We provide what we need. We are enough.

A message from Allison Connelly-Vetter, Director of Children, Youth, and Family Ministries

I have shared before that when our year of Religious Education began back in September, we had more families registered for the 9 a.m. service than our volunteer team could support. Program Specialist Hirut Hedge and I had the awful job of reaching out to the families who registered after we had reached capacity, letting them know that their kids could not attend Religious Education at 9 a.m. We heard from many of these families that being unable to attend at 9 a.m. meant their entire family was unable to come to church this year.

Hirut and I, along with our staff and the Children, Youth, and Families Advisory Team, felt that not welcoming these families at 9 a.m. went against our core values as Unitarian Universalists and as members of this congregation. We knew you would agree. So we put out an ambitious ask, to you and to the entire congregation: can you join our ministry to make room for these families? 

When we put out the ask, we weren’t sure what the response would be. We knew there was a chance that we had simply reached the maximum volunteer capacity of our congregation for the year, and that we might need to continue turning families away. But, we also knew there was a chance that we, as a congregation, could dig a little deeper, stretch beyond our comfort zones, and live more fully into our values of welcome and belonging.

As you heard on Sunday, we have GREAT news: because of your generosity, we have all the volunteers we need to add a section of Religious Education at 9 a.m. This means we can now welcome ALL our families who are on our waitlist at 9 a.m.—and then some. 

We live in a system that spends billions of dollars a day selling us the lie of scarcity. They bank on us believing that there is not enough for everyone; that we must hoard what we have. But you and I know differently. You and I know that together, we have enough: enough time, enough generosity, and enough love, for all who seek it. 

Every Sunday, we make a promise to each other: a promise to not let ourselves or each other go it alone, and a promise to hold it all together. Because of your “yes” to our ministry, we’re now able to truly hold all of our families, too. May the abundance of Beloved Community overflow from our hearts, through our congregation, and to the hurting world that so desperately needs it. May we always make it so.