A highlight of my week was participating in the peace rally “Let Peace Reign” sponsored by the Isabella County Human Rights Committee last Saturday. As a newcomer to Mount Pleasant, I’m eager to find out who is active in the social justice arena of the city. As your minister, I was honored to show up and to represent the Fellowship at this event. I was the only religious leader there, and when one of the other participants asked me what I church I represented, and I told him, “Unitarian Universalist,” he said: “Oh, of course.”
Of course UU’s show up for rallies and marches and vigils and pride parades. This is what we believe in and this is who we are.
The event was small, but included police officers, the mayor of the city, two administrators from Central Michigan University, and the chief of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. It made me think about who we are as the UU Fellowship of this city and how we fit in. How are we seen and known in this community? What other groups do we have natural affiliations with, and what groups should we be working harder to communicate with and cooperate with?
A lot of my work in the first three weeks of my time here has been getting to know the people inside our walls—the members and friends, the ones who are reading this letter. Part of my job is also to be involved in the community—and I’m aware that many people in the congregation don’t live in Mount Pleasant, so the “community” is more than the city and includes the region. As I continue this work I look forward to growing into this role and hearing from you what people and organizations you’re connected with in the area, and where you think the Fellowship should be getting more connected.
Two of the speakers at the rally, musing on the theme of “peace,” spoke not about international conflict but about parenting: being a father and raising children in an atmosphere of peace; working for a world of peace for their children to grow up in. I appreciate this connection to the service we celebrated on Sunday, the blessing of children and teachers. Everything we do in the realm of social justice, like the good work of the Isabella County Human Rights Committee, is for our children and their children.
Finally, I will pass on an invitation that I got at the peace rally for an all-day peace symposium in East Lansing this Saturday, September 21, from 10:00-3:30. The title is “Building a Peace Economy” and the information is at www.PeaceEdCenter.org.
Prayer:
May we be aware of our place in the world, like branches in a tree. Each person is a tiny branch, connected and rooted to others; our religious community is a larger branch growing next to others: other churches, other organizations. We all are blown by the same wind, fed by the same rain, dependent on the same sunshine. May all beings grow and thrive and be at peace.
Yours in faith and service,
Andrew (Drew) Frantz
September 18, 2019
Of course UU’s show up for rallies and marches and vigils and pride parades. This is what we believe in and this is who we are.
The event was small, but included police officers, the mayor of the city, two administrators from Central Michigan University, and the chief of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. It made me think about who we are as the UU Fellowship of this city and how we fit in. How are we seen and known in this community? What other groups do we have natural affiliations with, and what groups should we be working harder to communicate with and cooperate with?
A lot of my work in the first three weeks of my time here has been getting to know the people inside our walls—the members and friends, the ones who are reading this letter. Part of my job is also to be involved in the community—and I’m aware that many people in the congregation don’t live in Mount Pleasant, so the “community” is more than the city and includes the region. As I continue this work I look forward to growing into this role and hearing from you what people and organizations you’re connected with in the area, and where you think the Fellowship should be getting more connected.
Two of the speakers at the rally, musing on the theme of “peace,” spoke not about international conflict but about parenting: being a father and raising children in an atmosphere of peace; working for a world of peace for their children to grow up in. I appreciate this connection to the service we celebrated on Sunday, the blessing of children and teachers. Everything we do in the realm of social justice, like the good work of the Isabella County Human Rights Committee, is for our children and their children.
Finally, I will pass on an invitation that I got at the peace rally for an all-day peace symposium in East Lansing this Saturday, September 21, from 10:00-3:30. The title is “Building a Peace Economy” and the information is at www.PeaceEdCenter.org.
Prayer:
May we be aware of our place in the world, like branches in a tree. Each person is a tiny branch, connected and rooted to others; our religious community is a larger branch growing next to others: other churches, other organizations. We all are blown by the same wind, fed by the same rain, dependent on the same sunshine. May all beings grow and thrive and be at peace.
Yours in faith and service,
Andrew (Drew) Frantz
September 18, 2019
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