by Terence Ellen
The Fall Conference was a great success. One hundred and seventy-eight of us, including presenters, signed up, making this the most-attended conference ever. Further, 97 of us sent in evaluations afterward—a high percentage—almost all of them very favorable. Such a response attests to the welcoming, engaging, inclusive tone and practice the Planning Committee aimed for.
Our theme was “Blessings and Challenges: Successfully Navigating Change.” This theme cast a wide net, since we retirees are encountering change all around—in our inner lives and with our health, our interests, our relationships with family and loved ones, our professional lives, our present communities, and the wider world with its crucial challenges, to name a few. And also, with such a diverse group as we are, in our three days we simply had programming to give some examples of lives lived in such changes and then allow us to meet in small groups of six or so to share our individual responses to how we each were navigating our own way.
We were fortunate to have three in-person gatherings, “pods,” to creatively do their own programming and blend with our online offerings. Jaco and Barbara ten Hove arranged a pod for nearly 30 people at Seabeck Conference Center, WA (see photo below). Richard Speck arranged one for eight in Wilmington, DE. And Sylvia Howe arranged one for six in Columbus, OH. This allowed for some of us to gather in person and enjoy face-to-face camaraderie, adding another dimension to the conference for those who could make them. For the first time we also had a chaplain available each day. Marni Harmony, John Gilmore, and Diane Teichert each volunteered to provide a safe, caring support for our gathering.
We began each session with a slide show of pictures and names of everyone who sent them in so that we could connect names and countenances of those we did not know and greet in our hearts those we did. Jeff Briere pulled this together with a worldwide soundtrack he had carefully selected as background. We began and ended our gathering in worship services, with Lynda Sutherland, Susan Rak, Sonja Sukalski, and Barbara ten Hove providing an opening worship that acknowledged the crisis in the Mideast, lifted up the related issues of land acknowledgment for all of us, and welcomed us to this gathering of spirit. One of us wrote, “It was beautifully done. The whole experience moved me and stayed with me.”
We then went to our opening check-in small groups for people to share “How is it with thy spirit?” Sonya Sukalski coordinated these three gatherings, with the support of Barbro Hansson attending to late-comers, and, of course, the wizardry of our talented tech person, Jon Claney. Each group had a facilitator who was trained in our guidelines and foci for the groups. The second gathering was specifically theme-related, and the final was an opportunity to gain closure and share take-aways from the gathering. In an effort to be more inclusive of partners, everyone had the option to be in a group of partners, ministers, or mixed. As one person put it: “It was great to hear what a diverse group of colleagues were doing to maintain focus and meaning in their lives—and to contend with physical and psychological challenges of aging in these troubled times.”
Experimentally, each of the eight program sessions ended with some online socializing of all who wanted to stay on for a bit. These gravitated to reactions to the programming before, and our facilitation improved so that people kept coming back.
The next section began with Wayne Arnason introducing the chaplain of the day and then the presenters from the UUA and UUMA. First were Sofia Betancourt and Jessica York in an open conversation between them about the UUA changes they felt were most important. Wayne then moderated a panel of UUA and UUMA staff on how they saw themselves and our ministers and congregations faithfully navigating change. Jessica York, Jan Gartner, Phillip Lund, and Melissa Carville Ziemer shared, and Richard Speck facilitated the question and answer session that followed.
The last session of the first day began with a presentation by Linda Olsen Peebles and Roberta Finkelstein on the status of a proposed new UUMA chapter of retired ministers, with Wayne moderating again. Then Charles Stephens began the Odyssey for the evening and invited Peter Richardson to introduce his spouse, Eleanor Richardson, for her Odyssey, followed by questions and reactions. As one person said: “Oh my! What a fascinating life story. Everything was so interesting. What a proactive woman!” Virtual socializing followed.
Ohio “pod” participants included, from left to right: Sylvia Howe, Paul L’Herrou, Lynda Smith, Joan VanBecelaere, Marco Belletini, Suzan McCrystal, and Holly Horn. Ben Maucere also attended.
