UUFCM
  • HOME
  • WORSHIP
    • Welcome!
    • About UU Worship
    • Upcoming Services >
      • Orders of Service and Inserts
      • Worship Resources
    • Music Program
    • On Spirituality
    • For Inspiration...
    • Sermon Archive
  • LEARN
    • Learn – Faith Development
    • WiRE
    • Youth RE
    • Adult RE
  • CONNECT
    • Find Community – Connect Your Life
    • Social Justice >
      • Social Justice News
      • Anti-Racism
      • Mother Earth Love
      • Social Justice Interest Survey
    • Serve
    • Shared Interest Groups >
      • Social Events
      • Shared Interest Groups Calendar
    • Calendar
  • NEWS
    • UUFCM eNews >
      • Subscribe to UUFCM eNews
    • UUFCM Events
  • ABOUT US
    • Our Minister >
      • Minister’s Column
    • Membership >
      • New Members
    • Who We Are >
      • Covenant and Mission
      • Welcoming Congregation
      • Arms Around
      • What UUs Believe
      • Principles
      • UUFCM History >
        • Past as Prologue
    • Administration & Staff
    • Governance >
      • Leadership >
        • 2022 Annual Meeting Documents
      • President's Report
      • UUFCM Bylaws
      • UUFCM Policies
      • 2020-21 Q4 Financial Report
      • UUFCM Board Minutes
    • Facility Use
  • VISIT
    • Visit the UUFCM
    • What to Expect
    • Service Cancellation Policy
    • Safety Procedures
  • CONTACT
    • Ask Us
    • Find Us
    • Directory & Important Contacts
  • DONATE
    • Ways to Contribute >
      • Pledge Card
      • Volunteer Form
    • Stewardship >
      • Testimonials

Minister’s Column

8/26/2020

 
On Sunday, I joined five other adults and five youngsters from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan for what I call a guerilla publicity campaign. Armed with chalk and flyers, we became stealth evangelists for Unitarian Universalism on the campus of Central Michigan University.
 
Aaron Jones had this great idea: if we want to increase our visibility and outreach on the university campus, the perfect way to do it is through chalking a message on the sidewalks during the first week of classes. Furthermore, Aaron conceived of a mysterious message that would hopefully intrigue people. Once curious, students would find the same message on flyers posted on campus bulletin boards; and a QR code on that flyer would lead them to a website.
 
The message:
 
RUUU?
 
The website: https://jones3aj9.wixsite.com/mysite
 
The website contains videos about Unitarian Universalism and an invitation to our Fellowship specifically. It was fun to chalk this message on the campus sidewalks, with other enthusiastic UU’s from age 3 to 70. It was fun to film a welcome video that Aaron included in the website.
​
As UU’s, I think that we are sometimes reluctant to advertise and “sell” our religion to the public, but we shouldn’t be. We have a life-changing, life-saving message in this faith tradition. We are offering hope, love, and acceptance. We have a joyful, supportive community that is ready to welcome others into it. Aren’t there a lot of people out there—CMU students and others—who could use some of what we are offering? I’m glad to be an evangelist for Unitarian Universalism, and I think we should all think of ourselves that way.
 
Prayer:
Spirit of Life and Love, may all those who are seeking find what they need. May those who are hurting and alone find a place where they are welcomed and healed. May those who have been shunned and excluded find a place where they are accepted just as they are. May those are called to work for peace and justice find partners in that work.
 
And may we, who have community and love and welcome to offer, be generous in offering it and unapologetic in spreading the word about this gift to the world.
 
May it be so.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz

Minister’s Column

8/19/2020

 
I am going on vacation in Maine next month, and I feel guilty about it. It’s a moral dilemma of our times.
 
Months ago, my sister announced plans to rent a house on Mount Desert Island, inviting family members to join her. It’s a special place to our family, where we have spent time since childhood. The natural beauty and the personal connections of that place make it a spiritual home for me. When COVID became a reality, we all discussed whether we could still go, and under what conditions, and with what agreements and precautions. Recently my 80-year-old parents decided not to go. I wrestled with the decision: the risk versus the appeal. In choosing to go, I recognize that I am being selfish.
 
