SUNDAYS AT FIRST U YARMOUTH
9:30 am - Religious Education
"Unitarian Universalists are called to converse, not convert"
Explore our preaching and teaching themes through games, activities, small group work as well as large group discussions. Make friends, flex your spiritual muscles, be challenged and comforted, and have fun!
Children
Meet with their RE Teachers in a class from PreK - 1st or 2nd - 4th grade (5th graders welcome as well)
Adults
Meet with Rev. Jennifer or our guest presenter in the Gathering Room
10:30 am - Worship
Worship services held in our beautiful Sanctuary focus on story, myth, music, inspirational texts from many traditions, meditation, prayer and the need for both peace and wonder in our lives. Children stay with the adults through the Offering, then proceed to their own Children's Chapel space to finish the worship journey in their own language and time.
"Time to remember how fragile life is and how precious love must therefore be. Time to seize every opportunity we are given to offer thanks, to celebrate, to serve, hope and love."
11:30 am - Fellowship and Faith In Action
"We test our faith by deeds, not creeds."
At our coffee hour we provide a chance each week to engage our social justice program directly and put your Faith In Action. Activities are inclusive of all ages and contribute to our Partnerships locally and abroad.
Please see our Faith In Action at First U, Yarmouth guide for more information.
All quotes from the Rev. Forrest Church The Cathedral of the World
9:30 am - Religious Education
"Unitarian Universalists are called to converse, not convert"
Children
Adults
10:30 am - Worship
Worship services held in our beautiful Sanctuary focus on story, myth, music, inspirational texts from many traditions, meditation, prayer and the need for both peace and wonder in our lives. Children stay with the adults through the Offering, then proceed to their own Children's Chapel space to finish the worship journey in their own language and time.
11:30 am - Fellowship and Faith In Action
What does our Minister do?
One of the things we love to do here at First Universalist is welcome the newcomer and visitor. With that in mind, the Board of Trustees has asked me to answer a few basic questions about the professional ministry, and me as the called minister.
First of all, how do I find my minister?
I’m often on the move, and like any professional, myriad aspects of my job require my attention on any given day. I have an office at the church, and hold office hours in order to meet with groups and individuals on Sunday – Tuesday and again on Thursdays. You can try to stop in if you’re driving by – Suzanne and I always love to see you – but, if you want to make sure you get my time and attention, please make an appointment. You can do that by calling my cell phone or emailing me. I try to take Fridays and Saturdays off to spend time recharging and playing with my children, though I make it to most of our Friday and Saturday night church events. If you call or email on a Friday or Saturday I will only return your query if it is an emergency. Otherwise, I’ll get back to you on Sunday or Monday.
I hear the words “shared ministry” a lot around First U. What does that mean?
Shared ministry is really the way we’ve structured the governance, programs and daily operations of the church. Small churches tend to revolve around the leadership of a particular family, or the called Minister. Very large churches operate on what’s called ‘policy governance’. At First U we’re somewhere in between, so we use a shared ministry model that we’ve developed over the past 5 ½ years. I started with a model I learned from Dick Gilbert about “what a healthy UU congregation has” and then church leaders such as Marge Titcomb really took off with the idea and helped us build a model and a plan.
As Minister I partner with your elected leaders (the spirituality of democracy!), the Board of Trustees, to lead the church in fulfilling its mission. I work closely with the Board, and am in an equal, covenantal relationship of leadership with them. We are partners. We appoint other church leaders to help us reach our goal and keep our relationship healthy and outward focused. Every week I work closely with the Chairs and Clerks of the Worship Council, RE Council, Faith In Action Council and our Caring Community Program. The Board works closely with their committees and appointed leaders in Stewardship, Membership and Buildings and Grounds. Our Nominating Committee helps us to identity, develop, and recruit leaders for all of these aspects of “running the church”. Our Committee on Ministry helps us transform conflicts into opportunities for learning and growth, and evaluates whether or not lay and professional leaders are meeting their goals. Together we care for our congregation, keep our organization healthy, and live out our mission in the world. It’s a vibrant, healthy model, with room for spiritual maturation, and numerical growth.
