily attending a small Unitarian-Universalist fellowship in San Antonio.   When this friend and her daughter visited him in Houston, they went to First UU on a Sunday that happened to be Flower Communion Sunday.  That made an excellent first impression. On a different visit, as part of a writing workshop, DB found in the literature rack an informative pamphlet that contained a memorable quote: “If you don't teach your children about religion, they'll learn it on the street.” In Texas, that was a very scary prospect.  DB wanted to inoculate little Aubrey against views that were not as egalitarian and humanitarian as his own. The congregation was not perfect, but DB had long since made peace with the fact that those who seek perfect friends will have very few friends.  Besides, as we have noted, DB was far from perfect himself.  During a six-month test-drive, he found that the church could help him in his continuous efforts for self-improvement. After a couple of years, DB felt the absence of a youth music program, so with the help of the Religious Education Director, he created such a program and directed it, with moderate success.  He sometimes directed rehearsals in a state of dire fatigue after playing with his bar band the previous night, but the music somehow got made. Then DB finally felt the urge to see what he could do in the grown-up choir.  When he found out that people without corrective lenses were welcome, and that a young, energetic soprano would happily take over the reins of the youth choir, he found a seat in the tenor section.  He never imagined that joining an amateur choir would lead to two miraculous trips to Europe, the events of which will be detailed in Volume Two of the Chronicles of DB. Over the years, the church proved a shelter in times of strife.  There were long-term illnesses and changes in employment status.  There was an entire year when his financial commitment to the church was zero as he struggled to pay the bills.  In other words, Life Happened. However, DB found at First UU a place where music is not merely part of worship, but worship itself; a place where the human and natural environments are not separated, and where caring turned to action, to nurturing the world around it; and where he and his nagging imperfections felt welcome. Mostly, though, DB found in the church a nerve center for nothing less than a revolution.  In a society where the dominant economy was based on cruelty, the government’s main concern was how much it could get a way with, and religious intolerance controlled the debate by shouting while corporate money bulldozed every progressive reform since Magna Carta, First UU was a fellowship that dared to challenge the status quo. So on a particular Sunday in October, it fell to DB to convince the congregation that it was their duty to support the revolution with their money, their time and actions, and their love.  The stakes in this revolution—the end of American democracy, and possibly catastrophic climate change—are too high for individuals to play; but groups of determined individuals, pooling their resources, can at least stand for the Possible World of peace, justice, equality, harmony, diversity, ecology, love for the planet and her people. To be continued... Top Tom Cowen - 2006 How often have you experienced one of those special moments when all seemed right?  Maybe you heard a favorite song on the radio that conjured up a fond memory and your spirits were lifted.  Maybe the answer to a nagging question or mystery was revealed to you and you breathed a sigh of relief.  Sometimes the universe just opens up for us and we are blessed with a sense of well being and comfort.  These moments are referred to by some as “Aha” moments or “states of grace.”  I like to call them “tender mercies.”  My life has been blessed many times with the gifts of tender mercies.  The universe has treated me well.  When those tender mercies were given to me, it then became my responsibility to remain worthy of them and put them to good use.  Certainly one of the best gifts I’ve ever received was finding this church eight years ago.  Emerging from a very difficult period in my life, and having taken a painful self inventory, I realized that I was spiritually empty.  I had long been comfortable with my atheism, but it was disconcerting to me to acknowledge an undernourished spirituality.  Where does an atheist go for spiritual nourishment?  If he’s paying attention, he comes here. After visiting First Church for several months, and being very well received, I decided to become a member.  First Church opened up areas of thought, and opportunity, and involvement that I had never expected.  The first year or so was mostly spent observing the church and learning more about Unitarian Universalism.  But, not being the type of person who merely observes for long, I began to participate.  Attending Adult Discussion Groups on Sunday mornings, going to the monthly GLBT potluck dinners, and volunteering as an office helper on one Sunday per month, among other things strengthened my confidence and provided the vehicle by which I moved into leadership roles.  I’ve served on a couple of committees and facilitated many groups, two of the most rewarding being the Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality class for junior high aged youth, and the Spirituality and Nature Chalice Circle.  Yes, I found a way for an atheist to be spiritually nourished.  For the last five years I’ve had the good fortune, or tender mercy, of being employed by this wonderful congregation.  The universe has been good to me and I am grateful. I’ve grown to know this church as the most stabilizing and influential element of my life.  We are good and worthy people.  We continue to create a sustaining, authentic, and sincere congregation.  But what can become a monument to progressive faith in Houston cannot be built without money.  Battles for justice and equality cannot be fought without money.  What we offer here at First Church, in this little corner of the world, must continue to be shared with every hungry heart that enters our gates.  We cannot do that without maintaining financial stability and that stability comes from members making, and paying, pledges.  No amount of special fundraising, or renting out classrooms and banquet halls will provide us with the financial security to continue to offer all the benefits to others that I have received.  Membership pledging remains the bedrock of our future viability. One of my favorite poems is by the poet Jane Kenyon.  The first two lines of the poem state “I got out of bed on two strong legs.  It might have been otherwise.”  As long as I can get out of bed on two strong legs, and until such time it becomes otherwise, it will remain my hope to continue to serve this community with my time, my talents, and my money.    Top Audrey Crawford - 2006 I surprised myself 4 years ago by signing the membership book and becoming a member of 1st UU Church. I left the Catholic Church when I was a teenager – and for the subsequent almost 50 years I had no interest in associating myself with a church or with any religion. My first contact with the 1st UU Church was not about religion – although it was about a life transition. In the late 1970s – by a series of odd synchronicities – I discovered the Women's Group here at 1st Church. It was the height of the feminist movement – and many of us redefined our lives together in the Women's Group in the late 1970s and 1980s. I was impressed then that the Church supported the Women's Group – as well as a gay men's group – at a time when virtually no one would have admitted in polite company that they were either feminist or gay. Even after I moved on from my participation in the Women's Group, I kept 1st UU Church on my list of charities to which I sent an annual donation – unwittingly becoming a "pledging friend" of the Church. More than a decade later, 1st Church became a part of another life transition for me. Several years ago I began preparing to retire from a 20-year corporate career and began thinking about how I might replace the default community I was about to lose simply by not showing up every day at the office. Several friends had been urging me to go listen to the new woman minister at 1st UU Church. So, one day I showed up at a service – and heard Gail preach a sermon that was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. It was about our need for community and how we work to create it in our lives. Still wary of associating with a religion, I stuck around to see what this idea of community might be. I did the thing I love best to do – I joined a new book discussion group, becoming a charter member of the 8:15 Book Discussion Group. In that group, through our discussions of books about liberal religion and histories of Unitarianism-Universalism, I realized that UUism is a religion with a very long history. I also realized that I needed to participate in a religious discussion. It made sense to me to think of my life journey as a spiritual journey – and I loved being in a group where that idea framed the discussion –somewhat reassured by the presence of self-described skeptics and atheists who questioned whether there was any such thing as "spiritual." I signed the membership book feeling adventurous and curious. I joined a chalice circle and immediately gained 6 new friends that shared my intent to explore religious meaning in our lives. In the past 3 years, I have served on the leadership team of the Chalice Circle program; I have facilitated at several discussion circles; I am currently a volunteer and part of the leadership circle of the Care Team. I am grateful to 1st Church for being here for these significant transitions in my life. I'm delighted now to consider myself a participant of this community. Top David Damico - 2006 Good morning, my name is David Damico. I have been an active member of 1st church now for a little over a year. I was raised Roman Catholic in a fairly traditional family in the 60’s and 70’s. My parents’ concept of what church was tended to be at odds with the newly reorganized Catholic faith. So many changes were happening. Formally, the mass itself was changing and conceptually, the focus of the church’s mission was changing. I saw nuns go from full length dress to mini veils to no head dress at all within my 8 years in Catholic elementary school. The nuns in my Catholic high school called it Christian rather than catholic.  