A recent article in the New York Times talked about this phenomenon: “Shhh! We’re Heading Off on Vacation” by Sarah Firshein. The article uses the phrase “vacation shaming” to name the guilt and shame associated with choices like the one I have made and how other people may view my choice. The truth is that in this pandemic, the choices individuals make add up to affect the whole of society: mask wearing, gathering in large groups, travel.
 
In my own decision, I recognize the selfishness and I also recognize the weariness that many of us are feeling: we have been giving up gathering with friends, special events that we had planned, and so on—for many months now, and we’re tired of it. It’s the length of the pandemic that makes it hard.
 
I also recognize the dangerous tendency to judge others and feel self-righteous. When other churches gather in contradiction of health guidelines, I judge them as stupid, bad, reckless. They are “those Georgia people” or “those religious conservatives.” When groups gather at bars in Mount Pleasant, they are “those reckless college students.” But when I choose to go to a vacation house in Maine, it is justified because it is “family time” and “natural beauty.”
 
May I be saved from my tendency to “other” people who are different from me. May I be saved from feeling like I am better, smarter, and morally superior to anyone else. And, may I have a healthy sense of self-criticism about my own choices, trying to hold myself to a standard of action that balances my needs with the good of society.
 
Life is full of choices that affect other people. All of our actions have ripples. In today’s world, out-of-state travel and contact with others carry risks—like my trip to Maine. Of course, the trip also benefits my well-being and my connection to family. I hope I am making the right choice.
 
Prayer:
Spirit of Life and Love, we are all individuals and we are all connected. In the unfolding universe, in the One-ness of life and mystery, this is clear.
May we be blessed with the clarity to judge ourselves and others fairly, and with compassion. May our judging of right and wrong balance the needs of the One and the needs of the Many. May we be wise and humble in judging ourselves and others.
 
May it be so. Amen.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz

Minister’s Column

8/13/2020

 
I’ve been part of two weddings in the past month. One was my own, when I got married to Mary Melaragno on July 11. Then last weekend, I performed the wedding ceremony for my niece and her partner on August 8.
 
My wedding was a scaled-back version of the originally planned ceremony. Instead of a gathering of 75 people, it was exactly 5. By law in Michigan, that’s the minimum number of people for a wedding: the two people getting married, the officiant, and two witnesses—all of whom must be physically present, not just connecting by video conference. Instead of holding the wedding in Ohio close to family and friends, we were married at a venue in Lake Isabella, outdoors and socially distanced from the officiant and the witnesses. We managed to connect to dozens of friends and family on Zoom so they could watch the wedding and then celebrate a toast with us in breakout rooms afterwards. My niece’s wedding was not much bigger: 15 guests socially distanced in my sister’s back yard in Ann Arbor.
 
I have been thinking about the fact that a wedding is a mixture of private and public, and the unique circumstances of weddings in the time of COVID emphasize that. When Mary and I couldn’t have our big in-person wedding, we first thought we would just have a ceremony where no one else is present, but the minister joins by Zoom to marry us. It turns out the state of Michigan doesn’t allow that. The officiant and the witnesses have to be there in person. This actually makes sense to me, because a wedding is a public proclamation. Certainly couples make private promises and declarations of love to one another, but a wedding means that the whole world knows the two are together. At the same time, a wedding is private. For my niece’s wedding, we decided to a have a microphone for the officiant and the readers—but not for the bride and groom. The in-person guests and the Zoom guests could hear clearly what I said as minister. When the couple said their vows to one another, they repeated after me: me speaking into the microphone and them repeating the words to each other quietly. They were the ones who needed to hear each other’s vows. A wedding is public commitment, and the promises made by the couple are intimate, between the two of them. Both are true.
 
The other paradox of marriage is that people are joined together, but they still have to be separate in order to be healthy. My favorite wedding-themed readings is this passage from The Prophet by Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran, which expresses this beautifully:
 
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
     Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
     But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
     And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
 
     Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
     Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
     Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
     Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
     Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
     Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
 
     Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
     For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
     And stand together yet not too near together:
     For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
     And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
 
May these words of wisdom inform all those who are married and partnered. Such is the paradox of being human: we must be self-sufficient and self-confident; and we need one another to survive.
 
Prayer:
Spirit of Life and Love, bless those who love and dare to make a commitment of their love. Bless those who are heart-broken and have been wounded and betrayed by love. All of us have loved. All have been hurt by love. May we dare to love again.
 
May we all be held in the greater love of the unfolding universe, of the mystery of life itself.
 
