In less than two weeks, I will complete my ministry at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Savannah and head to Venice to be with you all for the month of July. I am very excited to meet you, either in person or virtually, since so many of you are spending the summer in other areas. I welcome opportunities for us to get together and I am going to suggest a few ways to meet during July. I recognize that this is a month where you will go through more transitions as your Interim Minister, Rev. Amy Shaw, will be arriving later during the month of July.

A transitional minister, your “in-between minister”, holds the important role of helping you understand what is constant and what is ephemeral; what changes and what stays the same.  For six months each of us diverse ministers has been with you on Sundays and reminded you of who you are and prepared the groundwork for your interim who will ask you who you want to be.  I welcome your feedback on what the past six months have been like for you and what you anticipate in your future (write me at skarlson@uuma.org at any time).
I’ve been thinking about a few things that might be enlivening and fun ways to get to know one another.  On Wednesday mornings each week in July (July 6, 13, 20, and 27th), I will meet with anyone who wants to come by the Black Gold Coffee Roasters shop at 2385 E Venice Ave, Venice, FL 34292-2465 from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm.

On Thursdays from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm (July 7, 14, 21 and 28th), we can enjoy a time together at UUCOV–I understand that eating together has been prohibited with the Covid cases rising but maybe, we can find a space and be socially distanced and masked.  Later on Thursdays (July 7, 14, 21 and 28th), I have scheduled a zoom call from 4:30 pm – 6 pm for anyone who wants to come and meet on line (Zoom link: https://uuma.zoom.us/u/ad8cjzA2s). On Tuesday afternoons (beginning on July 12 and continuing through July 19 and 26th), 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, I can introduce people to SoulCollage, a spiritual practice of making cards from collaged images that help us understand more about ourselves and our world. I will bring all the materials for this.

I hope these times will enable us to connect with one another for the month of July. Please feel free to contact me if you wish at skarlson@uuma.org or to call (347) 466-0864.

Looking forward to meeting you very soon,
Rev. Susan Karlson