Greetings everyone. First of all, I want to thank all those who sent me good wishes before I went to Boston to visit the Ministerial Fellowship Committee at the end of September.  Your support and good feelings helped me achieve something that I’ve been working toward since starting seminary 4 years ago—becoming a fellowshipped minister with the UUA. Our congregational polity states that any church can ordain anyone they wish, regardless if a person is fellowshipped with the UUA or not. I chose to go through with that process because I want the sanction of our national governing body. Now that I’ve passed, I can become ordained.  When, how and where that happens remains to be seen. But I will keep you all up to date as that progresses. But for now, I can say that I’ve graduated from the Not Yet Rev. Kevin to Almost Rev. Kevin.

This month’s theme is Sanctuary. This past summer this church became a literal sanctuary to a family from Romania.  I was pleased to hear that they have all been reunited in Romania and that our church was a big help in keeping that family together. I’ve also been thinking about recent news events that have brought to light issues of white supremacy and toxic masculinity and the intersectionality of both. While no institution is free of either of these issues, my hope is that our church can be a sanctuary where we can talk about what white supremacy means and how it’s affected all of us. Perhaps by opening a dialog with each other, and eventually the wider world around us, we can find ways to heal each other from participating in a culture we didn’t ask for. Perhaps we can offer sanctuary to those who don’t want to partake in the institutions that prevent us from being our best selves, that find ways to prevent us from being fully human. As I mentioned during the window dedication, my hope is that we can be the beacon that can help heal a bruised and hurting world.

Almost Rev. Kevin DeBeck