This was at odds with the rigid formal traditions that my parents tried to instill in me. They didn’t understand my confusion. At 19, I entered the catholic Seminary at the University of Dallas in Irving. Change was happening there as well. Any sign of tradition was frowned upon in favor of the growing social consciousness of the new Catholic Church. I was once again, caught in between those who secretly plotted to keep the old ways and those who made fun of my simple upbringing. I quit after three years. I attended LSU in Baton Rouge and ultimately was introduced to German and French Existentialism. I LOVED this new way of thinking. Finally, things were making sense. This lasted for 15 years. At some point, on urging from a former girlfriend, I became active in an artist group that had several people who attended the Shreveport UU church. They talked it up, I went and I eventually became a member. Finally, a church that had a relaxed formal system and admired those who asked the hard questions. I was a member at All Souls for 9 years and office manager for one summer before coming to Houston. During that summer, our Interim minister spoke to me of the differences of a Unitarian and Universalist congregation. I seemed to be drawn to the Universalist side because of my upbringing and where I was on my own path. I had attended Emerson on many occasions simply because it was closer to my former wife’s relatives. I also tried this church a few times and found the congregational makeup more welcoming. I moved to Houston for graduate school, I chose to attend this church because of its Universalist appeal, at least in my way of describing Universalism, that of community and fellowship. I quickly became involved with the adult discussion group and was even asked to be a part of the Adult Programming Committee. I am an occasional discussion group facilitator and whatever else I can fit into my school schedule including the Nature and Spirituality Chalice Circle. There are so many options in this church; I can’t do it all but I wish I could. I am fascinated at how dynamic and vibrant the people at First Church are in their opinions and willingness to be part of a larger entity. I am keenly aware of people’s opinions about this and that regarding church happenings having some idea about congregational politics. I think this critical awareness is the life blood in this church. I am very happy in this church and wherever I end up after school, I hope to take ideas, energy and that sense of belonging with me. Top Lindley Doran - 2007 I grew up in God’s Country which is how New Englanders refer to that part of the world because of its beauty, not its godliness. My father’s family had been Universalists since the 19th century, my mother’s, Episcopalian.  My early exposure to organized religion clearly shaped my eventual path to Unitarian-Universalism. The other factor which has informed this decision has been my experience working as a psychologist with gay, bisexual and lesbian young adults in Texas universities. First, it is important to understand the socio-political context in which I grew up and which shaped my experience of religion. I think it is very hard for people from outside the Massachusetts Bay Area to understand the depth of enmity, rivalry and prejudice that permeated the lives of Irish Catholic and Protestant people for many years in that part of the world, but, in my case, the 1950s and ‘60s. These were the days before Vatican II and prior to JFK’ s controversial run for the Presidency as a Catholic. Historically, the Anglican Boston Brahmins had demonstrated very little regard for people of Irish descent, particularly Irish Catholics, who, according to the stereotype, drank too much, had too many children and were beholden to the Pope. This prejudice created enormous resentment and rivalries between the Boston area Irish. My maternal grandmother, a much beloved woman in the neighborhood, whom every one called Aunt Lizzie, carried a lot of shame and hurt as a result of this discrimination. She often made the point that her family were "lace curtain Irish" which was code for the genteel Protestant Irish who could afford lace curtains for their homes in their religiously segregated neighborhood.  Aunt Lizzie’s own prejudice towards Catholics was very jarring to me because it ran counter to my experience of her as an extraordinarily kind, fun-loving, politically liberal and open-hearted woman who had many exotic and interesting friends, as I remember. As a result of these experiences, I decided early on that religion was a very touchy subject that seemed to divide people, not to unite them or increase human understanding. Meanwhile, my own family joined the Episcopal Church when we moved to the Boston suburbs in the early 1950s. I found the church services during my childhood to be stultifying and Sunday School immensely boring. The services amounted to rote recitation of one creed after another, standing up, sitting down, endlessly. It all seemed pointless to me. I rarely felt either intellectually challenged, really engaged or spiritually uplifted. It felt only like an obligatory, rote activity, like brushing your teeth every day. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a doctorate in psychology, I first moved to Texas in 1977, to accept a job at the Counseling Center of Texas Woman’s University in Denton. Following four years at TWU, I spent ten years at SMU’s Psychological Counseling Center and am now in my 16th year as Director of the at the Rice University Counseling Center. The cultural dynamic that disturbed me the most upon moving to the South in the 1970’s was the homophobia and rejection gay students frequently experienced. I was moved by the pain I saw among young people who were slowly coming out to themselves as gay people, building up the courage to tell friends and family, often only to be rejected and reviled. Many of these gay students of the Deep South were devastated by the rejection of their church. I saw young people coping with HIV and being denied access to their religious home and community. Not having been very religious myself growing up, it was startling for me to see how critical one’s faith and acceptance in a particular faith community was to many of these young people.  I became very involved in working with gay and lesbian students, provided many educational programs, was an activist for gay student rights and reached out to parents who were struggling with the reality of their child’s sexual orientation. It also became extraordinarily clear to me that a future church home for me had to be open to all people, regardless of their sexual orientation. To reject someone out of ignorance and fear and not even to attempt to understand their life experience was not acceptable to me. First UU Church has become a spiritual home for me that embraces these values and standards. Unlike the rote recitations and established doctrines of my former religious life, it challenges me to be thoughtful about my values and beliefs and how I live them out. It aims to be inclusive and not to condemn people according to arbitrary social distinctions or for whom and how they choose to love others. It encourages broad expressions of spirituality and what is sacred. First Church also encourages us as members to take responsibility for the shape, scope and financial health of our church home. I take stewardship of First Church seriously by supporting its programs and services financially, singing in the Choir and serving on committees. One of my most cherished activities is the Spirituality and Nature Chalice Circle. We cannot have a church home that sustains our faith traditions and provides a safe haven for all kinds of people seeking spiritual grounding if we don’t support it through our involvement and funds. Ministers, members, and Music Directors come and go; the shape of services and the musical offerings may change; but, if we don’t have a vibrant community of committed members to carry on and support this open and affirming church who will provide the beacon and haven for future seekers of the liberal religious tradition? I want to continue to be part of supporting and strengthening that tradition in this particular Church home. Top Virginia Drapela - 2006 I have been asked to speak today because I am the first person in our church who has  the unique position of having been an active member "OF" the Care Team and now I am  receiving help "FROM" the Care Team. Members of the Care Team serve many needs.  Some are short-term, such as visiting a recuperating patient, or making telephone calls of inquiry.   Sometimes, groups form to provide respite care for primary caregivers who might need a bit of recreation or rest.  Care Team members might grocery shop.  There is always  need for transportation.   When needed, we coordinate Memorial Services. And on and on – as need arise. Now, what I have learned from my unique position.  Until October of last year I was an active member of the Care Team.   Then a persistent pain turned out to be a fractured pelvis.  The recommended treatment :  "Don't do much of anything."  