This is an amazing time at UUCOV. Energy is high, and visitors and new members are all around.
We are a beacon of light at a very dark time.
But no beacon stays bright without a constant supply of fuel.
If we want our lamps to stay bright, there are some easy ways to create that fuel.
Reach out to a new member or friend and invite them to join your committee or Team. Ask them out for coffee or lunch. Help to make them welcome.
If you aren’t involved anywhere, get involved. Volunteer, join a group and enjoy mat making, or writing, or mahjong. Take a class.
Get connected and help others to get connected.
Connection is the fuel and lifeblood of the congregation. Connection gives us a solid base to build all the rest, because what happens on Sundays is the beginning, not the entirety of congregational life.
One important piece to consider as you work on your connections this year is small group ministry. We are working hard right now to open up more Fellowship Groups, and if you aren’t familiar with them, you should be! Fellowship Groups are wonderful long-term groups of 8 to 10 people who meet twice monthly for discussion and, well, fellowship! Fellowship Groups allow you to form deep, rich friendships where you can discuss important and meaningful topics and share your thoughts in a supportive environment.
Along with the Fellowship Groups, we are trialing a new type of small group this year- SAGE Circles. SAGE Circles are short-term small groups which last for 3 or 6 months. They let you meet people, and engage in interesting discussions, without a long-term commitment. SAGE Circles meet once a month for 3-6 months and then dissolve and reform the following year. Unlike Fellowship Groups, you are in a new group each year and will only meet with those same people for 3-6 months. Leaders will suggest topics each month, but these are casual, so if the topic drifts… well, it’s ok! Keep your eyes out for sign-ups in late winter!
Keep your lights burning, and I look forward to seeing you on Sundays!

It is the end of the year, and life at UUCOV is hopping.

And we want it to stay that way.

What will it take to continue this fast pace? What will it take to continue to welcome new members?

Well, welcome. Welcome with both a big and a small w.

Big W Welcome is systemic. Are we set up so that people of all kinds can join in the joy here at UUCOV? LGBTQ+ people. People with disabilities. Middle aged and younger people. People of all races.

We are pretty good about this, but we must begin thinking through how younger working people might be welcomed, given that our meetings are almost all during traditional work hours to avoid driving after dark. Auditing our campus for Welcome problems should be a fun task, done every year or so by a rowdy group corralled by the Board, and charged with looking for barriers to inclusion.

Small w welcome is more personal and is hugely important. This kind of welcome is up to every one of you directly, every week.

This welcome includes things like:

• Introducing yourself to someone standing or sitting alone
• Inviting new members into events, personally
• Helping to make sure that new members understand which big events, like the auction, impact multiple social events, or will be attended by almost everyone
• Making your group, Team, or event understandable and findable to all

We are so lucky to have the opportunity to welcome people into the UUCOV community over the coming year, so let’s focus on doing it well!

Warmly,

Rev. Amy

As a go through my days right now, from time to time I find myself holding my breath.

Waiting.

I have no idea what for, or maybe I do.

Waiting for the next crisis to hit. The next war, the next political nightmare, the next shock.

It feels like the shocks have just kept coming lately, and so I remind myself to breathe.

And breathe again.

We cannot change the world right now, in this instant. In this breath. We cannot change the world, but we can continue to breathe.

We can continue to exist in a world where some people would prefer that we disappear like snow in the Florida sun.

This minute the pain and dismay are too recent, too freshly bleeding, too ongoing, for us to rise and walk toward the new day that will come as surely as the heat comes in August. We aren’t ready to rise and walk just yet.

But we can heal.

We can enter the fabulous season of winter, and we can enjoy one another and plan for the future.

We can be together.

And we can breathe.

