Greetings from our Minister

In this religious community we are constantly engaged in the task of Faith Development. Across the span of our lives, the focus, perspective and settings change but we continue to ask: “In what shall I place my faith?” One of the challenges we face as religious liberals is honoring each person’s spiritual development while being true to what we find compelling. We walk a narrow line between helping each other develop a faith of their own and trying to give them ours.

We must discern what we believe. We must hold it and test it and learn to articulate it. The way we embody our beliefs is the ultimate test of our Lifespan Faith Development. The challenge comes in sharing it in a way that others can take from us what they find inspiring and leave behind what they discern to be outworn and false.

I am routinely called on to preach from the pulpit, lead Adult Education courses, offer workshops at our YRUU rallies, talk to our middle schoolers about Unitarian Universalism and visit informally with our younger children. This is all Faith Development. These things are part of my Faith Development and they are part of the Faith Development of this community. In all of these things I hope I am showing you the shape of the faith that I hold and how it is manifest in my life. I do this not in the expectation that you will adopt the same faith but that you will develop your faith.

It is my prayer that everyone who steps forward to lead and teach and guide and learn in our Lifespan Faith Development program will do so as a person of faith who hopes to inspire faith—
not a person of a set belief who sees people as a mirror to reflect themselves.

Freely in Faith,

The Reverend Mark W. Christian