I have A fantastic group of helpers who drive me to appointments or on errands or just come and visit with me.   I have received such kindness.  Friends have become better friends, acquaintances have become friends.   As a Care Team  member I had seen the pleasure people received from Care Team visits.  Now I can attest to the value from my personal experience. This is my message to active Care Team Members and those who might have an interest in joining this kind of ministry. Whether you work directly with a Care Partner or behind the scenes -- never doubt the value of your service. As a Care Team  member you give time as you able.  Think of Care Team as an operation tailor-made for your time and ability.  And for the congregation - If there is some way you think the Care Team might assist you personally, do not hesitate to call and explore the possibility.  Care Team is just another way that makes us all proud to be a member of this congregation. Thank you Top Cindy and Mike Hart - 2006 Mike:   As sermon topic this morning is “Always Room for One More” and Cindy and I are relatively new members, the committee asked us to be the ones giving our testimony. Cindy: If you’ve been a member of First Church for three years or less, would you raise your hand. I see there are quite a lot of us. Mike:   In the 3 minutes they gave us to talk, we can’t possibly tell you the complete history of our spiritual journey and why we are committed to Unitarian Universalism. We do want to talk to you about why we support First Church. Thirteen years ago this August, Cindy and I met at SWUUSI. The next July we married. Then I moved her to the wilderness of south Arkansas where the nearest UU Church was over a hundred miles away but we kept our UU connections alive through Church of the Larger Fellowship. Cindy: I had been a member of 1st Unitarian Church in Oklahoma City and moving to a small town was major culture shock. In a small town, church, and well, Wal-Mart are the places you meet people. Folks were always asking me where we went to church and if you think it’s hard to explain to Houstonians about your faith, imagine explaining Church in a Box to a small town fundamentalist. Mail order Church in a Box was better than belonging to one of the local fundamentalist churches but there was no way to meet other people who shared our view of life and no way to make the kind of difference that needed to be made in the community. Mike:   When we moved to Houston we went online and found all the UU churches and 1st Church was the closest by a couple of miles so we came here first and decided to look no further. The friendly folks at First Church have become our family. Cindy: There’s so much we enjoy about First Church like the sermons, and the chalice circles. Mike:   And being part of an internationally traveling choir, all the activities, and did I mention the friendly folks? Cindy: But First Church isn’t just about what we get. It’s about what we give too: time, energy, sweat, and money. Mike:   When we first joined we were not able to pledge much because things were so shaky financially. We did give a lot of time and energy and love. Cindy: As things got better we have increased our pledge each year, this year 30%. And because we believe in what First Church is doing and there is the urgent need, we have taken the Next Step and increased it again. Mike:   We did it because we appreciate the things First Church has done for us and we believe in the things that First Church does in the community. We were without a church like this for a long time and couldn’t imagine life without it now. I encourage you to reexamine your finances and your priorities and Take the Next Step. Top Ruth Hoffman - 2007 My name is Ruth Hoffman and I have been a member of First Church for less than a year, though I have been attending regularly for over three. I found in writing this statement that I seemed to be writing a statement for the This I Believe section that NPR has been running lately. I think my reasons for being at First Church are the same things I’d put in such a statement. In short, I am a member of First Church because I believe in community. I grew up in the fundamentalist Bible church, moved through the Presbyterians (who seemed pretty liberal at the time), then the Methodists, and finally the Episcopalians. When I moved to Houston in 2003 after my divorce, I found I could not attend any of the Episcopal churches in town because I no longer could agree with more than half of what I was supposed to recite in creeds, etc. So I came to First Church because I had neighbors who came here, and a friend from my earlier days of teaching in Houston also came here, AND I knew that the choir was great. The choir is a big part of my life at First Church. The first Sunday that my son and I attended (he was four years old), we walked through Channing Hall and were about to go out through the side doors into the court yard when my son darted under the arms of two very nicely dressed women who could have easily been his grandmothers, and scooted out the door ahead of them. I apologized for this, but was told,“Oh, don’t worry. Children come first here.”  Wow. Respect for children is a huge part of what I believe. The more time I spent at First Church, the more I felt at home and energized. I believe that we as human creatures are meant to live in community. Living in community is hard work. It means that everyone has a seat at the table, and that sometimes, the majority does not carry the day. Sometimes when you live in community, you agree that the minority has been waiting a while for their turn and that it is the respectful and right thing to do to follow their wishes.  I have been introduced to a whole new line of Unitarian jokes since joining First Church. Most of them involve the business of committeeing something to death. I know that for the engineers in our midst this endless process of processing can be torture. And I thank them for putting up with it. I also thank the folks who come up with the jokes, because it is important to be able to laugh at ourselves. But mostly, I thank you all for being willing to be part of the process. It is not easy to be in community. We must accept others and ourselves, warts and all, and deal with it. Living in community also means bearing one another’s burdens. We certainly do a great deal of that here. This is a place where we celebrate together and grieve together and everything in between. I have been honored to be part of singing the Faure Requiem in celebration of the life of a former member of the choir, whom I had never met, and planning a surprise 80th birthday gathering for another member of the choir who expected nothing of the sort. I have witnessed the tremendous outpouring of support for Jose and for others who have been ill, and also the support for their caretakers. And I have danced at the wedding of Dean and Szofi in Romania. This is community. I believe that stewardship is an integral part of community. We support our community when we help to fund it, and when we contribute our time and talent to meet its needs. Stewardship includes taking time to teach RE, volunteering to be on the CARE team, leading a chalice circle, baking for the bake sale, sitting through hours of committee meetings and contributing fresh ideas, and all manner of other services we offer the community. In my own experience, giving to First Church in whatever form I am able has always proven to be a blessing for me rather than a sacrifice. Whatever I have given to this place has come back to me tenfold, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Stewardship in community means becoming an integral part of the interwoven structure of it, so that we are at the same time strengthening and being strengthened by our membership. It means that when one member is weak, we help to bear him or her up, and it means knowing that when the time comes that we are the weak one, we may stumble, but the arms of those on either side of us will be strong enough that we will not fall, and if need be, we can pick our feet up and be carried for a while.  This is what community is about, and this I believe. Top Mary Jane Hurlbert - 2006 I am Mary Jane Hurlbert.  I was baptized, confirmed and married (the first time), in the Episcopal Church, as had been most of my ancestors.  It didn’t really bother me that I did not take literally the words of the creed that I recited weekly.  Neither did most of the other members of the liberal church I attended. Then in 1975 I was divorced.  Suddenly, I felt like an outsider in the very couple-oriented church to which I belonged.  I had heard about the singles group at First UU, so I began going to Servetus and made new single friends, including Al Sevcik, whom I married 18 years ago.  Initially, I kept my membership and still attended church at St. Francis, though I would occasionally go to a service at First Church. Then I reached a crisis point.  I was asked to be President of Servetus.  To lead a group, you had to be a member of the church, and I was not ready to give up my life-long identity as an Episcopalian.  I talked to Web Kitchell and to my Episcopalian minister, and they both agreed that I could have a split membership.  So I fence-straddled.  As I attended this UU church more often, heard more of Web’s sermons and got to know more members, it became evident that it made more sense to belong to a church where my words and my beliefs actually were the same. One Sunday, when one of the two stalls in the ladies’ bathroom was out of toilet paper, I went out and found where it was kept and delivered it where needed.  I knew I had established my ownership of my new church.  I became active on various committees and was surprised that single women had positions of leadership in the church.  