The morning air is feeling a little brisker. Kids are going back to school. While we could possibly have a couple more weeks of sun, summer is surely departing, and our Fellowship community is beginning a new congregational year.
The summer months often carry a different rhythm than September through May. You might have experienced travel, rest, time with family and friends, or simply a bit more spaciousness. Not always though… summer months can also be full, busy, and complicated. Whatever these past months have held for you, there is a specific joy in returning to our life together as a congregation gathering old friends and welcoming new folks that have found us during the summer.
This year, our return includes the unique moment of welcoming someone new into our community. For the first time, we will be a Teaching Congregation for a Unitarian Universalist Candidate in the ministerial fellowshipping process.
Our Board of Trustees is excited to unanimously support inviting Zak Havenwood
for the coming year to learn from us and share in the life of our congregation.
Zak and his wife, Maya, recently relocated from Austin, Texas to Central Oregon. He completed his Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and has been working as a chaplain and hospital resident for the past year. Look for the All Congregational Email (ACE) next week for a full bio and description of his time with us.
Our work is to help Zak learn about ministry, our congregation, and Unitarian Universalism in practice. His time with us will shape him and shape us in return. Personally, my internship year was among the most formative of my life. My entire ministry has the subtle imprint of the East Shore UU congregation in Bellevue, Washington.
UUFCO will also greatly benefit from being a part of his formation. Certainly, Zak brings his own gifts and skills with him. Drawing on these, he will offer fresh eyes inviting us to reflect more deeply on who we are and who we are becoming.
This feels especially appropriate this year, as last we year dreamed together and created an emerging strategic plan. We have experienced growth and we have lost beloved elders; we have welcomed many new faces and an abundance of activities; we have changed over the years from a smaller congregation to now pushing 400 members. So, we ask ourselves important questions in this moment:
Who are we now? Where do we create meaning, justice, and depth among us and in the world? How do we welcome those still out there waiting to find us while we continue making meaningful connections here? How do weave spaciousness and reflection for spiritual growth into the ever-present rush of life? Truly, what binds us together?
I would say the answer to all these questions is the same: Love.
Love is at our center.
We are bound by Love.
Love calls us to compassion and invites us toward ever deeper understanding of how it is brought to life.
Love is found in moments of peaceful reflection as well as radical acts of justice.
Love is the heart, practice, and possibility of our shared community.
Let us hear the stories and traditions that have shaped this place as we lean into all that we are becoming. This Sunday, September 13, 2026, at our Water Ceremony and Potluck, we begin our year with the simple pleasure of coming back together. Welcome to a new year, good people in and all around our Fellowship. To Zak and Maya, welcome to this loving community dedicated to bringing our values to life. I am grateful to be entering this new season with all of you, and I look forward to exploring together the deep well that is Love at our center.
With Love and Gratitude,
Rev. Scott