Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Briarcliff, Croton, and Ossining

Dear members of UUFBCO,

First and foremost, all blessings for you in this New Year! May your joys be great and your burdens light. May you find its challenges exciting and renewing. May you experience ever more love in your heart and compassion in your work. 

Back in October, I mentioned the five tasks that are part of transition for congregations. Here they are again:

First, the congregation must claim and honor its past.

Second, the congregation must illuminate its unique identity.

Third, the congregation must clarify the multiple dimensions of leadership.

Fourth, the congregation must renew its connections with available resources.

And fifth, the congregation must renew its vision. 

The tasks are not necessarily in order, nor are they a punch list of sorts. These tasks are completed at different paces. Now one task seems to pick up momentum, then slows and another races forward, etc. They are simultaneous not sequential but each has its own rhythm and that is not necessarily predictable. Sometimes a task may seem stalled, but only until one of the others moves forward. 

This explains why I can not give you a map of the process with discrete moments. What we can do and will do, is evaluate where we are several times during the interim ministry. The first such evaluation is due on February 15, 2012, the second September 30 and the final one on June 15, 2013. The Board and I will do separate evaluations which we will share before they are submitted to the Transitions Office at the Unitarian Universalist Association. The mid-year  evaluations give us a chance to make needed course corrections during the interim process. This will be immensely useful when we have our congregational retreat in March 2012 and engage in a visioning process for UUFBCO’s future. 

From my observations so far, I can say that I think that while change is virtually always unsettling, things are going more smoothly than I expected. I am learning your strengths, testing boundaries in terms of what you really think you must hold on to of the past, and offering some challenges to spiritual growth.  Know that my heart is absolutely with you and your future. I admire your talents, your commitment and the passion you bring to what you do. 

Look for an announcement soon about adult religious education offerings. I will be doing a series ‘The Genius of the World’s Religions,” and also offer multiple one-hour spiritual journey workshops for 5-10 people. 

In the meantime, please be sure to sign up for the January 22 “Beyond Categorical Thinking.” 

Rev. Orlanda Brugnola

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Minister's Letter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Dear members of UUFBCO, this is the second piece on the order of service. Last month, I spoke about formatting changes and the like. This month, I’d like to explain some content changes.The Music Committee and I have come to consensus that 5 hymns is just too many! Yes, 5,including “Go Now in Peace!” We are going to keep that first hymn before the service starts because it really works in getting people into the sanctuary and seated. And we are making every effort to choose that hymn from the 25 or so that the Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network finds to be the most popular and sing-able by all ages.

We are going to be moving the special music around a little and the Words for All Ages will now follow the chalice lighting. The offering will follow Joys and the hymn that previously followed Joys, will now precede the sermon.

The final hymn in the service will be one that affirms or amplifies the theme of the sermon, as is the case in virtually every other Unitarian Universalist congregation.

And now, just a word about that beloved #123, “Spirit of Life.” As I have said in person, it was written by Carolyn McDade when she came home after a meeting for Central American solidarity and sat in her darkened living room and composed it as a prayer. When the last hymnbook commission wanted to include it, she was reluctant because, she said, “I thought of it as a living prayer, not a hymn.” In the last months I have been honoring her wish for a meditative version. Apparently, some prefer a more vigorous version and so for now, we’ll keep it as the closing hymn and stand for it, but I will still ask that we sit for the postlude in silence unless we have to leave early. We have certainly been enjoying Erika’s postludes!

And lastly, in December, the flaming chalice will become a real flaming chalice, not a candle whose light is barely visible. (Dave Morkal is on board!) And we will not extinguish it during the service. Virtually, no religious tradition extinguishes such symbols during the service unless they are excommunicating someone! That flame is symbolically always lit. Thus is being introduced in the month of December because we will have the winter solstice on December 22 and welcome the growing light of the new year.

Look for a worship workshop in January for all interested-date to be announced.

May the season bring you blessings and promise!

Rev. Orlanda Brugnola

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 3rd, 2011 at 11:19 pm and is filed under Minister's Letter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Dear Members and Friends of UUFBCO, you have been noticing some changes since I arrived and have expressed curiosity about them. Be assured that each and every change has been carefully thought through!That said, I will try to explain the reasons for the changes. This is the first bit of explanation and there will be more in the coming months.

One of the first things to change was the format and general appearance of the printed order of service and insert. First was the change to a vertical format which is easier to hold in the hand and allows the insert to fit in a pocket easily. A small color image related to the sermon appears at the top. When you have a new website, the same image will appear slightly larger with the announcement of the sermon. This means that a person finding UUFBCO on the web will experience continuity when they come for the service. The color of the insert is selected to pick up or harmonize with some color in the image.