I decided I would like to be on the Board, and the next year became its President.  In 1988 I joined other past Board Presidents in forming a Long-Range Planning Committee.  I learned that Stewardship takes many forms.  It was demonstrated in the dedication and long hours many of us put in seeing that everyone had their say in deciding on the future direction for our church, in the kind of building we wanted and the staffing we required.  Stewardship was also shown in the financial stretch many of us made to make our dreams a reality.  And, yes, nothing remains static.  These things have to be done again and again. Over the years, I have known eight ministers here, and, while I have been inspired, supported and, at times, frustrated by all of them, to me they are not what the church is about.  It is about people who are my friends, who challenge my ideas, who share my values and put them into practice on the Care Team, in the community and in their lives.  I continue to give, both of my money and of my time because this church belongs to me, and I know there is not some “they” who will be responsible for keeping it going.  It is up to me, you, and all of us to struggle together to make it a place that deepens the meaning of our lives. Top Mary Koch - 2006 My name is Mary Koch.  I am a Unitarian Universalist.  That is the spiritual track that makes sense to me and sustains me.  I didn’t break with another tradition to become a Unitarian Universalist.  My birth family’s affiliation to organized religion was with the Congregational Church before it merged with the United Church of Christ.  I liked the church and during high school years participated very actively in the organized youth activities.  As a family, we went to Church irregularly and, in college, I fell away from organized religion but continued to be inspired by and attracted to the potential of spiritual works to make a difference in the world – I joined the Peace Corps, I worked with street ministers in Fort Worth and argued that religion that didn’t make a difference in the world—didn’t make a difference. Why am I a member of First Church and why is it important to me? Maintaining strong Unitarian Universalist voices in our community and in our world is very important.  Affirming and acting on the principles that hold UU’s together is important.  Acknowledging that truth comes from many sources and being willing to explore and embrace other faith traditions is important.  Not having “One Way” to salvation (whatever that may be) is important.  We cannot have those strong voices by ourselves.  Having an organized community, and yes, organized religious institutions are important for us to be heard—in order to make a difference in Houston, in Texas or in the USA.  We need to be visible and we need to be functional.  First Church and other UU churches make that happen.  But why First Church and not one of the others?  Ron and I chose to come to First Church about five years ago because we perceived that First Church was more active in social change activities in our community than other UU groups.  That may or may not be so.  We made the change in a positive manner and committed ourselves to be part of this Church community.  Not everything has been perfect.  Our ministers are not perfect, our staff is not perfect, our Board is not perfect, our congregation is not perfect---Maybe that is why we fit in because we are not perfect either! Every anniversary, Ron gives me a silk rose with a charm attached inscribed with a word or phrase to commemorate the year.  Often the roses were brilliant colors of red, yellow or coral.  In 1985, the rose was brown and the charm said, “Wanting Something”.  It had not been an easy year for us and our relationship was strained.   In looking back, I wonder if times like that and the honesty that we had in addressing our challenges are the foundation of our stronger and lasting relationship.  What if a truth is that during times when people want something else and are honest enough with each other to acknowledge that, are the foundations of a stronger future and commitments carry us through these times. For us, it was so. I am a UU and I am committed to First Church.  For some of us, these may be “brown rose” times and for others, the times may be full of “red roses”.  However we perceive our community at this time, I see a strong future for us as we commit to live and act on our UU Principles, to acknowledge honestly that something may be missing, to work together to articulate what that may be, to trust that growth and change are possible and to embrace each other for who we are –with all of our accompanying warts and roses! Top Trish Kolodney - 2006 I was born & raised in a working class Irish Catholic neighborhood in upstate New York. In the l950’s our neighborhood was developed around the churches and schools.  Our ‘village’ consisted of stay at home mothers, relatives and extended families within a few miles.   When one child disrupted activities of other kids, a parent would handle the situation and then contact the child’s parent who usually scolded the child again and asked them to apologize.  Talk about shared values. Having gone to Catholic schools from 1st grade (thru college), it was in high school and aged l6 when I began to think of my future.  Since I held 5 babysitting jobs (and had a realistic notion of parenting), I began to think beyond marriage & family.   The nuns who taught us were intelligent, dynamic individuals and after high school, I entered a religious order of nuns.  Most of the time I was in St. Louis, Mo in l960s which was a Mecca of ecumenical movement for Vatican II.  Theologians from all over the world came to speak.  While attending a sister-formation college, I volunteered in the Pruett Igo Housing Projects on Sundays. Five years later, I came to terms with the fact that religious orders were founded so that we could do ‘good work’ and I felt that we were not as free to pursue the type of social action in the way I had imagined.  On Sunday’s I attended Mass in the parish of Mgr. Hellregel (the founder of the liturgical movement for Vatican II).  When I left the order & St. Louis, I became unchurched for 25 years.  Someone had told me about UU and First Church.  In 1989, Rev Bob Schaibly (our minister) spoke about ‘the theology according to Lily Tomlin”) and I thought; “I don’t think these people can offend me too much.”  After completing graduate school in psychology, I talked with Bob about volunteering at H.A.T.C.H.  A gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender youth group that met at First UU.  Hearing the stories of the youth being harassed at school and kicked out of their homes were heart rending.   Twelve years volunteering with H.A.T.C.H was, in many respects, the ‘ministry’ I had hoped for and the community building among adults and youth was compelling and transforming for all of us.   We were a family of choice. I love this church; it’s my spiritual home and fulfills my need for community.  I can’t imagine what my life would be like without it.  Hopefully you have experienced connection and value here as well.  Please, give generously to support our community. Top Lydia Luz - 2007 My name is Lydia Luz.  I’ve been asked to describe how I came to First UU Church and how it has changed my life. My first visit to First UU Church was September 25, 2005, the morning after Hurricane Rita, the third Category 5 hurricane of the season, came ashore near the Texas-Louisiana border.   Newly-arrived in Houston, and thankful that our house was still standing, I made my way to the un-airconditioned sanctuary.   Gail invited everyone to “check in” on how they and other members were doing.  That service did it — I was hooked.  Although I did my “due diligence” and visited one other UU Church, this one resonated for me as a genuinely caring community. To give you a bit more background, for several decades I had stayed away from organized religion and referred to myself as a “recovering Catholic.”  Raised in a strict Catholic family in a Boston suburb, at a young age I grew disillusioned by the hypocrisy of how my father could be both verbally and physically abusive at home and yet, by showing up for mass on Sunday morning, was considered to be a “good Catholic.”  My mother, who certainly had her own issues for staying with an abuser, at one point sought assistance from the parish priest. This took place in the early 60’s and consistent with the backwards thinking that domestic violence was a purely “private matter,” his response was that our family should pray for my father.  Once my parents finally divorced, I stopped attending services.  At various low points during my adult life, I felt a longing to connect with a spiritual community, but my half-hearted efforts never resulted in finding the right fit. What brought me here was the desire, as a Massachusetts democrat living in a “red state,”, to meet other liberals.  What keeps me coming back are the people I meet, the inspirational stories and messages, programs like “Sharing the Plate,” “Second Saturday,” the Religious Education program run by Patti Withers and her team and, as they say, much, much more.   Since becoming a member of First UU, I have sampled broadly from the wonderful smorgasbord of activities, including a brief stint as a greeter, joining the Seekers and Heretics Chalice Circle, subbing over the summer for “Spirit Play” and being part of the reconstituted “Second Saturday.”   As a classic “Type A” personality—trying to juggle a demanding career with co-parenting an active 7-year old--I’m also learning that it is ok to say “not right now” to some things. How has First UU changed my life?  For the first time ever, I feel I have a spiritual home that accepts me as I am right now—a work in progress.  