Featured Articles from Compass Rose

by The Committee on Ministry The Committee on Ministry (COM) is a team comprised of UUSM’s professional minister(s) and individuals selected jointly by UUSM’s Board of Trustees and the minister. In addition to our new contract minister, Rev. Laura Thompson, serving on the Committee on Ministry are Richard Davis, Kathy Kinner, and Kathy van Leuwen. Combined, the lay members have been active at UUSM for a century and served the congregation intensively in the areas of governanc

By Rev. Laura Thompson Beloveds, Having spent the last couple of months settling in and getting to know you, I am now ready to begin leading us on our shared Developmental Ministry journey. What is Developmental Ministry? Developmental ministry is a time of intentional reflection and action — a sacred period in which a congregation takes stock of its life, renews its sense of purpose, and strengthens the structures that support its mission in ways that are meaningful and sust

Greetings from the UU Church of the Philippines. May this message find you all well and in good spirits! As you may have seen on the...

I've just finished reading the ministry packet for EMBRACING POSSIBILITY , our congregational theme for the month of April, and now I am so filled with possibilities, it is difficult to know where to begin this reflection! Perhaps a good starting point is understanding what "possibility" is all about. The word comes from the Latin word posse , which means "to have power." According to our friends at Soul Matters, it's important to note that "possibility" is not just about bel

I had been looking forward to PAYING ATTENTION , our March congregational theme, with great anticipation. My ability to pay attention to whatever is happening in the present moment has always been a challenge, and I have been hoping this theme's learnings could help me improve. I expected our friends at the Soul Matters Sharing Circle would present some spiritual exercises that would help me improve my ability to pay attention, and – as usual – they have done so, some of whic

I knew this month's congregational theme started with the letter "e," but I kept calling it embracing  resilience instead of embodying  resilience. So I consulted my AI guru to see what the difference might be between the two: Embracing  implies accepting, adopting, or holding something (like a belief or identity) closely, often at an internal or conceptual level. Embodying  goes deeper, representing the tangible, lived expression of those values through actions, behaviors, a