Thanks to the Fellowship's Planning Committee for providing periodic updates on the UUFP Expansion/Relocation progress.
This Pulpit Minute was delivered by Rachel Bevins at the July 9, 2023, Sunday Service.
Hello, I’m Rachel Bevins, and I’m speaking as a member of our UUFP Planning Committee, the group of people who come together at least once a month to support our congregation by doing things like developing and maintaining our rolling five-year plan. We have divided our goals into seven themes, broken those down, and then tried to figure out who is willing and able to be responsible for each of these. We do this while keeping in mind that each of our goals is interdependent on others in the list.
With that in mind, we did have to put something at the top of the list. We chose to make finding a new property Goal #1 for many reasons. If anyone is still wondering why we consider this to be so important, I ask you to please visit, or better yet, volunteer on a Sunday in Children’s RE. We know how crucial families with children are to a healthy congregation, and how important physical space is for children to grow and develop. We are extremely fortunate here at the UUFP to have such dedicated staff and volunteers going above and beyond to make the best of a challenging situation for our kids. However we need to do more to support them by meeting the basic need of space.
We don't have it now, but imagine a nursery that is three times as large, a size that is more typical in faith and school communities even smaller than ours, where toddlers have the space to practice those early steps and babies have room for tummy time and rolling.
Imagine having enough classrooms to allow our growing group of children to spread out into age groups with room for more teachers targeting lessons appropriately for not just each age group but also for differing sensory needs. Imagine a green space where kids could safely run and play on teeter totters and swings.
Imagine having enough classrooms so that at least one could be dedicated to our tweens and teens, so that instead of having to come back at another time just so they can fit, they could regularly come on Sunday mornings with their families and actually feel like a true and connected part of our community.
It has been no easy feat to make our goals a reality. The Planning Committee has been working diligently on finding a new space. We toured a facility this past week that unfortunately did not meet our needs. We are touring another building this week; maybe this one will be it. We want you to know that we are actively engaged and working for you. We are excited about our future. Can you imagine it?