The church has given me the space and ability to reconnect with my spiritual journey and with long buried feelings—some good, some fairly painful.   I support First UU Church financially because of everything I have described—the people, the programs, the principles and the outreach into the larger community.   (continued next page) So, it took me 46 years to discover my spiritual home. That reminds me of the bumper sticker, “I wasn’t born a Texan, but I got here as soon as I could.”  Well, I wasn’t born into a UU Church, but I got here as soon as I could.” Top Melanie Mayeaux - 2007 My name is Melanie Mayeaux.  I just marked my sixth year anniversary as a member of this congregation.  Through the lens of today, I can see that I was drawn here by the possibility that I could satisfy my deep spiritual longings – my deep need for a God in whom I could believe and a Melanie whom I could love.         I was familiar with First Church, but my first actual experience came when my neighbor invited me to an Easter service here.     After assuring me there would be no one dying on any crosses on my behalf, I agreed to come.  That Sunday, as I listened to Bob speak of personal resurrection and watched Gail in her beautiful purple robe, my heart opened slightly and I found myself thinking “maybe, just maybe”.   I joined three months later.  How has this changed my life?  Quite simply, my years here and the many, many lessons they have presented have fundamentally changed who I am and how I am in the world.  Over the years, this community and the values we hold dear, have  consistently called me to be my better self and to demonstrate the nature of that self though the responsibility I am willing to take for my actions and beliefs and though the quality and depth of my love and service.   And, to my great surprise, I have found that better self.    This has transformed virtually every aspect of my life.  Inspired by one of Gail’s sermons, I am learning the names of trees and am discovering the beauty of this city.  I am a fanatical recycler and I look carefully at the true cost of a product before making a purchase. I try to slow the growth of anger and judgment though a mantra of “worth and dignity, worth and dignity, worth and dignity”.  I often ask my colleagues to consider how we are going to be together, and I have learned that my local responsibilities are not diminished by contributions made to distant charities.  The most precious lessons, however, reach much deeper.  Because you asked for and valued my presence and my participation, I have found my authentic voice and have developed a much stronger sense of the responsibilities I assume when I do and don’t use it.  I have discovered my ability to love and to be loved.  This former lover of leaving has grown into a trusted friend and a deeply committed steward of this miraculous place.   How has my life changed by being a member of this congregation?  Here, I have a found a spiritual home that has been, and no doubt will continue to be, my moral and ethical touchstone.  Here, I have come at last to know God.  And his image does indeed bear all of our likenesses. Top Laura Nagel - 2006 My name is Laura Nagel and, while initially I did thank Grace Amborski for asking me to do this, I was less thankful, as I have struggled to come up with the words to tell you what differences First Church has made in my life and what visions I have for our future. I became a Unitarian Universalist in 1964 during the glory days of the UUA youth program, LRY, when they were working with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee down South during the Civil Rights Movement. I did the usual falling away from church during my college years though, in my defense; there was no UU version of Hillel House or the Newman Center at either of the universities I attended. However, I volunteered and demonstrated against the war as the expression of my faith in the future. Our daughters, now in their 20s, both think I made a mistake turning this inclination for social justice work into a career as a policy analyst for local government. They thought it a not great recipe that combined too much work with little compensation. It might have turned us into the privileged poor except I married well. My husband Harry works for an oil company. He and I joined the UU church together after we had children. We felt the need for religious education for them and a church community for our family. My burden has been the moves we’ve had to make over the past 25 years from New York where Harry and I first met to Pittsburgh, then Chicago, Lexington KY, Cleveland, Fort Worth and finally to Houston six years ago. Now I work at home and, some would say I’m over-churched. In addition to being the high school program staff for YRUU, Harry and I co-chair the Partner Church Committee and sing in the choir and, as well, I am the part-time administrator of Southwest UU Women, all work I love. The first thing we did on moving to Houston was to pick a UU church and we bought a home just five blocks from here down Southmore Street. In our moves, one thing we’ve learned is that finding a UU church is the way to plug into a community of like-minded folks. First Church has been that for us these past six years. Church is where I come to tend my soul, to buoy by spirits when I’m downcast, and to lift myself out of the practicalities of everyday life. There is little time to reflect upon where you are on the soul’s journey, what you want for the future, and how to get to that place. At my age, I probably have fewer questions than when I first began. I am glad you all are here to listen to what few resolutions I have made. But First Church is the place I associate with the journey, the trip inward and though I generally hate crowds, I told some of the choir on this past summer’s Transylvanian tour, as the bus teetered along the mountain cliffs, “there’s no other group I’d rather go down with or up with. . . but, I think most of us would agree, where we go afterward is irrelevant. It’s here in this place, worshiping, working and just being together where I think my work counts the most. And you know one of the things I’ve concluded is, it’s also where it can hurt the most when there are disagreement as there always are in a community. Because it’s close to the bone, with the folks with whom you want most to be in harmony. I would envision for First Church a clear commitment to the consensus process as part of our future. This is a process I’ve learned to use in YRUU and UU women’s groups, and it works well helping people to understand each other, it makes paramount not the issue of the moment but our relationships. Some of you may wonder at its efficiency, but it has been adopted by a few UU churches where it is working well. This community of individuals is what keeps me coming back here every week. You are an outstanding group of citizens. You make me stand present to things I might not otherwise, you open my eyes, you open my heart. We all have leadership abilities and when we pull together that’s the power of our community to work for greater justice in the world. I suppose there are lots of folks out there outside the church with whom I might work on various causes, but I want to work with you here because I feel I know your hearts, and with you I can be personal and that’s an important connecting thread for me. I don’t have time in my life to retreat to a mountain top, or time to sit and meditate, or lately even time to get to the gym. But, when I’m working with you, talking with you, I sometimes have those truths emerge that help me, and I hope help you. They are little pieces of my soul come shining through, and I see the love in your eyes, and the acceptance and support there that I need, that we all need. I hope you see that support shining back at you? Top Barbara Nelson - 2006 My husband, Bill, and I have been members of this church since 1984. We visited and were immediately drawn to the sense of fellowship we found here.   Once we had joined, I felt that I had a responsibility to support the church.  I have worked on various committees, weeded, answered phones, and cooked for potlucks. I have served on the Board of Trustees twice. I have even mastered the fine art of folding and mailing the church newsletter.  Each year Bill and I have pledged as much financial support as we could.  So I have felt like a good steward for a fine institution, although I didn’t always give too much thought to what the church really meant to me.  It was here, I attended fairly regularly, I chatted with friends, and I was usually content with that. And then everything changed.   About three years ago I was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, and since then I’ve been in treatment much of the time. I have had tests and scans of every sort. These have been followed by countless anxious days waiting for test results and treatment plans.  I’ve had surgery and radiation treatments.  I’ve just finished a full year of chemotherapy.  It’s been a complicated, difficult and often frightening time.  At the moment, somewhat to everyone’s surprise and in spite of some very dire predictions, I’m medically stable and able to take a break from all treatments.  I feel really well, and I’m very glad to have this respite. My first instinct was to tell no one what was happening, outside of my family and a tiny handful of close friends. What a mistake!  Nothing could have made me more lonely, or more isolated from this church community, one I chose mainly because of the warmth and support we offer one another.  As I have gradually learned to be more open and share my medical journey, that warmth and support have been extended to me and to my family.  