April 2005 Worship Services

Ministerial Cognitions

Wherever there is a meeting that summons us to our better selves, wherever our lostness is found, our fragments reunited, our wounds begin healing, our spines stiffen, and our muscles grow strong for the task, there is ministry.
---(Unknown)

In these past months, some of our members have had pains and losses in their lives. I am frequently called when these difficult events occur. But what I find happens, whether I am called or not, is that many of us the members and friends of Spindletop Unitarian Church rise to the task of giving support and aid. You, any of you who helped another in need, are doing ministry. And whether you hear a formal thank you or not, I hope you realize that there is always gratitude for your efforts. I remember a number of times when I was the recipient of such help by ministers, lay persons, friends. When my 14-year-old female cousin committed suicide, I was called on to help my family through this crisis. But I had no one to help me understand my own struggles. You see, I was her Godfather. I felt at least partially responsible for her understanding her connection to God, Goddess, spirit, humanity. I felt that I had not given her the message that there is hope, that life would get better, and that she was not alone to face whatever caused her such pain. How could I, a counselor and someone who was responding to the call to ministry, not have seen her emotional or spiritual crisis.

I turned to my minister and my friends (both UUs and non UUs) to aid me. I needed a minister who could help me accept that I was not to blame, that I could not have predicted, that I had offered my cousin love and support. All these were messages that I had given to others, but never to myself. Ineeded my friends to help me as I grieved, to listen to me as I lashed out in pain, anger, sadness. I needed them as I struggled to find myself again in the midst of confusion and spiritual chaos. I need them to hold me up as I returned to my work, my calling, my life. I need them right after the suicide, and I needed them months after when I felt the pain, confusion, sadness resurfacing. I needed them at holidays when memories of my cousin kept me from being able to share the joy of the season with my family, and especially my children.

As we do this work of ministering to one another, let us remember that we will need to give love and support immediately and perhaps for months or years after someone in our community has suffered a pain, loss, hurt been damaged emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. As we do this work, this ministry, we will find that there are rewards. We will see our friends getting themselves and their lives back. We will grow deepen in our connections with one another. We will learn more about ourselves, what touches us, what helps us heal, and what it means to feel we are living a congruent life practicing our values, feeling better about ourselves, waking up each morning and realizing we are doing the work of God/Goddess/spirit/humanity. We must continue this ministry; I believe we will continue this ministry.

May the spirit of love always be reflected in our lives.

Rev. Tom

Worship Services:

April 3

The Edge of the Moon by Rev. Marjorie Rebmann, Presented By Cathy Allen

This sermon tells the story of how some events in a woman's life lead her to some realizations about generosity and respect for where each of us finds religion.

April 10

Our Web of Life and Blessing of the Animals by Rev. Capo

Our seventh principle that we affirm and promote respect for the interconnected web of all existence of which we are a part. Let us affirm and celebrate our connection to all of creation. We will also have a blessing of the animals at the end of the service, so you are invited to bring your animals to the service.

April 17

Being Part of An Assembly of Churches by Rev. Capo

We are part of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and each year we gather as independent congregations at General Assembly. This yearly denominational meeting is where we do the business like electing officers and voting for social concern projects of our association. This is also an opportunity to connect with other UUs from all over the world. There are representatives from all the associated organization of our denomination the UU Buddhists, the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, the UU Humanists, and many others. This is an opportunity to worship with over 10,000 Unitarian Universalists. We will have the UUA General Assembly Chalice at our church this Sunday, so please come and see this as well.

April 24

Visions of Justice, Compassion, and Worth: Why I'm a UU by TJ Geiger

Spindletop member T J Geiger will discuss his conversion to Unitarian Universalism. This presentation will be his way of saying goodbye to the church before his graduation from Lamar University and his departure from Southeast Texas.