I was away from FUUSN this Sunday for the first time since becoming your membership coordinator in early January. Instead, I was at the UU church where my son attends youth group, for their usually-annual youth worship service. 

Our family was last in that sanctuary on Sunday, March 8, 2020 for the youth service when my daughter was a high school senior. Fast forward two years, and my son is in his final year of high school. The youth service was back after a year’s pause, due to covid. 

The return was poignant, with many congregants watching via Zoom. The sanctuary, though as full as it had been since March, 2020, felt unusually empty for a youth Sunday; it’s one of the most popular days of that congregation’s worship calendar. The service itself felt different, too, with fewer participating youth. There was less music from the youth band and more solo fiddle or fiddle and piano, lending the morning a more subdued feeling. Many of the senior reflections, including my son’s, in some way refracted the pandemic’s events, as did a litany related to the theme, duality. The final song, the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye,” summed up so much without being maudlin.

I thought of FUUSN, and how this congregation has handled the pandemic similarly and differently than other congregations Of the endless decisions lay leaders have had to make. Of the questions around what church will look like for all of us in the future. And while FUUSN is a unique place, I realized anew that it isn’t alone in the various challenges–and joys, like the return to after-church socializing–it continues to puzzle through. 

I don’t know about you, but I find it comforting to remember that FUUSN is part of a collective movement to adapt Unitarian Universalist practice and community to stay relevant, nourishing, and alive. Here’s to that wider movement, and to FUUSN’s place within it.

-Heather

More Member Services Notes:


There’s still time! If you haven’t yet filled out the anonymous membership survey, please do. Already, 78 of you have completed the survey–thank you all! I’ve started reading the responses, and they’re very helpful. I’d like to hear from as many of you as possible by this Friday, March 25. I will be sharing what I learn from the survey sometime in April or May via Zoom, in person, or both. 
Please note: You can include your name at the bottom of the survey and request a time to talk with me directly, if you would like. Questions? Concerns? Please let me know (heather@fusn.org).
We will be recognizing our newest members on Sunday, April 10 during service. If you are interested in becoming a FUUSN member (and being recognized that Sunday), please let me know as soon as possible, and I will email you the membership application. 
The Community Breakfast returns on Sunday, April 10–see elsewhere in this newsletter for more details.