Weekly Message from T. J.
In Humble Gratitude
My friends. I want to thank you so much for the generous and welcoming way you took the next step of bringing our ministries together in a more cohesive way on Sunday. By voting to extend a call to me, you have accomplished a great deal as a community, and that should be applauded. And as it happened, from where I was sitting in the minister’s office on Sunday during the vote, I could hear the applause you gave yourselves loud and clear, wafting up through the office window. Bravo for that.
We begin a time now of conversations. I am sure that many people want to know what working together in a new way will “look like” or what it will “feel like.” The short answer is that that for the time being, it will look and feel a lot like it does right now. In the time we’ve been working and learning together, many positive expressions of that work and that learning have come to be. We want a lot of that healthy, organic growth to continue to be nurtured and blessed by the wonderful ways so many attend to the life of this shared community.
On January 20, following the worship service, I will hold an open conversation in the sanctuary. I will share (with pie charts, I promise) the way my ministry with you has looked over the time I’ve been with you. I will be open to hearing any and all questions at this time…and I’ll even do my best to answer them. A free exchange of ideas is at the core of our Unitarian Universalist principles. And to that end, I hope people will feel free to bring questions, comments, hopes, and concerns of all kinds. I’m looking forward to this a lot. And we will talk more on January 20 about additional kinds of conversations that will make sense after that initial conversation.
Alongside these conversations, please know that your thoughtful and caring Board of Directors has begun the usual and customary process of assembling a team who will serve as point persons for discussions with me about the more formal employment matters this relationship also requires, like a contract, etc.
Like any relationship, this one will grow and deepen one conversation, one kind action, and one pie chart at a time. I am deeply and wonderfully humbled by your kind invitation and I am excited to speak more about what we together can offer one another and offer this land that we love so well.
I will be on study leave following our Annual No-Rehearse Christmas Pageant on December 24 at 4 pm and returning January 8. In that time I will be monitoring e-mail and available for emergency matters. In this time I will be meditating and thinking upon ways that we can continue to grow in the healthful and supportive ways we have so far and consider ways we might strive together for a future filled with the best things we and our community have to offer. I hope you will be, too.
Many blessings, always.
Love,
Rev. T. J.
minister@unitariansofhi.org
Congratulations, T. J.! Looking forward to watching the church and you continue to grow together in the coming days. And especially to hear the uplifting and inspiring messages you always provide. :)
I want to congratulate you, Reverend T.J. and I also want to congratulate our congregation. We are the lucky ones; we feel so grateful to have you with us! I appreciate your willingness and desire to hold ongoing open, honest communication with our church ohana. That is sure to inspire a healthy sense of strength and confidence in which we can all work as a team, as a family, to surmount obstacles and realize important goals, helping us to be a beacon of light in this world that sure could use some light.