“We pledge to walk together”—to me, these words that start our unison affirmation say so much about this special community that we have here.

When we first walked into FUSF over 27 years ago, we had 2 young sons, who were 2 and 4 years old at the time. Though my husband Michael and I were raised in different faiths, we had similar spiritual beliefs and mostly wanted to find a religious foundation for our children. I remember as newcomers we sat in the sanctuary for the Coming-of-Age service—a service where our youth stand up here after spending months exploring their personal relationship to their UU faith, trying to express what they believe or even what they don’t believe. I remember hearing the diverse views of these young people and being so impressed and saying to Michael at the time, “Wow, if we could give our kids a tiny piece of what we’re witnessing here, we would be doing something right.” There were many more of these ‘aha’ moments as we continued to come over the years. While we initially sought out a church for our kids, we ended up getting so much more for ourselves than we ever imagined. The UU’s 7 principles and the values expressed in the thought-provoking and applicable sermons here were all things I strove to teach my children and what I aspired to live in my own life.

Over these last 27 years, I have witnessed so many people in our congregation being supported in times of need. As a lay minister, at times I’ve helped facilitate this and I see how well we give. This support we offer each other doesn’t just happen, it is something we have intentionally created and continue to nurture and sustain. I’ve always felt we had something special in this community, but after going through the hardest time in my life in losing my husband a little over a year ago, I feel in awe of what we have here. The deep loving and caring support we offer each other in our times of need is remarkable and I will forever be grateful.

We see the way we give in countless ways, big and small: showing up on cleanup days, volunteering for important committee work or fundraising events, or baking a treat to be shared on a Sunday morning. We see it when we hold each other up through life’s challenges and sorrows, and we see it in how we support this church through our pledges.

No matter what brought you here, what keeps you coming back is when you know something is good for you and so important for this hurting world. Taking care of FUSF felt important to me when I discovered it years ago, and it feels crucial to me now. We are doing powerful things here, in a world where people need connection more than ever. We pledge… to walk together. This church has truly taught me what community looks like, and that to me is invaluable.