Our church-year theme: Return, Reunite, Reimagine

As I was pondering the congregation’s theme for the upcoming church year, our community had finally begun to emerge from our COVID-induced cocoons and we had only just started to gather for in-person worship together in the courtyard. Our UCG family had spent a year physically distanced and many had worked so hard to keep our connections bonded through electronic communications, online Virch-Church and numerous Zoom meetings. The feeling I had as my family returned to campus and rejoined our spiritual community was both emotional and refreshing. It felt like truly coming home to a physical place full of love, support and solidarity. Our first steps into the transformed breezeway was a transition into a new sacred space in which UCG could continue to engage and worship. We were challenged to think outside of the walls of the Sanctuary.

This return was intricately linked to the warmth and joy in reuniting with our beloved UCG friends. The work of our collective ministries is both inspiring and empowering. As we attended services in the courtyard each week I was struck by how important it is for this church community to be safely reconnected again and linked even more strongly in our new post-pandemic normal. The staff, members, friends and visitors to UCG are a committed group of adults and children who are united in working hand-in-hand together towards what lies ahead for the church. We have the wealth of over 50 years of traditions to fuel us in this journey ahead.

This next year will be a time for all of us to reimagine what it means to be UCG. We have all discovered so much in this past year of just how resilient and innovative we can be even with physical distancing. Our reuniting in the Sanctuary for worship will bring back many cherished memories and should be a catalyst for creativity and imagination as we look well beyond in the days ahead. We can learn to use the new technology innovations in bold and inventive way. We might adopt a renewed yet transformative mindset as we move into our shared future. I invite each of you to share how returning, reuniting and reimaging might inspire you. May our hearts and minds be open to reconnecting to the communal spirit that lives within us all. The diversity of our visions and values is what drives our path forward as we look towards our common “however-known” horizon.