by Margaret Henderson, President

Welcome back to another year at UU Danbury! There’s a burst of energy setting off new activities and new ideas this year. Last month I attended the inaugural session of Suze and Dan’s “Movies with a Message,” where the conversation was thoughtful and provocative. Our Kids’ RE Information Fair was a success, Gina Cassetta is running a series for women who’ve experienced miscarriages, the Women’s Group is back for another year, the choir is rehearsing, and plans are underway for a discussion group around this year’s UUA Common Read, On Repentance and Repair by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg.

As hopefully you’ve heard, there will be a brief meeting of all UUCD members on Sunday, October 8th after the service to vote on installing sound-absorbing panels. All are welcome to attend, but only current members can vote.

The Board is absolutely thrilled to announce that, thanks to all of you, we made our budget target last year! We are deeply, deeply grateful for your generosity, your faith in your Board, and your faith in this institution as a place that nourishes your soul.

We are starting a practice called Photos At Church, where everyone is invited to create pictures of real, live people enjoying themselves at UUCD (with their permission of course!) and share them or post them on social media. Rev. Tony has said anyone can take pictures or movies of him any time on Sundays when he’s there and post them – that sounds like a challenge to me! Send your pics to Nancy Cullen or Heather Smith.

There have been some questions about Rev. Tony’s hours. His official title is Contract Minister (aka Consulting Minister) half-time. We have hired him for a 2-year stint, which we can renew if we want to.  Unlike a Settled Minister who is called by the congregation, a Contract Minister  is hired by the Board. So besides Sundays in the pulpit and pastoral care, his main purpose is to support all of us as we do the business of running the congregation. So far the Board has asked him to focus on Leadership Development and Fundraising. He has a lot of skilled experience and helpful resources to offer – and he does make lots of suggestions, but he’s also okay with doing things differently if that’s what we want.

So the year is off to a great start! If you’d like to pitch in and help, there are lots of small things that need doing – see me or another Board member if you can spare an hour or two. In the meantime, enjoy all that’s going on in and around UU Danbury this fall!