I first heard the idea for a Candy Communion from a colleague, and I thought it would fit perfectly in our Sunday service centered around this very special time of year—the time of Samhain, All Saints, Halloween, and Dia de los Muertos, when the veil between worlds is said to be thin.  In fact, the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain is still celebrated today as Halloween—a holiday where the costumes and candy often get the most attention.  But look beneath the surface of the shiny costumes and bright candy wrappers, and you'll find a holiday of community with its largest ritual—trick or treating—connecting us with our neighbors and local neighborhoods, where we give and receive the gift of candy.

On Sunday, October 11, BUF welcomed former Chairman of the Lummi Nation and President of the nonprofit Se’Si’Le, Jay Julius, as our honored speaker. During his talk, Jay shared with heartfelt intensity the pain and grief he and other Indigenous Peoples of the Salish Sea experience around the devastation to their ancestral lands, waters, and the more-than-human life that inhabits them.

Jay wrote the Foreword to the book we referenced several times during the service, In the Spirit of Right and Respectful Relations with Salmon Nations (these books are for sale through BUF's Native American Connections Team— see the blurb below in this edition or talk to Beth Brownfield to purchase a copy). He reports that people often ask, "How can I help?" In his words:

Think about what it means to be human. We live in a time of war against the common good. But our people know that the common good is about community, civility, and common human decency. And we know our common destiny depends on understanding what it means to be human in the spirit of right and respectful relations.

Upon arriving at BUF in October 2025, I was brought up to speed on BUF’s budget and financials, soon learning that in previous years, BUF had had a long-term renter who operated a weekday school on the Flex Room floor, resulting in approximately $40,000 in dependable annual rental income.  At the time of my arrival, the school was gone, and BUF’s rental income had fallen to less than half that amount.  Finding a new long-term renter who aligned with our values became a priority, especially as we welcomed Alison, our new Congregational Administrator, who has done an incredible job managing BUF’s rental program.

Accordingly, we are excited to announce that BUF will soon open its doors to Recovery Café Bellingham, who will be renting the BUF Social Hall, Kitchen and Library on Tuesdays through Thursdays, with Café hours from 12:00pm to 4:00pm (and staff access from 10:00am to 6:00pm for preparation and cleanup).  Founded in Seattle in 2003 to provide long-term recovery support, Recovery Café is a drug- and alcohol-free space offering meals, accountability circles, and support for anyone in recovery or close to someone in recovery.  

In my own learning journey around anti-racism, anti-oppression, and multiculturalism (often abbreviated as AR/AO/MC), one of the most impactful books I have read is Mistakes & Miracles: Congregations on the Road to Multiculturalism—a book that happened to be the UUA’s Common Read in 2023, and a book that the BUF Board is now reading as a group.  

In it, authors Nancy Palmer Jones, a white minister, and Karin Lin, an Asian American lay leader, not only detail the Unitarian Universalist history around race, racial equity, and racialized resistance, but also share five detailed case studies of UU congregations from across the country as they attempt to build the Beloved Community of which Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently spoke during the 1950s and 1960s.  The journey to building such anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and multicultural community is long and bumpy, however—as one congregant at UU Church Annapolis said, “it's stumbling in the right direction." 

On Sunday, I shared in my Reflection several examples of my own stumbles in the right direction—of "loving corrections" (a term coined by adrienne maree brown) that increased my awareness, allowing me to know better, and do better, Maya Angelou-style. This year, with the UUA's rollout of the MOSAIC framework, we now have an opportunity as a congregation to increase our AR/AO/MC learning and awareness together.

n the first Sunday after Labor Day, Unitarian Universalist congregations across the country typically celebrate the start of a new congregational year with an “Ingathering” Service.  Themes for such services include “reunion; re-gathering; re-covenanting as a community of faith; hospitality; returning home to the church community that holds us; hope; looking forward with excitement to the church year.”  (from the UUA's WorshipWeb)

This past Sunday at BUF, I felt the energy of reunion, re-gathering and looking forward with excitement to the new congregational year, as we celebrated our own Ingathering Service.  After travel and activities that took them far afield for summer, the families are back!  It was wonderful to look into the front right corner of the Sanctuary and see it filled with kids once again, all of whom were invited to receive a Backpack Blessing, facilitated by Lis Epperson, our incredible Director of Religious Education

Last Sunday's service on "Rest and Its Rewards" was inspired by the work of theologian, poet and community organizer Tricia Hersey, founder of "The Nap Ministry," and author of the book Rest Is Resistance.  Her book explores the roots and internalization of grind culture, as well as arguing that, within a system that often values us and sees our worth as measured by our productivity and money, to rest is an act of resistance.

Following several weeks away for study leave and vacation, I officially returned to the office on August 17, although you will not see me in the pulpit until this Sunday, September 6.  A huge thanks to Rev. Barbara Wells ten Hove who led and/or oversaw all services from July 19 through August 30, and all the Celebrants, participants, and musicians who contributed to a wonderful series of summer services!  

Other than a week in Fredericksburg, Texas visiting my parents, I spent my time away mostly in Seattle with my partner, Chase.  I caught up on inspirational reading, did a bit of writing, swam in Lake Washington with our dog, Movy, and had moments of much-needed stillness.  After pushing hard through my summers during divinity school and following graduation, filling each and every moment with internships, hospital chaplaincy, and the UUA's fellowship and ministerial application process, my body and being were so grateful for this summer's break.

It's been a busy year, and summer snuck up on me, but looking around BUF and Bellingham these past few weeks, I see it is definitely here. I attended the Choir's end-of-year celebration a couple weeks ago...Community Night Dinner is on hiatus until fall...there are fewer activities happening at the congregation...the Mid-Week Update is on its summer publishing schedule every other week...and I will soon be taking some time off.

When I arrived at BUF very early for Choir Sunday on June 14 to set up for our Dirt Communion ritual, it quickly became “one of those days.” The WIFI was down, and our reliable outside IT guy Eric, who usually works on Sundays, happened to be on a rare vacation, so we were left scrambling...Fatemah, our Steward, notified me that the key for the Fair Trade closet was missing...a block-wide power outage on Saturday had the fire alarm panel on the fritz...it was a hot day, and by the time I was done moving tables, pots, and pouring dirt for my setup, I was a sweaty mess.

Unitarian Universalism has long been on the leading edge of social justice. We count among our ancestors some of the earliest proponents of women’s rights, abolition, pacifism, and environmentalism. These days, our justice work continues through such efforts as democracy campaigns, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant justice, and anti-racism and reparations through restorative justice. Though our UU movement and its theology have evolved and transformed over time, our commitment to social justice—to the fair and equal treatment of all individuals and social groups—has remained.

In my column last week, I shared I often have a difficult time giving myself permission to rest. Another area of difficulty for me is around receiving. Whether it be a compliment, an offer of help or support, or a gift, it is just so darn hard for me to receive it. This past Sunday, the service devoted to "Our Shared Commitment to Ministry" pushed me to the limit of being able to take in so much kindness and love—my receiving muscles were maxed out!

"I believe rest, sleep, naps, daydreaming, and slowing down can help us all wake up to see the truth of ourselves. Rest is a healing portal to our deepest selves. Rest is care. Rest is radical." — “Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto” by Tricia Hersey,founder of The Nap Ministry'

This past Sunday, we created a service oriented around care, and more specifically, pastoral care within the BUF community. We have been developing a robust Pastoral Care Team, who we introduced at the service. In addition to long-time Care Team members Rick Steele, Carola Tossetti, and Ted Williams, we are thrilled to have recently welcomed to the team Pam Graham, Maryann Welch, and Rev. Marsha Vollkommer. Each spoke a bit about their particular zones of genius and passions around providing care.

This past Sunday, we honored Earth Day, National Poetry Month, and Lesbian Visibility Day.  As a part of our service, we created a shared altar together using objects we collected from nature.  This ritual provided an opportunity to connect with and celebrate the beauty of the natural world. 

In addition to celebration, however, the ritual also invited us to engage with the challenging emotions of grief and anger many of us are carrying due to climate devastation and species extinction.  According to University of Washington Environmental Humanities professor Jennifer Atkinson, our eco-grief is not a bad thing—it is actually a sign of deep attachment and a response that highlights our profound connection to others, including plants, animals, and places. She says “this makes grief a powerful but widely overlooked tool for cultivating hope and empowering ourselves to become agents of change.”

When I opened my newsfeed this morning, I saw so much despair out in the world. And yet, as I sat down to write my column this week, I was filled with hope and gratitude for so much within our BUF community. 

I write to you from a little Airbnb in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut where Chase and I have spent a whirlwind trip that culminated yesterday in my Ordination Service at the Unitarian Society of New Haven (the congregation where I completed my two-year ministerial internship from 2023-2025). Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship was well-represented at the festivities, with Lin Skavdahl and Steffany Raynes present and participating in the ceremony, and the BUF Board providing the beautiful flowers for the altar.

Following this past Sunday's Easter and Flower Communion service, we received a lot of positive feedback. It was one of my favorite services we've held since I arrived at BUF. And how meaningful and adorable were the kids in their processional with the flowers?

I also heard a few comments from folks who previously had been hesitant to attend an Easter service. I get it. Easter is the oldest and most important festival in the Christian year. And UUs—with our Christian history and non-creedal present and shared value of pluralism—we have a complicated relationship with a holiday like Easter and an idea like resurrection. 

In January, the Stewardship Team held Envisioning Sessions to hear from folks about what they most want to see at BUF in the 2026-2027 congregational year. In mid-February, we kicked off this year's Annual Stewardship Campaign to raise funds not only to cover the necessities, like fair wages for our staff and paying the mortgage on our building, but also to pursue some of the worthy projects and hopes that came out of the Envisioning Sessions. Now, as we approach the end of this year's Stewardship Campaign, it's time to talk numbers (see attached chart for details on our progress).

Last November, we devoted a Sunday service to our Unitarian root tradition. Following that service, someone approached me and asked, "What about Universalism?" I was happy to oblige, and this past Sunday, on March 22, we gave Universalism some attention. 

Exploring the history of our root traditions is important. As minister and professor of UU history, David Bumbaugh writes in Unitarian Universalism: A Narrative History: "Unitarian Universalism is a peculiar religious tradition in that what binds us is not so much a shared theology, or even a shared response to the experience of the sacred, as it is a shared history. We are one people because of our inchoate understanding of the journey through time which we share." 

In August 2025, I began my Year-Long Transitional Ministry Training course, a mandatory course for any UU minister who wishes to do interim or transitional ministry within a congregation. It is hard to believe, but after learning alongsideabout 30 other ministers for almost nine months, we are fast approaching our "graduation" in May. For our final assignment, this week I will be doing a "Capstone Presentation" to the class, where I will highlight how I have implemented or integrated some aspect of my learning from the course into practice in my ministry setting.