May it be so. Amen.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz

Minister’s Column

8/5/2020

 
This past Sunday I was not leading worship at our Fellowship in Mount Pleasant. Sometimes on those Sunday I choose to attend the worship service with you all, but this time I chose to go to a UU worship somewhere else. I had been in touch with my friend and colleague Molly Brewer during the week and learned that she was preaching that Sunday, so I decided to join her. Molly lives in Maine, and she was preaching at the UU congregation of Castine, Maine. For those who work as guest preachers for different congregations, the new normal of Zoom worship affords new opportunities: next week Rev. Molly is preaching in Washington State and the week after that in Texas.
 
Molly Brewer was a seminary student with me during the past three years. She identifies as a pagan Unitarian Universalist. Thanks to her and another seminary colleague, I had a memorable “a-ha moment” about the nature of neo-paganism: that it is a tradition seeking to recreate and connect with ancient traditions, largely Celtic ones, but without an unbroken connection to those ancient traditions. In her ordination ceremony in February, Molly included an invocation to the pagan goddess Brighid. In leading the Sunday service in Castine, Maine, Rev. Molly included reference to the pagan holiday of Lammas, which fell on that day. She brings her own beliefs and her own spirituality to her Unitarian Universalist ministry—and yet it is very UU. Everything about the service I attended in Castine felt familiar. I felt at home with the strangers who shared the Zoom space with me. I had the feeling I’ve had at other times attending and leading worship in different states: that there is a familiar core of belief and practice and language that unites Unitarian Universalists across the nation.
 
Like Rev. Molly, I bring my unique spirituality to my UU ministry. This was reflected in my ordination ceremony last month, where I included seven men from the ManKind Project who ritually called in the energy of the seven directions (East, South, West, North, Above, Below, Within) at the beginning of the ceremony. These are my people and my spirituality, and they inform my Unitarian Universalism. Another example happened last week when a member of this Fellowship, Mel Bailey, asked me to offer a blessing at her house dedication ceremony. With her permission, I included the burning of sage to ritually purify the house and the gathering of people there. This practice of smudging with sage, like calling in the directions, is an adopted practice of Native Americans passed on to me through the ManKind Project.
 
What is your individual spirituality – that mix of beliefs and practices you were raised with, along with new ones you have adopted on your journey? Whatever it is, your individuality is welcome in the Unitarian Universalist space. When all of us bring our authentic selves and share our cherished beliefs and practices, we make a beautiful and diverse mosaic.
 
Prayer:
Spirit of Life and Love, Spirit of the Divine understood in different ways by different people across time and space, be here now.
 
May the house of Unitarian Universalism be open to all who seek to enter here. May this faith be a house large enough for pagan spirituality, and native spirituality, and all the forms and nuances of spirituality that we bring into this space.
 
May we who gather in UU spaces be enriched by one another’s spirituality. May we appreciate and honor our differences. And may we all have a common sense of living for Love, delighting in Love, and seeking for greater Love in all things.
 
Blessed be.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
    Picture

    Rev. Andrew Frantz

    UUFCM Minister

    Office hours:
    Drew's office hours are suspended until further notice. However, he is reachable at any time via email, phone, or text.
    Day off: Monday

    minister@uufcm.org 
    Phone/text: 440-935-0129
    Pastoral Care Concerns
    For support with life's challenges, please contact Drew during his office hours or make an appointment with him.

    For specific needs such as rides to medical appointments or meals for people recovering from illness or surgery, please contact the Arms Around team via Gisela Moffit at gbmoffit@gmail.com or 989-772-1602. Every effort will be made to lessen the burden on the individual or family who is dealing with a difficult circumstance.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Worship Services

Sunday Mornings at 10:30 a.m.

Upcoming Services:
May 29: Necessary Beauty: Art as a Response to Trauma
June 5: Flower Service


​
Religious education is available via Zoom. We do not have in-person classes for children at this time.

Quick Links

Minister's Column
​Sermon Archive
eNews
  - Subscribe!

Calendar
​Find Us
​Directory
​Facility Rental
The UUFCM is funded solely by members and friends.
Picture

We are a Welcoming Congregation

Picture
Service Cancellation Policy
 ©2021         319 S. University Ave., Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858 • P.O. Box 41 • 989.400.4933 • admin@uufcm.org