OK, so what does a minister do?
Gosh, that answer could go on and on and on…..Let me give you my immediate list of how I fulfill my professional role right now:
On-call 24/7, 11 months out of the year. This is a respectful congregation that has never abused the use of cellphone and texting, but we all know that that phone is on all of the time. People call me when they’re in trouble, in the hospital, or just lost a loved one. The teenagers all have me on ‘speed dial’ (remember that?!). I’ve been trained to be calm when you need to lose it, and I have extensive experience with loss, family conflicts, violence, illness, hospitals and doctors. I have a sense of humor when you don’t. Call me.
Regular pastoral care and office appointments. I’m not a therapist, but I’m a great place to figure out whether you need one or not, and what kind, and why. Folks come to see me about loss, celebration, wonderings. I do marriage counseling and weddings, baby dedications, and memorial services. I help people move through divorce, illness and grief. I visit folks from First U in their homes, the hospital, or rehab center. And, not surprising, I love to talk about religion, spirituality, paradox, confusion, beginnings and endings, profound experiences, deep “wow” moments. I will pray with you. I will hear your confession even though you don’t believe in that anymore. I read the articles you refer me to, and keep the poems and notes you send me. We’re on a quest for truth and meaning together, and that’s a privilege.
Worship. I should have put this one first J. Sunday morning worship is the spiritual practice of Unitarian Universalism, and ministers in healthy church systems may spend up to half their time in sermon writing, research, and worship preparation. I work with our Worship Weavers, Music Director, Worship Council and the Choir to bring high quality worship services to our congregation – services that serve our spiritual needs and are also welcoming and understandable to the newcomer or visitor. Surrounding and supporting that worship is the work of the Welcoming Committee and Member Services, the Buildings and Grounds folks, our children’s RE program on Sunday morning - including RE Teachers, nursery workers and our Kids In Action volunteers - and then all the ways we need to weave in Faith in Action and our connection to our larger denomination and the world-wide movement of UUism – so, there are a LOT of moving parts to coordinate every week, as well as the sheer joy and terror of getting up to deliver a sermon that I hope will speak to some, if not all of you! Worship is our core, and our great gift to one another.
Religious Education. I support the mission of our Religious Education program to “grow UUs” in practical ways. The Board, RE leaders and I worked together to explore the perennial problems that plague all church “Sunday School” programs in our modern era, and we’ve decided to innovate. I coordinate a Nursery Staff of CPR-trained teens from our church to care for our youngest members and friends, and then supervise 2 RE Teachers who are paid a stipend to enthusiastically deliver great content/curricula to our children ages Pre-K – 5th grade on Sunday mornings. On Sunday afternoons I am one of the facilitators for the Jr. and Sr. Youth Groups, working with talented volunteers to deliver Food, Fun, Fellowship and Faith to up to 30 middleschool and highschool teens, including 3 levels of Our Whole Lives, social justice and mission, team building, leadership skills and theological exploration and development…We also talk and hang out a lot, making connections that allow our pre-teens and teens to be themselves without roles or masks. Throughout the church year I offer discussion groups and classes to adults – this year it’s Age-ing to Sage-ing, The Untethered Soul, UU Theology and, if y’all sign up for it, Adult O.W.L.:) I work with Suzanne Warfel, our Church Administrator, to help lay leaders offer classes they’d like to facilitate with other adults as well – look for Sarah Witte, leading Spiritual Autobiographies, coming your way soon! Religious Education is the foundation of our faith, and one way that we grow and change our hearts and minds, and come together as families and friends.
