Dear Congregation,

I want to thank you again for my sabbatical. It didn’t start exactly as I had planned, as a pregnant stray cat wandered into my home and gave birth to seven kittens, six of whom lived. Mama cat soon became ill, and I spent the early months of my sabbatical helping her with the round-the-clock care her kittens required. But I was able to find all of them – including mama cat – adoptive homes by the time the kittens had weaned, and then I was able to move on with my sabbatical plans. Meanwhile, I was honored to have been able to save mama cat and her babies. 

The biggest thing I did on my sabbatical was begin my work as the new, very part-time, Executive Director of the Connecticut UU Justice Ministry. This is a coalition of all the UU congregations in Connecticut, giving us a vehicle to help us work for justice together on a statewide level. 

I have now visited eight of our seventeen congregations in Connecticut in this capacity, and I am very eager to share with you about this coalition in the coming months. For now, please do register to attend our first annual conference, a Solidarity Summit on Saturday, October 17th in Hamden, CT. Since the Unitarian Universalist Association moved from a district-based structure to a regional structure, UU congregations in local areas so rarely have had opportunities to gather with one another like this. It will be a precious time!  

In addition to starting my new role with the Connecticut UU Justice Ministry, I worked hard to improve my Spanish in immersion programs in both Costa Rica and Panama. I did not get to fluency level, but I did improve my skills greatly, and I fully intend to continue to work on my Spanish, getting even better little by little over time. 

My improved Spanish skills will help tremendously with the time you allow me to minister to families in the greater Danbury community, particularly through Danbury Unites for Immigrants. I brag all the time to other congregations about how you have approached our ministry together as one not just for the parish, but for this greater Danbury community, giving so generously of my time for that ministry. This congregation’s connection with Danbury Unites for Immigrants is such a model! 

There were things I did not do, of course. Time was limited, and the cats threw off my plans, so I did not finish my writing projects. But I did take care of some medical needs, attended to my physical therapy so I could start jogging again (something I used to enjoy but hadn’t been able to do since a serious car accident a number of years ago), took some salsa classes (though I still can’t salsa), and connected with my wife as we figured out how to move together in a new phase of our lives in which we are not as actively focused on parenting. 

And as I promised I would, I spent time during my sabbatical reflecting on my work and gathering myself for continued ministry for families in a democratically unstable era. This was a deeply meaningful pause, and it was only possible because of your generosity. 

I hope this pause was fruitful on your end as well, that you learned things from my absence and that you reoriented yourselves toward a greater sense of connectedness with the family ministries of this congregation. I look forward to hearing about what you observed, reflected on, and learned during my time away. And as I said when I left, it is an honor and a privilege to minister with and to you. I treasure you so much, and am so glad to now return to be with you in what is next. 

One way you can help as we transition back into our work together is to volunteer! We need some more volunteers for our programs to run this year. Please let me know if you are able to explore with me whether this might be a good fit for you. 

Warmly in Faith and Love,

Sierra-Marie