The theme for October is “Cultivating Relationship.” One aspect of this theme that stood out to me is cultivating a relationship to the time we are living in. So far in the pandemic, our church has made decisions to approach this time with care. As you have probably seen in the news, the Delta variant has seemed to peak, with hospitalizations and deaths decreasing. Though transmission levels are still very high in many of our PA and OH counties, the chance of death is decreasing correlated to vaccination rates. I’m glad we have a Covid-19 committee who I think can start considering what reopening may look like for our community in the aftermath of Delta beyond outdoor events, taking into account children, immune-compromised persons, vaccinated/unvaccinated persons, and our building. It would be good to give them the UUA’s latest recommendations as a starting point. Based on past events, it would be too early to say with certainty that the pandemic is coming to an end, but I sincerely hope so.

Fortunately, our staff is healthy and doing well. Kathleen Hogue, our DRE, hosted an art event this past Sunday and led a wonderful service. Sarah King is healthy and doing well, working well with our Treasurer and Stewardship Committee. Melissa Smith and Karen Lapidus have offered a great introduction to Unitarian Universalist practice and are now transitioning into offering an ongoing small group ministry for interested friends and members. Kathleen Hogue is assisting with this, given her experience in implementing and facilitating these groups in other UU congregations. Jennifer Ruth Boyd offered a play reading of The Taming by Lauren Gunderson via Zoom with actors from Portland, Oregon. They are planning to offer a reading in November of A Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse.

We are experimenting with outdoor events in the coming month. One is a showing of a film on our patio using a projector. The film being shown is Soul,  the Academy Award winning animated film – good for all ages. It was going to be shown earlier this month, but was cancelled due to the chance of rain. Lanore and Matt Jones are hosting the film evening. The other event is a Storytellers Event entitled Evolution or Revolution? This is being hosted by John Shartle on our patio.

I’ve spoken with Gary Davenport, our Lay Minister for Social Justice, and he is looking for ways to be of benefit to the congregation. I’ve offered some suggestions, but if you need assistance with something, feel free to reach out to him and ask. Melissa Smith is still on track as a Commissioned Lay Minister Candidate.

I’m enjoying teaching a class at Youngstown State, and they would like to potentially give me more than one section for the Spring. It’s been a good fit: the students are creative and engaged, and it’s a wonderful way for me and the church to get to know the community. In other community news, I received confirmation a while back that Rodef Sholom is planning to stay in the synagogue next door after much talk of merging with the other Jewish communities in town. Due to their decision to stay on the Northside, they would like to invest in the neighborhood, and brainstorm with us and the other communities on Elm what that investment might look like collectively. Right now it’s just a general idea, but since they are planning to get a new Rabbi this summer, I’m optimistic we will have much to look forward to together. I was glad to be invited to speak at a Women’s Rally in downtown Youngstown in response to the anti-abortion legislation that was passed in Texas. I was the only clergy member who spoke, which I was a little surprised by. It was good to see some of our friends and members there.

I’m curious to learn more about how the year-round pledging will be implemented this year. I have the old model still in my bones, with this coming month typically being a traditional pledge drive, but I’m grateful for the innovation that came from our committed leaders in this church.

See you Thursday, Rev. Joseph