• Home
  • rainbow flagA Welcoming Congregation
  • Safe Congregation SealKeeping Safe
  • Capital Campaign
    • Contact: Capital Campaign
  • DONATE/REALM
  • TUCWomen
    • About TUCWomen
    • Join Us
    • Events
    • Contact
  • Contact
  • Instagram

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport

10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - Ph: (203)227-7205 Sunday Services: 10:00 AM

Unitarian Universalist Association
  • Calendar
    • Calendar
    • SOUNDINGS
    • Communications Guidelines
    • ZOOM Instructions
    • Tips For Making Videos
    • Event & Space Reservations
    • TUUCWSocial Email List Ground Rules
  • Welcome Visitors
    • UU Orientation
    • Directions & Services
    • Special Ceremonies & Dedications
    • Our Congregational History
    • Our Faith
    • What is a Unitarian Universalist?
    • We are Unitarian Universalists
    • How did you become a Unitarian Universalist?
    • History of the Flaming Chalice
    • UU History in 8 Minutes
  • About Us
    • Our Mission Statement
    • Our Vision Statement
    • About Our Ministers
    • Our Staff
    • Getting Involved
    • Board of Trustees
    • Governance
    • Healing and Resilience Task Force
    • Congregant Celebration
    • Pastoral Care Chaplains
    • Our Welcoming Congregation
    • Photo & Video Galleries
    • Links – Beyond Our Walls
    • SOUNDINGS
    • Communications Guidelines
    • Events & Space Reservations
    • Pledging
  • FAITH FORMATION
    • Faith Formation for Children and Youth 2022-23
    • Welcome to Family Faith Formation
    • This Week in Family Faith Formation
    • Faith Formation Age Groupings 2022-23
    • What to Expect on Sunday Mornings
    • OWL Information at a Glance
    • Youth Ministry
    • Adult Faith Formation
    • Soul Matters
    • Keeping Safe
    • Faith Formation Registration
  • Social Justice
    • Welcome to Social Justice
    • Advocates for Prevention of Gun Violence
    • Beardsley School Committee
    • Immigration and Refugee Committee
    • KIVA Microfinance Committee
    • Racial Justice Committee
    • Westbridge Coalition
  • Music Program
    • Music Choir Schedules
    • Evensong
    • Our Minister of Music
    • The Music Committee
    • The Bell Choir
    • The Choir (Women and Men)
    • Special Projects Choir
    • Once & Again Singers
    • Children’s Choir
    • Teen Choir
    • The Chamber Choir
    • Sight-singing Classes
    • Cabaret
    • Voice Classes
    • Love Is the Spirit
    • Tune My Heart To Sing
    • Support Our Music Program
  • Sermons & Poetry
    • Minister’s Messages
    • Sermons – Audio
    • Sermons – Video
    • Rev. John T. Morehouse’s sermons
    • From Your Senior Minister: Facing Grace
    • Facing Grace – Rev. John’s blog
    • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – sermons
    • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – Dear Friends
    • Intern Minister’s sermons
    • Guest Minister’s sermons
    • Poetry & Readings
    • Communications from Your Ministers
  • Live Stream

Dear Friends – September 24, 2012

September 25, 2012 by Rev. Frank Hall - Minister Emeritus

Dear Friends,

In 1984, from March 25 to April 1, I came to Westport as a candidate for the position of senior minister. It was an intense time. I had reservations about coming to Westport – in part, because I didn’t want to leave Attleboro, and in part because it would take me away from familiar and family territory; and in part because of Westport’s reputation as a difficult congregation, which turned out to be completely undeserved. But I won’t go into that now – it can wait until later.

Early in that candidating week I met Doris and Mel Brenner and they helped to put my mind at ease. Doris knew that it was ‘an intense time,’ so she told me a joke, saying, “I thought you might be able to use this…”

The story she told was that captives from battles who had been enslaved by the Romans were given an opportunity to gain their freedom by getting into the arena with a lion. If they survived they would be set free. One such fellow volunteered and as soon as he got into the arena he walked right up to the lion and whispered something in the lion’s ear, and the lion put his tail between his legs and crawled off into a corner. Soon the Emperor set the captive free, saying, “Before you go, tell me what you said to the lion.”  The freed man said,  “I told him that after dinner he would be expected to make a few comments.”

Doris had an extraordinary way of making you feel comfortable. She was a rare and wonderful woman. We shared lots of good stories over the years – laughed together often, and shared some tears, too.

One of the things I especially appreciated about Doris was the way she welcomed new folks into the church, walking them through those sometimes difficult beginning Sundays, helping them to feel more and more at home here. Carol Porter said, “Ray and I were Brenner babies,” meaning that Doris had provided that kind of warm welcome, sharing the time it takes to feel at home here.

Carol said, “There are lots of Brenner babies in this congregation.”

Doris wrote hundreds of personal notes to folks over the years, in response to things people had shared at candle lighting on Sundays, and things she learned about during the week. The remarkable thing about those notes is that she made a point of avoiding using the first person singular. She told me, “It’s not about me – it’s about them.”

Her work with Family Re-entry, providing prison inmates presents for them to give to their children at Christmas, was, like those notes she wrote, and the way she greeted new people, a perfect description of the woman she was – a woman who was deeply loved, admired and appreciated. We’ll miss her, of course, but she left an indelible mark on us and this place.

At the conclusion of the service in celebration of her life last Saturday I said, “I feel Doris’s presence here today, and she has asked me to do one last favor for her – she wants me to light this candle for you. She wants to express her appreciation for you and for this congregation, expressing her sense that she got back much more than she gave.”

I will carry her with me on whatever roads I travel in the days and years ahead.

With love,

Frank

Filed Under: Dear Friends Tagged With: Dear Friends, Rev. Frank Hall

  • Minister’s Messages
  • Sermons – Audio
  • Sermons – Video
  • Rev. John T. Morehouse’s sermons
  • From Your Senior Minister: Facing Grace
  • Facing Grace – Rev. John’s blog
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – sermons
  • Rev. Frank Hall, Minister Emeritus – Dear Friends
  • Intern Minister’s sermons
  • Guest Minister’s sermons
  • Readings & Poetry
  • Communications from Your Ministers

     The Unitarian Universalist
     Congregation in Westport
     is a member congregation of the
     Unitarian Universalist Association

      CLICK HERE if you have any questions      about The Unitarian Universalist
    Congregation in Westport

Congregational Hours: Tuesday - Friday
9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Summer Hours:
July & August until after Labor Day:
Tuesday - Friday 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM

CLICK HERE to contact the web master

CLICK HERE to opt in to receive
the Weekly Congregational Email Blast

Copyright © 2023 · Visit us at The Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Westport - 10 Lyons Plains Rd., Westport, CT 06880 - All rights reserved.