This time of interim ministry offers us a wonderful opportunity to take a step back, to assess ourselves and our Fellowship. To discover, and make real, our shared values, and ensure that they give strong structure and purpose to our mission – to why we are here, as UUFH. What do we hold most dear in our hearts and minds? What are our core values?  

Our Transition Team continues its important work, now helping us to identify our values. This is basic to a shared understanding of who we are and who we want to be, as individuals and as a community of faith. They have already reached out to the Board and many in the Congregation for their thoughts and wisdom, and will continue to do so in the weeks ahead. In that manner we can all help to shape our way forward, and should embrace this opportunity with enthusiasm!  

Rest assured this is powerful stuff – well worth our deep thought and discussion.  Martin Luther King Jr. said “a revolution in values” is what’s needed to achieve a better and more just world. While values are an especially hot topic these days, words like inclusion, empathy, love, respect, and compassion are ones we should continue to talk about, well after November 3. And even as we welcome diversity, we should also search for the deeper commonality that binds us all, in a shared commitment to place things like kindness and concern for others at the forefront of our thoughts and actions.

Our values should guide our behavior, and be reflected in what we prioritize and how we act. They will be part of our bedrock as we work towards helping to build a better and more just world. 

Michael Yates
President, UUFH