A Letter From the Board President

Dear People’s People,

On behalf of the Interim Minister Task-Force and Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce that we have contracted with the Reverend Pam Allen-Thompson to serve as our Interim Minister for the next two years.

Reverend Allen-Thompson spent the last year as an interim minister at First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, MN. Prior to that, she served as a consulting minister, interim minister, and settled minister in Florida, Virginia and California. Among other things, Pam served as a UUA trustee, on the Pacific Central District Board, the national board for PFLAG, and United Way of Northwest Ohio. She has been active in anti-oppression work and interfaith activity.

Prior to ministry, Pam earned a Ph.D. in German Studies and has co-authored two books and published numerous scholarly articles.

She and her partner of 21 years, Di Allen-Thompson, are proud grandmas and together they have renovated seven homes and three duplexes. Pam is fond of bold colors and interesting hats, enjoys making tasty meals from leftovers, and likes to ride her bike to work and anywhere that is possible.

For more information on Pam, please go to the member’s section of the web page. Pam begins her work with us August 1, 2013 and as we get closer to the new church year, there will be more information on how we can, as a community, welcome her to our shared ministry.

In peace and community,
Sue Caulfield

Between Us

This is the way transitions seem to go— first there’s a time of news and flurry, fear or excitement, surprise or shock. Then the reality begins to settle in, little by little, and the transition begins to unfold and become itself. If I let myself remember, there have been no transitions in my life that I could have scripted ahead of time—once a decision had been made, I could not have predicted how things would actually unfold. I’m remembering that now as this new change unfolds within me and around me, I’m doing my best to simply remain open, and curious, and gentle with myself and others.

I’m looking forward to this new adventure—going back to a place I love, and also “back” to a place that will be new in many ways. And, I become more aware every day of the costs of this change—which include leaving People’s Church, leaving Kalamazoo and Michigan, saying good-bye to so many people that I love and respect. None of these things is easy! But I want to do them all as well as I can, and I definitely need your help.

Here are several ways we can do some of this work together:
First, for those of you who have never known any other UU ministers, or ministers at People’s Church, a chance to meet and talk with other people who have known several or many, and who can talk about the benefits and gifts of knowing different ministers. We’ll try to schedule at least two dates to start with.

Second, I’ll make time for you to simply ask me any questions you want to ask—about where I’m going, what it’s like, what I’ll miss here, whether I’ll ever come back to visit, etc. Here are two sessions for this so far: Sunday, May 26, following the service, and Monday evening, June 3, at Phil and Drue Kramer’s house.

For me, the more we talk about how we are feeling and what we are thinking, the better. Thank-you to all who have made time to get together with me so far—I’m hoping to spend time with many, many more of you.

Meanwhile, our transition at People’s Church is not the main news of the world! There is still plenty to pay attention to. At the moment, after the wake-up call of the building collapse in Bangladesh, I am reviewing my clothes-buying habits and looking for American-made clothing, so that I have a better chance of not contributing to the horrors of sweat-shops until some of the huge corporations which own those businesses step up to demand safer and more humane working conditions. (Which we have a part in—we cannot expect everything to be dirt-cheap, at the expense of people’s lives.)

I’m also trying to become more informed about the movements to build political will to take action against climate change—I hope to join other UUs at the General Assembly in moving this work forward.

What are you thinking about and working on, as spring continues to unfold luxuriously around us and summer is just around the corner? Something in the world? Something deep in your soul? A little of both? I’d be happy to hear about it, whatever it is.

See you Sunday—Jill