“Emergent Elderhood: Service is our Prayer.”
THEME DESCRIPTION
Our theme inspires us to service, but in new ways: “Emergent Elderhood: Service is our Prayer.” Although we may be restrained by our bodies, as elders, we need to find new ways to serve our communities. Where once we were leaders or organizers, but now in retirement, what roles can we play? How can we use our talents and knowledge we developed in our ministries for new organizations, new people and new ways of being?
If we were lucky, we found meaning in our profession, or we found meaning in our practice of it. But now, as we emerge into Elderhood, our practice has changed or stopped, so how do we find meaning now?
Our theme presenter, Dr. Sharon D. Welch, will help us explore these questions together. You can learn more about Dr. Welch HERE. The conference will also offer opportunities to connect more deeply in small groups, and we’ll enjoy an Odyssey or two. Of course, a Service of Remembrance honoring those we’ve lost recently is part of the conference.
Our special guest is Peter Mayer, composer of “Blue Boat Home,” who will give a concert on Tuesday, April 16 at 7:30 pm Eastern.
PLANNING TEAM WELCOME
The conference planning team is pleased to offer a peek at the video of friendly faces that precedes each session of the conference. Follow this link to see a 1-minute movie of the planners.
AGENDA
ODYSSEYS
Of course, our conferences usually feature two Odysseys, one from a minister, and one from a partner. And at this conference, we featured two Odysseys, one with Rev. Anita Farber-Robertson and another with Joyce Gilbert.
Odysseys have always been a popular feature of UU ministerial culture. The sharing of experiences and insights gleaned through experience is an excellent resource for younger ministers and a source of connection for colleagues.
Our association is fortunate to host the Rev. Anita Farber-Robertson for an Odyssey presentation at the spring conference. She retired in 2020 after 40 years of active ministry, serving congregations in New England as a settled minister and as an Accredited Interim Minister.
She taught at Andover Newton Theological School as the adjunct Professor of Communication. She chaired the UUA’s Racial and Cultural Diversity Task Force with Leon Spencer from 1992–97. She authored two books: Learning While Leading, Increasing Your Effectiveness in Ministry (Alban Institute), and Called to Community: New Directions in Unitarian Universalist Ministry, with Dorothy Emerson. Both are available in paperback and Kindle through Amazon. She has a coaching/consulting practice for clergy and congregations.
The mother of two and stepmother of two, grandmother of their combined eight children, Anita lives by the sea in Swampscott MA, with her dog Tinker.
Our association is also fortunate to host Joyce Gilbert for an Odyssey presentation at the spring conference. Joyce is married to the Rev. Richard Gilbert, longtime minister of the First Unitarian Church in Rochester NY. Joyce Timmerman descended from Palatine Germans who were drawn to the message of Universalist ministers in New York State after the French and Indian War. Growing up in the Universalist Church of Fort Plain NY, she met minister-to-be Dick Gilbert at Unirondack, the Universalist summer camp in the Adirondacks. Their paths continued to cross and merged 63 years ago.
Music in and beyond churches has always been central in her life. A founder of the UU Musicians Network (now AUUMM), she regarded that group as her third child—after sons Matthew and Douglas. Her theme? “Life is but a song to sing.”