Rev. Amy

Immediately before the final vote on Article II at the 2024 General Assembly, Victoria Safford wrote,
“However we vote, we put love at the center, unflinching, insistent: this free faith we so cherish
reveres the past and trusts the dawning future more. We believe in evolution—unfolding always, not
unraveling—and revelation is not sealed.”
Article II of the UUAs Bylaws, the section of the Bylaws defining the principles and purposes of the
UUA, is “the foundation for all of the work of our UUA and its member congregations and covenanted
communities” according to the UUA.
This year the delegates at GA voted to approve a new statement of values and beliefs, replacing the
seven principles which had comprised Article II since 1985. The Principles and language of 1985
were a radical shift from those adopted in 1961, removing language about God and replacing “man”
and “men” and “brotherhood” with more inclusive language. In was in 1985 that the earth-based
religions were added for the first time.
In 1985 the language shifted because of the Women’s Movement. In 2024 the changes were called
for from multiple directions. It was a response to the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Trump
presidency, LGBTQ+ activists, the immigration movement, and more.
At the end of June, 2024, “the faith’s new expression of shared values was adopted by a vote of
2,025 (80.2 percent) to 499 (19.8 percent) with 21 abstaining” (from UU World, “Love at the Center:
New UU Statement of Values Passes after Momentous General Assembly Delegate Vote” by Elaine
McArdle).
The new shared values are Equity, Generosity, Interdependence, Justice, Pluralism, and
Transformation, centered around Love, each with it’s own description. This article has links to the
actual language: https://www.uuworld.org/articles/uua-article-ii-passes-general-assembly-unitarianuniversalism-bylaws-vote-values-statement
Here at UUCOV, I’ll be preaching about the change to Article II on January 5th, and after that service
there will be time for people to discuss this change.
Because it brings us to an issue that congregations across the country are each approaching in their
own way- given that we have no creed as a denomination, what will we as a congregation do with the
Seven Principles?
How will we stand, or not stand, in relation to them, now that they are no longer a part of the
principles and purposes of the UUA?
This is a good time for you to begin thinking about how you feel about the Seven Principles, and how
you want UUCOV to go forward.
I look forward to talking with you throughout the next few months as you consider where you stand.
Warmly,
Rev. Amy

Who knew when Nancy and I reached Venice in August of 2022,
that we would still be here in August of 2024 and ready to begin a
third interim year.  I am excited by the possibilities which await us this year as we
explore religious education ideas, build our staff team, and
develop a marketing strategy for UUCOV.

You have spent the last two years looking at UUCOV’s identity, and dreaming about what could be.

You have helped
to begin to create our newest long-term plans and to develop the Wish List.

You held the
Banned Books Festival, and helped to found the Social Justice Association of the Florida
Suncoast

There is still so much to come.

While we did not find your perfect minister in our last search cycle, we have used our time
together well.

This year we are going to go deep- to develop deeper community, to explore greater
meaning. And we need you.

What calls to you this year? How will you deepen your relationship to UUCOV? What do you
need from your congregation, and what do you feel you need to give to your congregation?

How will you celebrate being part of this wonderful community?

We need social butterflies to organize Halloween and Holiday parties, techies to help out
with the Audio-Visual Team, and more. If you want to do it, we will find a way for you to do it
here (within reason Gang!).

I can’t wait to see you all as you return from all points of the compass.

May this be an amazing year!

Rev. Amy

Who knew when Nancy and I reached Venice in August of 2022, that we would still be here in August of 2024 and ready to begin a third interim year.

I am excited by the possibilities which await us this year as we explore religious education ideas, build our staff team, and develop a marketing strategy for UUCOV. You have spent the last two years looking at UUCOV’s identity, and dreaming about what could be. You have helped to begin to create our newest long-term plans and to develop the Wish List. You held the Banned Books Festival, and helped to found the Social Justice Association of the Florida Suncoast

There is still so much to come.

While we did not find your perfect minister in our last search cycle, we have used our time together well.

This year we are going to go deep- to develop deeper community, to explore greater meaning. And we need you.

What calls to you this year? How will you deepen your relationship to UUCOV? What do you need from your congregation, and what do you feel you need to give to your congregation?

How will you celebrate being part of this wonderful community?

We need social butterflies to organize Halloween and Holiday parties, techies to help out with the Audio-Visual Team, and more. If you want to do it, we will find a way for you to do it here (within reason Gang!).

I can’t wait to see you all as you return from all points of the compass.

May this be an amazing year!

Rev. Amy

It is a joy to be able to take a deep breath and say that the contract is signed, my lease has been approved by the Board and Finance Committee, and I am here to stay for another year!
And what a year it’s going to be. In June and July, I will finish out the terms of my old contract, and take those two months to finish unpacking, plan for the new church year, and maybe go see my folks. I will be back in the pulpit on July 28th!
Starting in August I plan to be hard at work. Over this next year, you and I are going to recreate Adult RE, find exciting ways to tell Venice, Florida, and the UUA all about UUCOV, and work together to grow our membership. Your Board is preparing to set UUCOV’s goals for the next year too, and I will be working with each Team to discover how they can help reach those goals.
Over at VOTI my ministry will be expanding this year, and I’m already enjoying working with our UUCOV VOTI residents to figure out all of the things that we can do together to support them and to bring our UUCOV message to a wider audience.
As many of you know, Nancy and I will be moving into Asta Linder on May 15th. We are excited about being on campus, and we are both looking forward to being where the action is! I’m sure it will take a little time to adjust to having us there, but I have faith in all of us. If we are outside, please feel free to come and say hi! My office will be relocating to Asta Linder in mid-May, so if we have a private meeting scheduled after May 15th, come on over there. Larger meetings will remain at Waters Hall or the Sanctuary. I’m hoping to hold an open house sometime in October so that people can see all of the wonderful work that UUCOV folks have done on the Asta Linder building.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to be writing this, rather than a goodbye letter. I say instead, “Hello again. I’m overjoyed to be with you on this journey for another year. Where shall we go this time?”
Warmly,
Rev. Amy