The peaceful sanctuary and the familiar routines of our Sunday services have calmed me, and the children have made me laugh. The ministers have listened to my fears, reassured me and bolstered my courage.  The music has soothed me.  The members of the Good to the Last Drop Chalice Circle have surrounded me with concerned and loving attention.  I know that should I need them, the Care Teams will rally to help me with the generosity of spirit that is their trademark. This community now supports me in ways I could not have imagined. You have truly become my church family, my stewards.  I am very, very grateful. Clearly this is not an ordinary church!   We should never take it for granted.  I want to suggest that you each think of the many ways the church sustains you.  I encourage you to remember that we all need to be its stewards.  We all need to support it with our hands and our hearts, our financial contributions, and our whole-hearted participation in this week’s Congregational Health Assessment to keep it healthy and thriving now and far into the future. Top Martha Northington and Grace Amborski - 2006 I’m Grace Amborski and this is my partner Martha Northington.  We both have been members of this church for 7 years. I’m a past Board president and Martha serves on both the Board and Finance Committee.  I retired from 39 years of college teaching and Martha, from Metro as Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs.  Active retired people need a community where they can participate and be fulfilled – we have found an abundance of this at First Church.  In fact we sent a letter to the congregation a few weeks ago, but in case it’s still sitting on your desk, here are some of our thoughts again. As you probably know by now, our church has a substantial shortfall in pledges this year.  In the last few months, we have given a lot of thought to what this community means to us and just how much we could raise our pledges for next year in recognition of the church’s value to us. Many of you know that Martha and I met each other at First Church and that we made a commitment to one another at a ceremony in this sanctuary almost four years ago.  Both of us had been married previously to good men, and between us we have three wonderful children.  Our lives changed in an unexpected and extremely happy way in 2002, in no small part because of the community of love, acceptance, and hopefulness we found at this church. We believe there are few places in the world like this one where people are encouraged to speak freely, to live in peace with one another and those around the globe, to respect all of life and nature, and to care for those in need.  All of those things happen in the First Church family on a daily basis. We also feel an excitement at the church these days generated by much more social justice outreach than at any time in the seven years we’ve been members.  José is largely responsible for putting our feet and mouths where our hearts have always been. Although our own children are well beyond religious education age levels, we take pride in the obvious growth in numbers and good teaching that is going on in our R. E. classes. We belong to two chalice circles:  Woman Spirit and Spirituality & Nature.  Our church’s many chalice circles have become a strong force for fellowship and spiritual growth within the congregation over the last five years.  Gail’s vision for these covenant groups has become a reality. There are so many other things that we love and value at 5200 Fannin.  Our wonderful music; the Care Team that brings comfort to so many; the Pathways to Membership generating a steady flow of new members; and the many fine adult book groups, discussions and lectures.  We are proud that the city’s oldest feminist organization, the Houston Women’s Group, has its home at First Church. We value the dedicated staff, the dozens of volunteers and church officers who keep this place going day and night.  And we value the counseling and care given by our two ministers. For all of this and so much more, we are thankful.  We ask you to make your own list of things you value at First Church and to consider if you can put a higher dollar value on our community than you may have first determined.  We all need to help a little more this year. Top Jim Null - 2006 I want to talk about values.  How many of you voted your values in the 2004 election?  Please raise your hand if you did.  Then why are we abandoning the discussion of values to the religious right?  Our values are as strongly held and much more Christian than theirs.  We just don’t ask every checkout clerk if they are a born-again UU and put a book by Emerson, Channing or Thoreau in hotel rooms. Sue and I have been attending First Church for about 40 years.  We were initially attracted by the absence of absurd creeds in which we didn’t believe and we were kept by the music, excellent sermons, intellectual and personal stimulation and especially the treatment of all individuals as individuals. As many of you know, one of our three daughters, Kathie, is a lesbian.  Being in a church which treats all people, including sexual minorities, as equal made our discovery of her situation a non-issue.  We were so used to being with gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders in this church that having a lesbian daughter was as normal as having two straight daughters. I was President of the Board when Bob Schaibly came and a few months later, when he announced to the congregation that he was gay.  I still remember the standing ovation he got when he came out.  This made us the first predominantly straight church in Houston to have an openly gay minister. This, of course, followed by a few decades our becoming one of the first Houston churches to be openly welcoming to African Americans.  It followed by two decades our church being the only church to provide sanctuary to Central Americans seeking protection from their murderous governments and our CIA. When all of us make a financial commitment to this church, we are expressing our values:  The inherent worth of all individuals, respect for the environment, etc.  Our church then implements these values in society more effectively than we can as individuals. Sue and I feel very strongly about values, and we feel equally strongly that the values expressed by this church represent our personal values.  That’s why our annual financial commitment to the church represents nearly 15% of our gross income. I ask you to use your financial commitment to this church to express your values and to help the church help you implement those values.  Theodore Parker, a 19th century Unitarian minister and theologian, said “The arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice." Let’s take the next step, let our financial commitment truly reflect our values, and make the arc bend more sharply toward justice. Thank you. Top Sue Null - 2006 My husband and I have different slants as to why we first came to First UU Church.  We were both raised Presbyterian and met at a Presbyterian school, the College of Wooster in Ohio.  When we moved to Houston in 1964, we joined Central Presbyterian Church, but we began to get somewhat disenchanted when the minister embarked on a series of sermons of ancient creeds, such as the Nicene Creed of many centuries ago.  The 60s were a time of considerable social upheaval and I failed to see how these sermons related to the age in which we were living.  A friend suggested that Unitarian churches were more focused on the modern world and that was enough to encourage us to visit. We came, and never went back.  It took us three years to actually join because it felt somewhat heretical to put our former religious beliefs behind us.  When we finally joined, Rev. Westwood was a bit jolted; we had been so involved in the church that he had just assumed that we had been members for some time. Today, I feel uncomfortable in Christian churches, like I don't belong, there are too many required beliefs that now mean nothing to me.  On the contrary, each time I visit other UU churches, even the one in Paris, France, or hear of the UUA in the news, or go to a UUA General Assembly, I feel affirmed and even more sure than before that this is the right place for me. Here in Houston, I understand what a very personal blessing this church has been in my life.  When I came to the unexpected realization that I had a lesbian daughter, instead of reacting like so many dismayed members of Christian churches, I realized that if my daughter could turn out like the gay and lesbian people I had met and admired in this church, then I had nothing to fear.  Just knowing and respecting our former minister, Bob Schaibly and many women in the Women's Group were enough to set my mind at ease.  Bob never talked much about being gay, but his simple presence and the example of his life and the support of the UUs were helpful to me, I'm sure, in coming to understand this new and previously poorly understood phenomenon.  As I became more active in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights movement for equality, I realized that here, in this church, I was always safe.  I could circulate my petitions and nobody would look at me strangely as if to ask,  "What are you thinking of?"  Gail has spoken in favor of gay equality from the pulpit, at (PFLAG, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and at TSU.  When Jose was first here to visit and I asked him if he couldn't stay in Houston an extra day to speak at our Freedom to Marry demonstration, he replied, "I have to return to Boston to now marry legally those same-sex couples that I married earlier."  This church has given me and my drive for equality total support. In Gail's brief write-up in the newsletter about her sermon, she quoted Thoreau:  "I have great faith in a seed.  Convince me that you have a seed...and I am prepared to expect wonders."  