A2U2 Community,
May this note find you well amidst these still-winter-but-spring-trying-to-emerge days! At my former congregation, in late February into March, my colleague and I would begin suggesting to one another while picking hymns and planning worship… “how about In the Bleak Midwinter?” A Christmas hymn but, I mean, the title is pretty enticing.
Even so, we are marching toward March and there is much unfolding in the life of our A2U2 community. First, please go ahead and check out what our congregation’s leadership has been up to this year so far! Your Board spent time in the February meeting reflecting on successes and challenges this congregational year regarding our goals for Developmental Ministry, and they want to share it with you. You’ll learn a lot and maybe see somewhere you could plug in!
And I hope you’ll join us on Sunday for a meaningful kick-off to this year’s Stewardship campaign. I’ll be leading worship with our full staff team back in action. In the service, “Like Wind Over Water,” we’ll reflect together on an ecological process called coastal upwelling. Wind displaces surface water and drives cool, dense, nutrient-rich water from the ocean depths up toward the surface, creating a biologically productive and healthy ecosystem for marine life. How might we see ourselves as the winds blowing over the water of our congregation, using our gifts to stir up the best version of who we can be together in support of our shared life? How might we see the ministries of our church as the wind blowing over the water of our larger greater Portland community?
As we gather to recommit ourselves to being the wind, to sharing our spirits, time, energy, and financial resources with this beloved community, we’ll celebrate the vast ecosystem–of diverse theologies, experiences, and personalities working to make this world a kinder place–that we constitute together. It’s a pretty miraculous thing.
You can learn more about our campaign in this year’s Stewardship Brochure. Keep your eyes peeled for the pledge form (with your last year’s pledge info on it) coming to you via email from Naneen, our Treasurer, or make your 2026-2027 pledge here!
See you in church, friends.
In faith,
Rev. Tara