Dear friends, 

It was my distinct pleasure to travel with Judy Parsons and Lucy Stein (now a college freshman!) to Clemson University earlier this week for a conference hosted by The Vinery. The Vinery, you’ll recall, is the Lilly funded project which brings together cohorts of congregations in close proximity to colleges and universities, and guides them in a process of reflecting on what the intersection of “faith and flourishing” looks like in their context. Each congregation, including ours, has been tasked with reflecting on what it might mean for us to be a “university church,” concerned with supporting the five constituencies of our university neighbors: faculty, staff, students, admins, and alums.

We continue to reflect on how we can support students more fully, even as we continue our young adult lunches after the 11:15 service each week, but lately, we’ve also heard increasing concerns from our members who serve as faculty and administrators at UF. Recent, politically motivated, decisions made at the state level are derailing the work of making the campus more diverse, inclusive, and equitable, in the name of academic freedom.

Coupled with the news about the takeover at the New College of Florida, this feels like a critically important time for education in our state, and for the common good.

At the closing worship on Wednesday morning, we heard a powerful sermon for Black History Month from the Rev. Lamont Wells, who is Director of Higher Education Campus Ministry Programs in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Rev. Wells spoke of how congregations can and must be spaces in which the full complexity of history must be taught and proclaimed, and lifted up the particular role churches like UCG might have in a moment such as this. 

I’ve already heard from several folks who are interested in this set of issues — who are in need of support and encouragement, who are looking for solidarity and workarounds, who have ideas of how UCG can help — but I’d love to widen the conversation so that we can coordinate our efforts. Please join me from 6-8pm on Tuesday, February 21 in the West Wing. Dinner and childcare provided; RSVP by Sunday, February 19th to bromleighm@ucgainesville.org.