It’s been over a year since my wife Karen and I first heard the Words of Welcome from the pulpit. We came to this meetinghouse looking for community, for a place where like-minded people held similar values, and where people were accepting and loving. We were welcomed when we arrived and many of you, (strangers then, but now our friends) talked with us after the service.  We felt a connection to you almost immediately, as fellow travelers on life’s journey.

I remember that one couple spoke of their own spiritual journey that led them to FUSF. We knew after that first visit, that we had found a special place, one that we connected to immediately.  Rarely, but occasionally in life you know  both consciously and unconsciously, that you have arrived at an inflection point. A point when the past is pushed aside and in the present, you can envision a future that you want to embrace. That Sunday, we knew we had found a community that would allow us to be our best selves and to flourish and grow.

Organizations and communities also experience these inflection points, times when you know that the future is calling, when you can envision it as positive and transformative. Times when you can see that the momentum of events is pushing you, pulling you towards an exciting future. It is the gravity of life, and you often know at some level when it is happening.

If you stay for the Fellowship Cafe following service, you know the energy and enthusiasm that exists within our faith community. One Sunday, when our congregation was asked the three attributes that best describe FUSF, “Community” was the word that received the most votes. A lively discussion was facilitated. There were many insightful points, but at the most fundamental level it was a positive and inclusive discussion. This type of exchange did not surprise me because as I have learned, positive, supportive organizations and institutions flourish because of positive, dedicated, and supportive people.

Karen and I both knew that day in March that the time had come for us to move forward, to join this community and to build connections—to embrace the future and make it ours.