A service of remembrance will close out the first day of our spring conference. We will honor the memory and service of 15 colleagues during the third session of the conference on Monday, April 27. Tom Schade is leading a group of members who will produce the service.
Jan Carlsson-Bull is researching the lives of the deceased and writing the remembrance narratives. She said that the process is like “opening a door to a house of many mansions.” She reflected on her own ministry, “When I led celebrations of life during my ministry, I often asked myself: ‘How many lives did …. live? Surely many more than the years of their life.’ So it is for the lives I am honored to distill for the remembrance service.”
Jan’s process is mindful. “Upon first reading the notice I receive of the passing, I begin. I follow clues such as an obituary posted by a funeral home. If I can find family members, I follow up with them, expressing how our hearts opened with their loss, and asking them to edit and enliven what I write. I am often given a photo that reveals the vitality of their loved one. Incorporating a spoken narrative into a remembrance service seems as fleeting as life itself, but no less precious.
“It is such an honor to open each and every door and step inside.”
In the service we will honor and remember:
Rev. Linda DeSantis
Rev. Dorothy Meek
Rev. Harry C. Green III
Rev. John Fordon
Rev. Patricia Trudeau
Rev. Margaret (“Meg”) Barnhouse
Rev. Michael Douglas O’Kelly
Rev. Walter Frederick Wieder
Rev. Penelope Witte Alderice
Rev. Sandra L. Ingham
Dr. F. Everett Morris
Rev. Lynda Sutherland
Rev. Don Wheat
Our conference theme is “Keeping it Together While Democracy Is Falling Apart,” and will be presented on the second day by the Dr. Glen Thomas Rideout. The conference will feature a minister’s odyssey with the Rev. Diane Miller, and a partner’s odyssey with Barry Finkelstein.
Connecting rooms, where we can interact with others on a deeper level, are planned for three sessions. The last session on Tuesday will feature Dr. Rideout in a concert of music that underscores the theme and inspires us to live into our role in keeping it together in challenging times.
Regional pods and local watch parties offer a way to experience our virtual conference in community. Currently, pods are being developed in Kingston, Massachusetts and Wilmington, Delaware. Some financial aid is available to those who attend pods.
To register, please visit uurmapa.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/3106236
Inflation and tariffs finally caught up to us, and we regret that we must raise our fee for the conference to $70. However, if you register before April 6th, your cost will only be $50. Early registrations help us make better plans for the conference.
Help with all things registration is available from Barbro Hansson, the registrar. Scholarships are available if you need help with the fee. If you have never attended a UURMaPA conference, the board happily waives your fee. If you would like a scholarship or you are a newbie, please send a message to conferences@uurmapa.org for more information. You will receive a special code to use when registering.
We look forward to greeting you in April at our spring conference. In the meantime, know that every one of us has a part to play in our struggles for inclusivity and justice. If you live in the USA, you might be a little closer to the heat, but if you are not, you are still here, you are more than a witness, and we’re all in this together.