Dear Ones:

 I have a request. I’d like to hear from as many UUSE members and friends as possible what your favorite sermon(s) of mine have been over the years. Please write to me at minister@uuse.org or leave a message on my home office phone, (860) 652-8961. If you don’t remember titles, that’s OK. (I don’t remember most of the titles either!) If you can tell me what the sermon was about, or if there was a particular story or message that you remember, that should be enough to help me identify which sermon you are referring to. And if you can’t remember specific sermons, but there’s a certain type of sermon that you like, you can inform me of that, too.

 I’ve made this request in the past. I’m asking mainly for my own learning. I want to identify what has stuck with you over the years. I’m trying to discern which sermons have had the most impact on you, or have meant the most to you, or have been the most helpful to you.

Also, if there happens to be a most popular sermon, I may decide to update it and re-preach it at some point. When you send me an email or leave a phone message, you will get a message informing you that I am on vacation and study leave. That is true. But don’t worry. I want to hear from you in response to this question. What have been your one or two favorite sermons of mine?

***

Speaking of vacation and study leave, I will be taking between six and seven weeks off for this purpose between July 5th and August 25th. As is always the case, I am available for pastoral emergencies during my vacation and study leave. I request that people only contact me in the event of emergencies. Note that Jackie Muschiano (contact info in the UUSE directory) will be serving as Pastoral Friends chair for the months of July and August.

During the summer, our family will be spending some time at home, catching up on projects around the house. Later in the summer, we’ll be spending two weeks in Alaska, thereby checking off one of the items on my bucket list.

I haven’t made a decision about what I am studying this summer. There are a number of books that have caught my eye from the New York Times’ list of the top 100 books of the 21st century. I will likely start there and see what rabbit holes open up. I am also beginning to plot out my sermons for the coming year, and I know I want to spend some time exploring the connections between the new set of UU values and the seven principles. That will likely be an area of focus for me this summer as well.

For now, I wish you all a wonderful summer. I hope it is filled with exploration, novelty, and, as the Taoists sometimes say, free and easy wandering.

With love, care,

Rev. Josh

#JulyNewsletter