First Church has provided me with the seeds of respect and love for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders, and you all have seen what a wonderful pest I have become!  We've decided to move to Brevard, North Carolina this spring to be nearer to one of our daughters in retirement.  We went up there this fall to check the place out and our first introduction to the small city was the Sunday morning church service of the 100-member UU congregation. We immediately felt at home in a new place!  A UU physician and his wife put us up for free for 10 days while we searched for a house and began an exploration of this gorgeous county of 250 waterfalls. We've been here close to 40 years, and I'm tremendously grateful for the place this church has in our lives.  It's sad to leave, but I feel I am a better person for the support, challenges and opportunities First Church has placed before us.  Thanks to all of you.  Come and visit and help us find some of those waterfalls! Top Pam Perry - 2006 Although I started visiting First Church about 30 years ago, I did not officially join the church until about 18 years ago. I used to be REALLY slow to make commitments, and now I’m seeking balance because I tend to over-commit.  Over the years before I finally joined the church I visited the Women’s Group, singles groups, pot luck suppers, other events, and occasionally a church service. I became REALLY attracted to First Church by the strong stand that Rev. Bob Schaibly took against racism when I read about his perspective in an interview in the Houston Chronicle. I was also impressed by the church community’s support for gays, lesbians and bisexuals, including gay teens through an organization called HATCH which started at First Church. In the 1980s, after my grandparents and my mother died a few years apart, I felt a sense of loss and a need for a church community which I have found here. Before I finally joined the church, I attended a UU Principles discussion group. Although the facilitator, Bob Crain, had very strong ideas about the UU Principles and what they meant, he communicated in no uncertain terms that everyone’s thinking and opinions mattered, and that we did NOT have to agree with him. I learned that not only is it OKAY to think for yourself, it’s encouraged and expected from all participants in this church community. With my eclectic and untraditional theological perspective as a part humanist, mystic, agnostic, Buddhist and occasional pagan and theist, I began to feel like I might be accepted here, and I am. So I joined the church.  Within a few months of joining the church, I started facilitating adult discussion groups and have been doing that every since because I LOVE it and learn so much each Sunday morning.  We also get to practice the UU values of keeping an open mind and treating each other with respect no matter how much we may disagree with each other. Two events stand out in my mind that reflect the kind of gifts, love and support I’ve received here.  When my brother died in 1994, Rev. Bob Schaibly created a memorial service to support my family and me. And when my sister died a few years ago, Rev. Gail Lindsay Marriner helped my sisters and me create a very loving memorial service for a sister that had been a huge challenge to all of us for many years. Both services were attended by family members from several states, and although my sisters and brother had never been UUs and had never even attended this church, MANY church members came to the service to support my family and me. What an incredible gift to my family and me!  I was deeply touched by the support and love I received.  I’ve continued to receive that kind of support over the years here. Every week I receive MANY gifts.  Your PRESENCE here is a gift to me and to everyone else. When you show up for groups, programs, church services and events, we are ALL enriched and changed by each other’s presence – sometimes just by a smile, a hello, a few words, and by the sharing of experiences, including our differing opinions.  Thank you so much for just being here. I feel very grateful and BLESSED to be a part of this community! Thanks everybody Top Deborah Rothschild - 2006 Hello, my name is Deborah Rothschild and I’m a member of First Church. A long, long time ago, before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, or Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, or Elvis Presley sang Love Me Tender, I was a devout Episcopalian. Each Sunday my father would take me to St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Encino, California and I would kneel and pray and wait for Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and their eight children to file in and sit down in their reserved seats at front of the church. I was in fifth grade and Roy and Dale were my heroes. Roy and Dale were why I went to church. People with perfect attendance at St. Nicholas were invited to Roy and Dale’s ranch for a Church barbeque each spring. That year I had perfect attendance, so my family went to the barbeque. And it was splendid. After dinner Roy trotted around on Trigger for a little while, and my brothers and I got to sit in his famous jeep Nelly-Bell. But then my father changed jobs and we moved away and church lost its glamour. By the time I was in junior high, I was asking the three-in-one question – “If you only believe in one god, why pray to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?” No one could give me a satisfactory answer, so I wandered in the wilderness, un-churched, until 1973 when I moved from the west coast to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Culture shock and a serious longing for liberal thinkers led me to the Unitarian Fellowship, where I discovered I’d been a Unitarian since junior high school. During the 1980’s, I lived in Libya, Burundi, and the Congo. In Africa, I experienced the world in a new, very spiritual way. I came to truly appreciate the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and I developed a deeper understanding of the interconnected web of life. When I moved back to Houston, I went UU church shopping and eventually joined First Church. That was about twelve years ago. For awhile I was a helicopter member - one of those people who hovers around at brunch, not really connecting, listens to the sermons, then taking off right afterwards. I was not thoughtful about my involvement in First Church and I didn’t understand that average isn’t good enough when it came to pledging if you can afford more. I was a taker, not a giver. Then one Sunday someone asked me to come to a Community Involvement Committee meeting and get involved with social justice at First Church. I’d had never heard of the Community Involvement Committee, but said yes anyway because of my interest in social justice. And saying yes has made all the difference. By becoming involved, I’ve come to understand that my church isn’t this sanctuary or the Sunday sermons. It is all of you, all of you who give of yourselves, both within the church and out in the community. All of you who live our UU values every day and are the voices of liberal religion in these conservative times.  You are my Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the reason I come to First Church. Today I’m no longer just a bench warmer. I am an active member who understands how important it is to give back to our church with my time and talents and money. And I am proud to tell anyone who will listen that First Church is my spiritual home. Top Al Sevcik - 2006 As it is Memorial Day weekend, the committee asked me to mention that I am a veteran.  Yes, I am.  And, I believe there are more of us in this congregation, men and women, than you might think. But, I’ve got 3 minutes and I don’t want to use them talking about world peace – though I’m certainly in favor of that.  I want to talk about this specific Church – where, 18 years ago – I met a talented and charming lady who agreed to marry me.  Many of you know her, Mary Jane Hurlbert. True, one can meet nice people anywhere, but finding interesting folks to talk to and making new friends is a lot easier if you go where there are people who share a similar view of life and the world. For me, this is that place.  I am more likely to meet people I like at First UU than elsewhere. First UU is an important community of likeable people. First UU is an important voice in the Houston community. First UU provides a place for people who need support; spiritual, emotional, physical. To survive, it needs adequate funding. It needs to be supported with money --- from responsible people who have sufficient disposable income. Recently, I saw some information that showed that Mary Jane and I were considered large givers to the Church.  This, in a way, made me feel bad, and a bit embarrassed that our modest giving put us in the large giver category.  Because it means that other members like us who, by good fortune, are able to significantly support the Church are not doing so. Mary Jane and I discussed this and decided that it was time for us to be realistic about what it takes to support this Church – which means so much to us.  We decided to contribute 5% of our income.  This means almost doubling what we have given in the past. It also means some sacrifice --  an appropriate Memorial Day theme.  We are not rich and we have to watch our expenses.  This increased contribution will be instead of  a planned vacation trip.  For us, the importance of First UU as a 24/7 continuing presence is an obligation that we must financially support.  And, we are very grateful, indeed, that we are able to do so. Top Dema Solberg - 2006 About 6 years ago, I discovered that, though I enjoyed my life as a stay-at-home mom, I felt empty and dissatisfied with my life.  