Church Administration & Operations. While the Board has fiduciary responsibility for the church, it is up to me to bring ever-expanding ideas and suggestions around organizational development and health to our partnership. With the Board and appointed leaders I engage in consistent professional development and continuing education around church health, systems theories, adaptive leadership skills, and decisions about the technical fixes we sometimes need. In the past 5 years we have developed a strong Worship Council full of fun and creative folks who are fully engaged in church leadership. We’ve developed our Stewardship mission and goals, and are currently engaged in a successful pledge campaign. We’ve developed a Membership Services Committee which just led our first full-fledged membership drive with not only fantastic, but sustainable results, and are recognized by the District for having done the hard and satisfying work of creating and implementing a comprehensive Faith In Action (Social Justice) program with an exceptional rate of congregational participation, from youngest to eldest members and friends. As the Rev. Marilyn Sewell writes, “in order to build a well-functioning community and a strong institution, we must pay close attention to structure and leadership”. We do this on behalf of our mission, and our membership - we do it to serve the hearts and minds of the people - but we must do it, with great intention, giving great respect and attention to the health of the whole, and yes, it takes up a lot of time!
Spiritual development. Who wants to spend time with a spiritual leader who has no spirit?! Savvy congregations know that they have to give their minister time to be the religious, questing, soul-searching person s/he is and needs to become. If I’m careful about my boundaries, and intentional in how much time I spend at each of my duties, it’s because I also have the responsibility for being a healthy person and a spiritual seeker. For me this means time with my children uninterrupted by my vocation and profession, walking, yoga, vegetables, painting class, prayer, clergy groups and lunches, mentoring and coaching (giving and receiving), service in the wider community around religious education and youth ministry, yearly pilgrimage, and study weeks every summer where I can indulge in the great universe of inspiration and ideas that will carry all of us through the next worship year together. Because First U is a savvy church, and knows it requires a generous spirit in leadership, we’ve contracted for the typical (UUA recommended) and healthy agreement around this issue: professional expenses as part of my compensation package, 4 weeks of vacation per year (I may turn off the cellphone), 4 weeks of study per year (cellphone stays on, but office hours are suspended), and 1 Sunday off from preaching per month. I negotiate how and when I’ll be away with the Board each year, working with Caring Connection and the Worship Council to make sure pastoral care and worship are covered.
Again, from the Rev. Marilyn Sewell, “Ministry is about service. Ministers learn early on, ‘It’s not about me.’…At the same time, ministry is about owning your power and using that power well.” Power, creativity, generosity, and love are all tools we use to influence our world and make this society better for future generations. They are not limited resources, but multiply as we share them – all of them – in the service of our mission and our organizational health as well as individual well-being. The picture is always changing, but I hope this gives you a little insight into the right-now, and perhaps sparks ideas about everything we can do and be in the future.
Many blessings,
Rev. Jennifer
How to contact Rev. Jennifer
new email address: RevJemRyq@yahoo.com
cellphone: 207/356-1467
You may also use voicemail at the First U number: 207/846-4148, but this is checked less often
Email and cellphone messages are checked daily Sunday - Thursday during the regular church year. During study weeks you may not get a speedy reply, unless you are in crisis, in which case, use the cellphone and let me know the severity of the situation. I do not return calls or email during vacation weeks, but you will be directed to other folks at First U who can help you meet your needs while I am away.
Hello Good People...
I've missed you!
My sabbatical is almost complete, and I look forward to worshipping with you on June 15th and 22nd - the last two worship services of this church year.
Since the exploration of what I learned and did during my sabbatical will not really begin until we meet again in the Fall, I thought I'd give you a brief preview - trying to answer a few questions I've heard as I prepare to return, or that harken back to our conversations in January. Enjoy the spring weather that I sincerely hope you are now experiencing, and I'll see you some Sunday soon :)
Blessings - Rev. Jennifer
Where were you?
From January - June I spent time in Massachusetts
 |
Colorado
Utah
and Ireland
And what are some of the things you did?
Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council Board Meeting and Regional Conference
3 Faith Weekend - Jewish, Quaker and UU services, as a congregant
Mega-Church weekend - in Utah and Colorado, as a congregant
Walking meditation workshop, yoga retreat
10 day Pilgrimage
Did you attend a UU church while you were away?
I did! I won't tell you which one, but I was a regular Sunday morning attendee during my sabbatical. It was marvelous!
Do you feel well-rested?
I've decided that, as a single parent and, in general, a person who has trouble sitting still, "rested" might not be in my personal vocabulary. What I do feel is healthy, and spiritually renewed. It feels like a very "successful" sabbatical, from my perspective.
Are you excited to return to First U?
Yes! I started writing new sermons in my head sometime around mid-April. I miss you, and our worship dialogue, classes and community of care and resistance - I'm ready :)
You wouldn't tell us what was on your reading/study list when you were getting ready to leave - will you tell us now?
I had time to pursue deeper reading, study and discussion (with colleagues and mentors) in some of the areas of our ministry for which I have great passion. Here are a few things I read -
Transylvania, partnership and justice in post-Communist communities
How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed, Café Europa, and The Balkan Express by Slavenka Drakulic
The Remote Borderland: Transylvania in the Hungarian Imagination, by Laszlo Kurti
Hungarian Folktales: The Art of Zsuzsanna Palko (World Folktale Library) by Linda Degh, Vera Kalm and Carl Lindahl
Human resilience, justice and leadership
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandbergas well as lots of fun stuff that will give substance to sermons in the year to come, such as...
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What did you do just for fun?
Max and Madelin turned 13 and 10 while we were away! I started preaching when Maddie was 6 months old, so it's been a long time since I was a stay-at-home parent, and that's what I did for fun. Max is incredibly compassionate, and Maddie is rip-roaring funny. We spent a lot of time together.
And, I may have developed an addiction to Property Brothers and Love It or List It, but I'm sure that won't last :)
What's next?
I look forward to wrapping up the church year with you, which will include our New Member Sunday and our Flower Communion. I'll hold office hours June 9 - 12 & 17 - 19. Then my summer schedule looks like this:
June 24-29, General Assembly and Youth Mission
July 1- 12, study weeks (in preparation for preaching and church administration as well as religious education for all ages in 2014-15)
July 12 - August 5, Transylvania, including youth work and summer camp with our Partner village of Gyepes, Romania
August 10 - 22, study weeks
August 17 & 24, will host Sunday evening vespers services
August 31, no services, Labor Day weekend
September 7 - Ingathering
Thank you for this opportunity to renew, explore and expand in spirit!- R.J.
Minister's Report 2012-13
Dearest members and friends at First U Yarmouth:
An amazing church year is drawing to a close, and I find myself reluctant to try to capture it in one report…
6 years ago we set ourselves some very high goals. Shared ministry between UU ministers and the congregations that call them is an ever-evolving phenomenon of our faith, and ours met with several challenges from the beginning. The work we’ve done to become healthy as an organization, coupled with the preaching, teaching, social justice, youth ministry and pastoral care we’ve done together this past year in service of our mission and our UU values have helped us to reach our goals despite these many challenges. This is a church that can form and keep a healthy relationship with a called Minister. This is a church focused on how we express who we are and what we believe outside of ourselves, to a hurting and hopeful world. This is a church that leads the way in ministering to all ages. I’ve never been more proud to be part of our faith movement than I am as I reflect on this past church year, and how we got here.
How did our garden grow this year? What is next and how do we continue to deepen our spiritual path and attract more members? Here’s the miracle we’ve co-created: While we’ve struggled to create organizational health, learned to transform conflict and make the operational transition from pastoral to program, we’ve also laid all the ground-work in place for growth via outreach and mission! All of these things were a success this year and led to inner and outer growth:
· We became the known focal point for Marriage Equality in Yarmouth, ME and surrounding areas
· Maine Farm Suppers –This amazing idea came forth and was made real with great success! Every family, UU or non-UU I’ve spoken to in town about this idea can’t wait for the next year and the next Farm Supper!
