Dear Friends, We had a great annual meeting: well-attended, high-spirited and efficient.  Jim Perry was presented the ‘Very Fine Award’ for his years of dedicated, outstanding service to this congregation.  Jim comes from a family of clergy—I told him that he was the kind of man who becomes a minister by the way he lives […]

Dear Friends, During the cold spell, a week ago last Saturday, I was sitting alone in the kitchen reading the book review section of the New York Times.  Lory had taken Carlyn to orchestra rehearsal.  The house was quiet.  I was enjoying late-morning coffee and time alone.

Dear Friends, On the last Sunday in February we’ll have our annual meeting; later that day many of us will tune in to the 77 Annual Academy Award show when this year’s Oscar winners will be announced, one by one, sprinkled with entertainment:  “The envelope please.”

Dear Friends, By now you know about Barbara’s decision to resign her position as Associate Minister. She will be with us through the end of March, then she’ll step into April to begin the next chapter.

Dear Friends, I want to tell you about our congregation’s efforts to help with tsunami relief aid. First, though I want to tell you about Karl Purnell’s personal experience—it will put a closer human perspective on the unfolding story.

Dear Friends, Tears and laughter often go together.  Certain kinds of smiles go with frowns that are caused by bits of irony.  The aggressive discussion about saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas brought that ironic smile to my Santa-face.  It brought a frown with it.

Dear Friends, We’ve had several requests for copies of last Sunday’s sermon, “The Anatomy of a Religious Liberal.”  Some folks are surprised to learn that there’s a cassette tape recording available, and even more surprised to find out that there’s a manuscript which we post on our website.

Dear Friends, Our Partner Church minister, Mihaly, and his wife, Erzsike (Elizabeth) had a wonderful visit with us last month.  After returning home he wrote:  “I just finished all my agricultural work for the fall and now I can spend a little time reflecting back to the beautiful days we spent in the U.S.

Dear Friends, There’s a story in yesterday’s papers about a young man from Georgia who drove to New York following the election and took his own life, despondent over the re-election of George Bush.

Dear Friends, Robert Kennedy was campaigning for the Presidency when he stepped off the plane to make a speech and was told that Martin Luther King, Jr. had just been assassinated. He didn’t need someone to tell him what to say. He remembered the words of his favorite poem by the ancient Greek dramatist, Aeschylus: