Minister’s Letter — June 2007

Dear Friends,

Henry David Thoreau wrote: “I wish to begin this summer well, to do something in it worthy of it and of me; to transcend my daily routine; to have my immortality now in the quality of my daily life!” Hmmmn. Not bad! Wanting to “transcend my daily routine, to have immortality now. . .” I can relate to that. And I am looking forward to experiencing it. . . . like taking my folding canvass chair out to Central Park early in the morning for an hour’s respite and reading a good book I have had resting on my shelf for the last two months. Will I do that? You bet. A least for a couple of days!

I think we all need a break, a slowing down, a change of pace. It’s been a very busy year, always is of course. We’ve had countless committee meetings and people have given a lot of time and effort to our ministry.

So I want to say thank you to scores of you who have enthusiastically contributed time and effort to the life and program of the Fellowship. Many of you have been enormously generous with your time and commitment over the past year. There are a lot of things that need to be fixed, mended, changed, improved, dropped, added, addressed, included and planned. But let us not forget all the positive change, love, commitment, dedication, building, support, caring, celebrating, learning, laughing, singing, crying, discovery, inspiration, conversation and connection we have experienced. The Fellowship has truly been a nurturing, inspiring environment for me and I believe most of us.

Perhaps the number of new members we have welcomed in the past year is testament to the spirit of things. To those of you who have joined us this year, I truly look forward to your input, participation and friendship in the days to come.

We do have one very important meeting coming up–our annual business meeting on June 3 at the 11 a.m. service. Eddy Fried has written about this in his column, so I refer you to his thoughtful appeal to your attendance and participation. There will be a regular worship service at 9 a.m. on June 3, a good time to “transcend your daily routine.” So come to both services! Then on June 10, we will have an extraordinary service celebrating the “coming of age” of 17 of our young people! During the summer months we will continue to have lay-led services at 9 a.m. —again, in the spirit of having your immortality now, i.e. a place to quietly meet and engage and to transcend the daily routine.

However, a lot will still be going on this summer as we quietly plan for our return to regular schedule in the fall. I will still be meeting and talking with people and available for pastoral counseling. I have a number of vision projects in mind that I will be discussing with our new Board such as: an even stronger, vital RE program, a more comprehensive social action policy, a family-life program, and a more dynamic music ministry program. But more about that later.

In the meantime, I wish you all a restive summer and as many moments to transcend your daily routine you can find! I love you all! See you at the Fellowship!
Jim Covington