The Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough

They say that once something has happened twice in a Unitarian context, it has become a tradition... apparently because we are always on the move, evolving, we have to claim tradition wherever we can find it. That said, I have now given two January “State of the Fellowship” sermons. This is now a tradition at the Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough.

This year, I put the “State of the Fellowship” sermon into the frame of ‘story’. The theory is that the stories we tell, and the stories we believe...about ourselves, our communities, our nation...are self-fulfilling prophecies. We create these stories out of our experiences and what we’ve been told, but to use them to our advantage, we need to stay cognizant of the stories we tell, and be willing to re-author them when necessary.

And so I proceeded to tell the following story about UFP:
Once upon a time there was a conservative community called Peterborough. Hardly a liberal was in sight. But a meeting brought a few religious free-thinkers together to talk about starting a Unitarian fellowship, and in about six months, had found enough interested people to be granted a charter from the American Unitarian Association. (Well, actually, they were one person short of the 15 required, but they got special dispensation.)
Over the next thirty years or so, they grew to about thirty members, with about as many children. They met in each others homes and then in different public settings. The tasks were many and the people few, so they rotated jobs. It was hard work and they often felt like quitting. One member in particular, Mary Young, wouldn’t hear of giving up, and encouraged them to keep going. Still, they couldn’t seem to get beyond about thirty members.
But the group had vision. They saved their money in hopes of buying a building some day. They adopted the ‘yew’ as their symbol, because it is evergreen, hardy, thrives in adversity and is long living. Still, they didn’t grow.

They had a visioning workshop and decided they wanted to call a part time minister. Providentially, Anne Orfald was just graduating from seminary and looking for a part time settlement. Shortly after they called Anne, they also bought a building and the congregation began to grow. Little by little, more people came; they bought hymnals and began to sing together; the Fellowship embraced a larger sense of community and pride.
And then the ground shifted. They outgrew the little church. Rev. Anne retired. They had to look for a new minister, and also a new place to meet. A building committee searched high and low for a new space. A ministerial search committee searched high and low for a new minister. Eventually they found both...and...and they lived happily ever after??

Now, if this is truly the story we have tell and believe about this community, then we would think of ourselves as indeed evergreen and hardy...we would know that the actions of determined individuals have made a huge difference in the continuing presence of this community...we would know that we are survivors and thrivers.

Looking forward to continuing to thrive together...
Julie