Our second day began with Roberta Finkelstein introducing and then moderating a theme panel of four of our own numbers, two partners and two minsters, describing how they have been navigating the blessings and challenges of change in their lives. Larry Ladd and Cathie Severance spoke as partners, and Duane Fickeisen and Janne Eller-Isaacs spoke as ministers. There was time for responses from all afterwards. The presentations were deeply personal and varied. One person put it: “It was an incredibly enriching experience. I was deeply moved by their profound sharing. I thank them for their insights into the challenges and rewards of aging, in both our personal and professional lives.”
Our second Tuesday session featured one of the three spotlights on a pod, followed by presentations from our UURMaPA Board on various issues and programs for us retirees. We then broke into our discussion groups to go more deeply into our theme together, inspired by the panel sharings before. Again, a response:”This was a most helpful piece of the program.The panelists were honest and clear and I was impressed with current services to our congregations.”
We finished the day with our customary Remembrance Service for colleagues we lost this past year. Before it, we regretfully announced the death earlier that morning of Carolyn Owen-Towle, whose remembrance will be in the Spring Conference. The service was put together by Lynda Sutherland, Anne Marsh, Barbara ten Hove, Gloria Perez, John Gilmore, Richard Speck, and Terence Ellen. There were opening reflections and music followed by brief biographies of each colleague with the placing of a white rose in a vase in honor and celebration of their life.
The honorings were broken into four sections with different readers and musical interludes between each of the four to provide time for individual reflections. To maintain focus the chat was closed until after the honorings, when all were invited to share both written and spoken remembrances and appreciations. One response was “The warm and effective memorials with visuals, musical interludes, and pacing has reached some kind of pinnacle for an online service of remembrance. Very touching, heart-warming, to hear the stories of the lives of members who died this year.” Afterwards, virtual socializing extended the sharing.
On Wednesday we first heard two brief UUA presentations from Keith Kron (Targeted Ministries) and Anna Gehres (retirement finances), and then heard the Odyssey of Olav Nieuwejaar, who was introduced by his UURMaPA support group. One hearer responded, “One of the most powerful and vulnerable and authentic stories I have heard in a long time. It affected me profoundly.” An open time for responses followed and continued in the virtual socializing.
Our last session included our last break-out groups focussed on our take-aways from the conference. These were followed by a powerful closing worship by Ned Wight of our UUMaPA Board. It brought all of our varied Conference experiences into an integrated, emotional whole with both words and music. One respondent said, “It was the highlight of the conference for me. Superbly prepared and presented.”
Barbro Hansson then said a few “Last Things,” including the date of the Spring Conference, Monday, April 15 to Wednesday, April 17. Although Barbro stayed in the background almost the whole conference, she was the unseen presence bringing it all about by her indefatigable persistence, experience, creativity, organizational abilities, good humor, and warmth on the Planning Committee. She’ll be convening our April conference as well.
The Committee has read through all of the responsive feedback to the various parts of this gathering, and are working them into the planning for the Spring Conference as best we can. There are a number of good ideas, most pronounced of which is the repeated desire for including diversity in all its forms, for example, economic differences, as we select speakers and other programming.
These conferences have evolved under Barbro and others, and with your considered feedback and the continuing support from our UURMaPA Board, will continue to evolve and try new things in order to provide a welcoming, stimulating, and heart-touching combination of pod and virtual community.
With thanks to you all,
Terence Ellen, Publicity, for the rest of the Planning Committee:
Barbro Hansson (Convenor)
Anne Marsh (Scribe +)
Richard Speck (Pod Liaison, Tech Assistant)
Lynda Sutherland (Worship)
Charles Stephens (Odysseys)
Wayne Arnason (Chaplains, Liaison to UUA, UUMA & UURMaPA)
Roberta Finkelstein (Theme Panel)
Jeff Briere (Slide Show)
Sonja Sukalski (Small Groups), and
Jon Claney (Tech Professional)