COMPASS ROSE: THE UU SAN MATEO BLOG

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...

It took courage to sit down in front of my computer and start writing this reflection. First I had to confront a completely blank screen, along with the fear that I might not be able to accomplish the intended objective. Or even if I did, it just might not be good enough. Performance anxiety is the bane of existence for a perfectionist like me. It helps to remember that once I get going and courageously face my fear of doing something that's unfamiliar, I can usually accompli

As our congregation begins its new liturgical year this month, we once again ask ourselves: What does it mean to be a people of BEGINNINGS? The start of a new year is always a beginning, a time to start over. Most of the world observes the sun-based Gregorian calendar, which in 1582, established January 1 as the beginning of each new year. However, many older civilizations and religious traditions based their calendars on the cycles of the moon. One of those older religions i

This reflection was first written and published in November 2023. It has been lightly edited to update it for publication this month. Before I began to dive deeply into our August congregational theme, The Gift of GENEROSITY, I naively thought this topic would be about helping to meet others' needs by digging into my wallet to donate to the non-profit organizations I support. But I soon discovered Generosity is so much bigger than just being charitable. The folks at Soul Mat

This reflection was first written and published in April 2024. It has been lightly edited to update it for publication this month. Our congregational theme for the month of July is The Gift of INTERDEPENDENCE. This theme explores the [former] 7th principle of the Unitarian Universalist Association: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. The Article II [Bylaws] revision of the 7th Principle expands upon these ideas: We honor the interdepend