I hadn’t sung in a choir in 5 years, and I missed it.  I missed the feeling of community I had in my small home town and as an undergrad at Rice, and I wanted that for my son.  I’d heard the ads for First Church on KUHF and a friend had occasionally attended here over the years, so I thought I’d try it out. The first time I attended a service here, I sat over there by the windows.  During the meditation, I could hear the fountain’s gentle flow, and for the first time in a long time, I felt a sense of peace.  Right before the choir sang, Dean turned to the audience and announced that the choir was in need of sopranos.  “A-ha!” I thought. After the service, I went to the back of the sanctuary where the choir was gathered.  I walked up to Dean and said “Hi, I’m a soprano!”  The choir cheered.  I knew I was home.  Details of rehearsals, past vocal history and such were exchanged and I went to get my 3 year old son from RE.  There I met Carol Burrus, who was then in charge of religious education, She asked me what our religious background was.  Uh-oh.  When I was asked that question by the moms at Eric’s Jewish preschool, the admission that I was not, in fact, Jewish, got an “oh, dear” reaction.  When the same question was asked in my 99% Christian playgroup, I got an uncomfortable silence followed by “Eric’s father is Jewish?  They wear the funny hats, right?”  Carol’s response to my admission of mixed faith heritages?  “How cool!”  Yep. Definitely home. But the real answer when people ask me about my childhood church experience is that I was raised Church Musician.  My dad was a church choir director and I learned early on that the part of church that fed my soul was the music.  First Church has given me an opportunity to enjoy music-making, both as a participant in the adult choir and as a leader for the children’s choirs.  It’s provided me with new friends and the chance to rediscover an old one.  It’s given me religious education and a community of caring adults for my children. It’s given me the reassuring knowledge that I am not the only left-leaning, tree-hugging, gay marriage supporting, pro choice, anti-war, feminist, humanist liberal in Texas.  What a relief! I’m grateful that First Church was here to welcome me when I needed a community of like-minded souls.  I’m grateful to the RE teachers who volunteer year after year and give my children such warmth and attention.  I’m grateful everyone involved in Chalice Choir—the kids, the parents, the volunteers, and my co-Director, Dave, who provide me with so much support and positive energy.  I’m grateful to Gail for taking the time to help me survive the end of my marriage.  I’m grateful to Dean for putting up with yet another chatty, self-centered, high-maintenance soprano.  Keeping a community like this going is hard work on all sorts of levels, but it’s worth it.  It’s worth writing that check every month.  It’s worth all the meetings and rehearsals and fundraisers and effort.  I hope that all of you who are also grateful for what this church provides will join me in continuing to make First Church a warm, welcoming place where we all can feel at home. Top Allison Stovall - 2006 When I was eleven years old, my parents left the Methodist Church and took our family to a Unitarian Church in White Plains, New York.  I became comfortable in our new church home.  I did not have to experience the angst of despairing over church doctrine as an adolescent.  As a teenager, I was active in LRY, Liberal Religious Youth, and learned the value of service to others in that context.  Within days of my high school graduation, our family moved to Houston.  In 1965, Tom Stovall and I married in the sanctuary of this church, under these very birds sculpted by David Parsons. We did not choose to get involved in a church early in our marriage.  My parents, Virginia and Blandin Jones, were very active as charter members at Emerson Church in the ‘sixties and moved to First Church in the ‘seventies.  My mother’s death from cancer in 1982 re-connected me with this church.  Her memorial service seemed so right and I was very glad that it was in this setting.  On occasion, following that service, I would attend church here. In 1986, I knew that I needed to return to church.  I had been a social worker at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for 11 years by then and I felt emotionally depleted.  I needed spiritual nurturance and I began attending Sunday services at this church fairly regularly.  For a while, I came here primarily to receive inspiration from the services, particularly the sermons and the music.  Gradually, I found that I had many opportunities to give as well as receive in this church community.  I have no recollection of any formal membership ritual, not even of signing a membership book.  It did seem, though, that my giving to the annual pledge drive was well received and membership seemed to be implied.  I soon found it possible to give of my time to various committees and task forces, eventually serving on the Board of Trustees.  One of my favorite activities was teaching three and four year-olds in pre-k. Since my retirement from M.D. Anderson in January of 2000, I have chosen projects at church that have allowed me to continue using my professional social work skills.  I participated in the original Second Saturday program and served as a Befriender.  Recently, I have been a co-facilitator and member of the Good to the Last Drop chalice circle for people with serious chronic illnesses.  In all of these instances of giving, I have been on the receiving end of much that has been enriching about becoming active in a church community. During many phases of my life, it has been important for me to be active in a Unitarian church.  The principles for which this church community and this denomination are known are the most significant reasons for my being here.  I have greatly valued the freedom to search for spiritual truths in ways that honor our diverse perspectives.  If you, too, appreciate this opportunity, I urge you to join me in supporting this congregation.  It is up to all of us to work together to be sure that it is always the church that we want it to be. Top Wendy Van Syckle - 2006 I was asked to talk about how I came to First Church and why it is important to me. I was raised unchurched and without any explicit belief guidelines.  In high school I found the Liberal Religious Youth group at the Unitarian church where I shared my teenage angst with kids familiar with being outside the norm, religious and otherwise.  In my 20’s I only visited the Unitarian church when I was looking for someone interesting to date.  But First Church Houston is where I found a community for active, committed involvement for over 26 years. When I moved to Houston for a job I was single and knew no one here, so I visited all the Unitarian churches, looking for “my” community.  I selected First Church as being the best fit for a non-Christian, single, career woman.  There was a large and active singles group (Servetus), a Women’s Group which set the tone for strong female roles, and a largely philosophical preacher (Web Kitchell).  Today many of my closest friends, my second family, are people I met in that singles group.  I’ve benefited from the expectation, not just acceptance, but the assumption that women will lead and excel.  And I’ve enjoyed services which challenged me to think and to be the best person I can be, rather than embrace a lesson in what I should believe. When I think of First Church I think of acceptance, personal growth, community.  First and foremost is acceptance.  At work I let slip one day that I was an atheist.  My co-worker exclaimed “Oh, that can’t be!  You’re such a nice person!”  At First Church I don’t have to worry about what I let slip.  It’s OK to be in the 3% who don’t believe in “something bigger than ourselves”.  It’s even OK that I don’t consider myself as being “spiritual”, a wide-ranging term often used for an inexplicable connection to something intangible.  When I hear people talk about the spiritual growth they find here, I don’t get a gut level connection to what they feel. But I found a different kind of personal growth.  I took leadership roles that needed my natural organizing skills, and unexpectedly stretched several other abilities:  speaking comfortably in front of groups; facilitating meetings of passionate, disparate people; negotiating and mediating; listening and communicating.   At each step I felt First Church to be a safe place to stretch and, sometimes, fail.  We have lots of folks who go out and make a difference in the world; we have lots of folks who are spiritually growing.  I saw my function as helping to make First Church a vibrant place for them to renew their energy and commitment and I found that function rewarding and self-affirming. When I got ill and had to retire, leaving behind the career that had been the focus of my life, I found the support here for becoming a different person with different life-affirming roles.  I had to take some years off from being an over-achieving do-er at First Church to do nothing but show up.  And I found that that, too, was OK; we have different roles at different times.  And now I’m again doing tasks (like the Care Team and office volunteering) that maintain and, hopefully, improve the community that I think is so important, the community I want to always be here.    Top John Walsh - 2006 As a recent member of First Church, I would like to share a few stories of my travels as a pilgrim finding his way along the pathway of life and the important role our church community has been in that journey. In many ways this has been a search for meaning and purpose. You Are Right Sahara You are right Sahara. There are no mists, or veils, or distances. But the mist is surrounded by