Next came the paring down of words. Much that was in the old format is material that should go into a simple brochure usually titled “What to expect on Sunday morning” or the like. That’s where you will find explanations for each element of the service. I will be preparing that soon.

The words for the day moved to the inside of the order of service where they appear with something related to the environment. This gives the opportunity to give explanation or some other educational material that is richer than just a saying.

Next month, I will explain some things about elements within the service. And watch for an announcement of a workshop on worship (yet to be scheduled) for anyone who wishes to attend.

With every blessing in this season for you all,

Rev. Orlanda Brugnola

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 8:45 am and is filed under Minister's Letter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Dear Members and Friends of UUBCO,Here is part of the sermon that got ‘left ashore’ at the water communion ceremony! During the interim period, we will be going through a process together that will challenge and change us both in good ways.

The Alban Institute offers many excellent resources for congregations. One of them notes that there are 5 developmental tasks that must be accomplished during the interim period if the minister you finally decide to call is to be effective. First, the congregation must claim and honor its past. Second, the congregation must illuminate its unique identity. Third, the congregation must clarify the multiple dimensions of leadership. Fourth, the congregation must renew its connections with available resources. And fifth, the congregation must renew its vision.

So what does that claiming and honoring the past entail? Several things. Part of the task is acknowledging not only the proud moments but also the disappointments at all levels. You already began this work before I got here. The second task has to do with identifying the congregation’s strengths, needs and challenges. You have enormous strength in your caring for each other. There is much talent and energy here. Your mission statement needs to articulate in a sentence or two what it is that makes UUFBCO’s presence in these communities important and necessary. Your visioning needs to be reviewed as often as every three years so that it is always a fresh engagement with life in these communities and the world. That review will help you tackle stewardship issues now and for the future.

The third task is about clarifying the flowing patterns of leadership that are a natural part of transition times. You will experience new and other ways of leadership-and those new and other ways will sometimes come from me but even more important and more hopefully, they will come from you. Leadership can be developed. Many of you have taken on leadership roles or tasks without much skills-building assistance and that is going to change.

The fourth task is using the many resources available to you from the UU Metro District and from the UUA as well. You have already started. Some of these opportunities will be eye-opening and deeply affirming. One of them is coming up at the beginning of November-November 5 to be exact. It’s a program entitled “Defying Gravity.” I’m going to go and I’d like as many of you to go as possible. When the District Annual Meeting comes around in the Spring, I’ll be encouraging you to join me there. And our Association’s General Assembly in June will be a special Assembly devoted to social action in Phoenix.

The fifth task is about new directions in ministry-not only professional ministry. Every one of you is engaged in some sort of ministry whether you realize it or not.. You are the life of this congregation and what you do matters enormously. Part of this year’s work together will be helping you to realize that ever more clearly. These are the areas for our time together this year.

And I want to say something about Lifespan Faith Development-that is our religious education program. Unitarian Universalism literally saves lives by offering a fresh perspective and a deeply inclusional philosophy. We owe it to our children to make ours the program they beg us to bring them to. And we owe our adults opportunities to encounter the world’s religions and to have deep conversations about important things in life. Some of you are already offering some of these adult programs and I will be offering some this year as well.

Let us, together, make this a great year!
With every blessings and hope,
Rev. Orlanda Brugnola
Interim Minister

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 8:43 am and is filed under Minister's Letter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Dear Members and Friends of UUBCO,

It is an honor to be with you during this interim period in your congregation’s life. It has been a delight to meet and work with some of you already!

Please know that I look forward to you, your children, and your youth.

And I look forward to your stories, created from challenges and loves, heartbreaks and triumphs and much more. Glimpsing those is inspiring, to say the least!

Congregations also have their stories. Interim work is a special kind of ministry in a very short part of a congregation’s life. My job, in part, is to listen to the heartbeat of this congregation in the next year or two.

It is to strategize with you. It also might be to hold up a mirror from time to time, when things aren’t working as well as you might wish them to.

I already know that there is tremendous energy in this congregation, as well as deep commitment. Those are most precious keys to your future. Hopefully, I will help you begin to dream that future into being. And then you will call your next Minister who will travel there with you.

Let us, together, make this a great year!
With every blessings and hope,
Rev. Orlanda Brugnola
Interim Minister

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 8:41 am and is filed under Minister's Letter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.