When I am home in the frozen tundra of the Midwest, September is a season of preparation and change. As I begin to get ready for fall, my thoughts always turn to the deeper questions in my life.

Why am I here?

What does it all mean?

Am I doing well?

I usually put away the patio furniture, and I give the house a going over, and I ready my cooler weather recipes- it only seems natural that I should also trade out my lighter summer concerns for things which require time, and slower, more thoughtful consideration.

Things that I can mull over during a brisk walk in the leaves, or while wrapped in a warm blanket.

Here at UUCOV, life is a little different. I just painted the patio furniture and put it back out, warm blankets at 90 degrees sound nightmarish, and the leaves are filled with jumping lizards I don’t want to step on.

But the season is turning nevertheless, and the lovely grey skies and cooler nights remind me that it is still a perfect time to slow my thoughts and examine the big questions as we swing ever closer to the busy final months of Search.

Your Cottage meetings are about to begin, and these are questions to ponder:

• Who are we, and who will we be in the world?
• Are we doing well, and how can we fulfill our mission and vision?
• Who can we be?
• Who do we want our minister to be?

It is hard to believe that this is already my second fall here, the time seems to have flown so quickly, but these questions are pressing as we enter the last months before ministers will be able to examine your information packet and consider moving to Florida.

It’s all up to you now; it’s up to you to share your thoughts, and to participate in this exciting process. The more that the Search Committee knows, the better the chance of a good fit.

Enjoy the cooler nights and lovely days as our snowbirds fly home here to Venice. Take the time to examine the big questions. Help to move your congregation forward into an exciting 25th Anniversary Year.

See you in church!

Warmly,
Rev. Amy

It will be about six months until the first ministers have a chance to look at our search packet, and to decide if UUCOV is the congregation of their dreams.
 
Six months to know who you are and what you want. Six months for Friends to decide if they want a voice and a vote in the ministerial call.
 
It’s going to be an amazing six months, as we continue to explore social justice, build on the information you’ve provided in all of the surveys, attend cottage meetings, and think about where you want your new minister to lead you. But your Board and Coordinating Council need you to speak out and step up.
 
If you want something to change, come to a Board meeting, or speak up at a committee meeting. If you love something UUCOV is doing, tell a Board Member or someone on the Coordinating Council. Go to the sources and speak your truth.
 
Whether you are near or far for the summer, take some time to think: if the new minister were to ask me today what was good and bad about UUCOV, what would I say?
 
And once you have your answer?
 
Tell someone. Tell Rev. Amy or the Board or the Coordinating Council. Bring up the great and the not-so-great in committee meetings.
 
Help UUCOV to truly be YOUR congregation.
 
Please remember, as you are thinking, that I will be on vacation from July 17- August 28, 2023. If there is a pastoral care emergency during that time, please call or text me on my cell phone- I will not be checking work email for those six weeks.
 
Enjoy your summer!
 
Warmly,
Rev. Amy

Minister’s mUUsings June 2023

It has been a fruitful 10 months here at UUCOV. You created an amazing Search Team, and they began their work with enthusiasm and devotion. The Strategic Plan Team worked hard, talking with group after group, and you have a final report and summary of strategic priorities ready to be released and used.

We were hit with a Category 5 hurricane, and came away with minimal catastrophic damage, a new digital sign, and a quickly cleaned yard.

Nothing seems to be able to sink this marvelous congregation.

And there is more in front of us.

We are entering the busiest time of the search cycle- the seven months leading up to the release of our information packet for ministers to see.
In this time, you are going to be asked for all kinds of information, in multiple ways, so that the Search Team can create that packet.

The intent is simple; to find out who we are and who we want to be, so that potential ministers can decide if we might be the place for them.

There will be cottage meetings, and a survey or two. Whole church meetings to explain things, others to ask questions.

The Search Team, and the entirety of the congregation, need you to participate in this process. Understanding who you want to be your minister is essential for a new ministry to succeed.

If you have questions or concerns about the process, please talk to me or to a member of the Search Team. We want you to be heard, and your thoughts matter.

Warmly,
Rev. Amy