· Fall Membership Drive and a Ministerial/Leadership focus on Member Services: We welcome 17 new members to First U this year, as well as their children, families and friends. This is exactly the level of growth we hoped to attain, and that we now hope to sustain over a 5 year period.
· Religious Education Innovations - Utilizing what we’ve learned during sabbatical and re-building years we hired two RE Teachers, and have met our goal to provide a religious education our children look forward to every week while also allowing the parents of our RE children to be “in the pews” and integrated in our worship life.
· Education as Outreach – We are realizing the potential in our youth and adult religious education to provide outreach to the community, especially as it pertains to O.W.L., but not limited to O.W.L.
· Community Center - Sanctuary and common areas update – we are raising all our rental prices and raising our profile, via internet and other advertising with newly refurbished Sanctuary, Common Room, bathroom and other public spaces. An increase in signage and a beautiful (even edible!) landscape in the front of the church will lend a long-overdue welcome to stranger and friend alike, and proclaim what we believe.
· Our Programs - Continued focus and development on our three programmatic strengths – Worship as our central UU spiritual practice; Pastoral Care as led by the called minister and shared by well-supported lay leaders; Faith In Action – for all ages, as it invests in healthy, visible partnerships with outside organizations.
In our discussions as a people of faith here at First U we are now proclaiming openly and with pride that we are “The church”. The place to be for progressive worship and spiritual exploration, religious education for children, comprehensive sexuality education for youth and pre-teens – The place to be to stand up for social justice issues. The place to participate in loving, caring community. The place to hold your family or community event in Yarmouth. The place where the clergy and lay people will receive you no matter what your religious, ethnic and/or sexual background. The place taking care of children and youth in our suburban/rural communities.
The place we call home.
I welcome you to call or write to me so we can get
to know each other. My email and phone number
are in every week's newsletter. I am here to meet
the pastoral needs of our congregation. I also invite
you to learn more about our shared ministry - what
that term means and its potential - as well as to
revisit excerpts from our preaching year and
information about how to participate in social
And, don’t forget to enjoy and celebrate our success by helping to us spread the word about this church, its community and its programs by “friending” us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/UUYarmouthMaine
Many blessings,
Rev. Jennifer
Hello Beloved Community:
I want to thank all of you, once again, for the opportunity of Sabbatical this past December. Here are a few things you might want to know...
After this church year I will have earned up to 6 sabbatical months. The Board and I decided that it would be best for our community, and for me and mine, to split up that sabbatical time: One month in December of 2012, 4 to 5 months in the spring of 2014.
My December sabbatical centered around two goals: rest and rejuvenation for me and my family around the winter holidays, and deep reflection on the worship arts
To that end I had a wonderful Solstice and Christmas with my loved ones, and was able, for the first time in 9 or 10 years to concern myself with the small family rituals that mean so much to us without also being responsible for our larger community and what matters there. I hear that the Christmas Eve services at First U were wonderful, and believe me, we missed being part of them!
I also worked with a UUMA (Unitarian Universalist Minister's Association) coach to devise a short program of church visits and reflection/study. I visited Catholic cathedrals, Quaker meetings, and other UU churches on Sundays and participated as a congregant. This did so much to remind me why people go to church, what they are looking for when they get there, what feels great and what doesn't when you are first inviting yourself into a church community, and how varied and effective worship can be. I will continue this work throughout the church year, and look forward to sharing it with all of you.
I will leave for a longer sabbatical in late January/early February of 2014, so next year I will be here for Ingathering and for the winter holidays. The Worship Council and a representative of the Board will help me to plan that longer sabbatical. We will communicate our process to the congregation beginning this spring - 2013. If you have further questions at this time, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Blessings - Rev. Jennifer
