Jeremy Duke, 2026-27 President
Greetings,
I hope the middle of summer finds you well. It has been a joy to be eating vegetables from my wife’s garden and enjoying the slow pace of summer in Columbia.
It has been a pleasure and an honor to have Rev. Monica Clark-Robinson as our sabbatical minister. She had a lot to cover and did a great job getting up to speed. I would also like to recognize the staff, April, Violet and Jamila, for their hard work in her absence. And, of course, all of the volunteer time and lay-led services this summer.
Rev. Molly will return from her sabbatical on Aug 3. We look forward to welcoming her back!
The Board of Trustees is continuing its work. We held a new member orientation in July. Thank you to Ruth Milledge for organizing and presenting such an informative session. And, welcome to our new board members: Jerry Brenner, Mark Price, Vulture Young and Diane Suhler.
The board has selected the following church officers for the 2026–2027 church year:
- Jeremy Duke, President
- Shannon Mulvania-Beck, Secretary
- Jeff White, Treasurer
- Mark Price, President-Elect
Kim Wade continues her duties as Past President and chair of the Nominating Committee. The board is scheduled to gather for its annual retreat at the end of August.
I also want to highlight an important aspect of how UUCC is governed. We operate under a model of “congregational polity,” which means that the congregation is the ultimate governing authority of the church. The board and the minister exercise leadership on behalf of the congregation within the responsibilities entrusted to them by our bylaws and policies.
If you’re interested in the board’s work, meeting agendas, minutes, reports and much more are available on the Governance page of the UUCC website. Please check them out.
I am looking forward to a wonderful church year ahead and all that we will accomplish together.
Warmly,
Jeremy Duke, 2026-27 President
Rev. Dr. Molly Housh Gordon
Dear UU Churchers,
I write to you from the West of Ireland, where I have been exploring sacred sites both ancient and modern. It has been incredibly beautiful and moving.
And I am also struck by the realization, after traveling thousands of miles to be here, that we are always surrounded by sacred sites; because this beautiful planet is sacred in and of itself, and because, in the words of beloved 20th century UU educator Sophia Lyons Fahs:
“Life becomes religious whenever we make it so: when some new light is seen, when some deeper appreciation is felt, when some larger outlook is gained, when some nobler purpose is formed, when some task is well done.”
Wherever humans pause in awe and wonder at the miracle of our lives and the beauty of our planet, wherever we grapple with great doubt and deep struggle, where we bury or remember our dead, where we birth new life, wherever we grieve and wherever we celebrate, there we have made space sacred.
I have had such a lovely and renewing sabbatical, and I am missing you and the sacred space we make together. I can’t wait to see you soon. I’ll be back to work on August 4.
Until then, I leave you with this poem by Seamus Haney, which I have long loved. It describes a place I visited this week on a sort of poetry pilgrimage.
Postscript
By Seamus Haney
And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter, and inland among stones
The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit
By the earthed lightning of a flock of swans,
Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,
Their fully grown headstrong-looking heads
Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.
Useless to think you’ll park and capture it
More thoroughly. You are neither here nor there,
A hurry through which known and strange things pass
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.
I hope some sacred moment or place this summer blows your heart wide open.
See you soon!
Rev. Molly
Jamila Batchelder, Director of Religious Education
We are Hiring in R.E.!
Central to our mission in our religious education program is supporting our children and youth in developing a sense of their responsibility to build a more just and compassionate world, the ability to recognize their own unique gifts in making this happen, and the tools and the community to put their values into action.
To further this mission, We are looking for a social justice coordinator who can help develop and lead the Service Sunday component of our Religious Education program, as well acting in a support role on Sunday mornings in our classes. The position is for the 2026/2027 Church year, and is 5 hours per week, with a salary of $20 an hour. If you are or know someone who is interested, please email a cover letter and resume to me. More information about the position can be found here.
I am so excited for the new energy this will bring to our program! If you too feel passionately about our mission and excited about what is in store for the year ahead, I would love to build a robust team of Service Sunday volunteers for our new coordinator. Please let me know if you would like to get involved!
Jamila