It’s been a great month so far this February, following our worship theme of “Widening the Circle.” In January we had a productive and inspiring board retreat, where President Lisbet White and all Board members set forth strategic goals for the next five years. We were glad to welcome a new member to the board, Lindsay Sinkovich.

I’ve been very impressed by Kathleen Hogue, our Director of Religious Exploration who has led stellar worship services and kick started small group ministry following a curriculum called Heart to Heart. Sarah King and Louisa Berger have completed the arduous task of

end-of-year taxes and certification of our membership details with the UUA. We have two new members who joined the church immediately following the Annual Meeting: Brandie and Jeff Wagner, and their child Clo. The in-person services have been a great way for visitors to check us out, and for some of our members to get more involved.

Ryan Stryffeler and I started leading a small group discussion at Birdfish Brewery on Tuesday evening at 7 pm about the Divinity/Humanity of Christ and of all of us. We are using gnostic gospels and fringe writings from Christianity including the Transcendentalists. We had 10 people show up to our initial gathering on Feb. 15, and there was consensus that we would continue meeting for at least a few more weeks. The space in Birdfish is quite large and cavernous, and it was very easy to get a table that was spaced out and not around many people. We may try a brewery in Minerva at some point in March.

In regard to Covid recommendations going forward, the UUA is now not recommending to look at the number of cases/hospitalizations, but instead to use our own common sense of mitigating risk in our congregation going forward. There seems to be an understanding that there isn’t a line any longer where we can feel 100% secure and safe, and so we will have to find that line for ourselves in terms of what kind of risk we are comfortable and can live with. I have spoken with Linda Mohn recently who shared that she has met with some of our members to begin planning at least one social event for the Spring using outdoor space, and I said this is a good thing to plan for. Having more social events on the church calendar will be very helpful in raising the spirits of the congregation, and I’m confident we will only move forward in a way that is wise.

Carole McWilson and Lanore Jones have found online resources to share with the congregation through the Kirwan Institute to engage anti-racist practices in our local communities in pragmatic ways. They do require registration, but they are free. One of the latest topics was “Sacrificing Urban Youth for the Growth Machine: A Case Analysis of the Tension Between Development Policies and Urban Education in Columbus.” The topics are specifically geared toward anti-racist practices in Ohio. I see that this will be an area that will gain momentum hopefully in the coming months.

In partnership with Gary Davenport, the church has submitted paperwork to the Landbank to own property on the corner of Wick Ave. and Illinois. The general vision is to transform this place that is currently abandoned into something that would benefit/beautify the community, and offer service opportunities for our membership. A couple of the ideas are to set up memorial benches for a place to rest in memory of people we love, to plant wildflowers, and install a sign letting people know our church community is down the street.

My Intro to World Religions class at YSU is going very well. A member of our former youth group is taking the course, as well as students from many different religious/irreligious backgrounds. It makes for rich discussion. Sadly, I received notice from the head of the

Philosophy Department that YSU will no longer have a Religious Studies program beginning next year, so this will be the last semester I will be invited to teach this class at YSU. They recommended I see if Kent State or other surrounding universities have a need for an Adjunct Faculty in Religious Studies, and I’m undecided if I’ll pursue that. I’m on call this week as a Police Chaplain. During most of the pandemic, the police department has been wary of calling chaplains, because they didn’t want to get any of our chaplains to get sick. That cautiousness is beginning to relax somewhat, so I’m prepared if a call comes through and they need spiritual care either for themselves or a civilian/family.