Drew Bogner

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.

Wayne Toye

In the Fall of 1989, my wife, Joan, and I, along with our young sons, attended our first service at FUSF. We were familiar with the UU faith, but didn’t really know what to expect. We found a small but fast-growing community (much like Franklin at the time) consisting of both older members as well as young families, with a growing religious education program. We both soon found our way into the community, Joan as a member of the RE Committee and me as a sexton. Thus began our 30 plus years here at FUSF.

During that time we have continued to take part in the ongoing life of FUSF: participating in and chairing committees, serving on the Board of Trustees, teaching RE, taking part in work and cleanup crews, and doing those things that help to sustain FUSF. It is necessary and rewarding work and vital to the continuing life of the community. Our boys grew up participating in RE, youth groups, the Coming of Age and Our Whole Lives programs. And they were suitably embarrassed by the praises of their parents as part of the annual high school graduation service.

But that is not all that has kept us here or keeps us coming back week after week and year after year. That is the good fortune and blessing of taking part in the spiritual life of this community. It is what touches us so deeply and has always and continues to provide meaning for us—serving as a mentor or having your child mentored by another member of the community as part of the Coming of Age program; supporting student ministers growing into their calling as spiritual leaders; caring for and being cared for by the community in your time of need or loss; sharing meaningful thoughts and moving music as we do every Sunday with special musical guests, our minister, the worship assistants, lay ministers, and our wonderful music program; spending time together building relationships and shared experiences at Ferry Beach year after year. These are just a few of the ways our spirits have been and continue to be nourished and why we treasure our connection with the FUSF community.

Susan Dubinsky

My love affair with FUSF began in 1993, when my neighbor invited me and my kids to come to church with her family. We both were blessed with our children coming to us through adoption. That Sunday, the children’s Religious Education program was about a mother bear adopting a baby bear. 

Growing up Catholic, it was very interesting to have a woman minister who spoke about issues that felt relevant to me. During that first year, I frequently found myself brought to tears during the minister’s sermons as they touched me in ways I had never experienced in a religious service.

After that first service, my husband joined me and found he also enjoyed the services. Growing up Jewish, he had never experienced a congregation in this way. It was important to raise our children in a faith that respected where we both came from and exposed them to ideas and beliefs that might be very different from our experiences. Our children are Korean-born and a congregation that valued diversity was essential.

There are many moments during my years with FUSF that stand out in my mind. In my mother’s final days, I came to church feeling very raw, sad, and anxious. On that particular Sunday, our Music Director and her son, who was an exceptionally gifted violinist, played a piece that permeated all of those feelings and soothed my soul. I may not remember the name of the piece, but I remember the experience.

More recently, we’ve been able to share the wonderful news of the birth of our first grandchild. The outpouring of warmth and love was overwhelming. I’m reminded of the words of one of my favorite hymns, We Laugh, We Cry. This is a congregation that pulls together in both happy and sad times. 

If you are new, or new-ish to the congregation, say “yes” when asked to join a committee, or join in a single experience like volunteering during coffee hour. You will get to know more people, and FUSF will begin to feel like home to you, too.

Caitlin MacDonald

I’d like to tell you a little bit about why I donate my time, talent, and treasure to FUSF.

I’d rather not talk about me, though—let me tell you about my children. When my oldest, precocious child was 3, she began asking some very big questions: what is God? What happens when you die? Where do babies come from? I decided we needed a place to explore answers to these questions.

As she has grown up at FUSF, she has had many opportunities to share her beliefs, questions, and concerns. FUSF has given her a place to use her voice.

Next daughter down is a very different child—much more reserved and quiet. When she was younger, she rarely spoke to other adults, cowering behind me when anyone approached her, and it took a full year to get her to go to FUSF’s religious education classes without me. As she has grown up, FUSF has given her a place to connect with people at her comfort level.

And then, there is my youngest. She hated coming to service for the first 2-3 years—she used to sit in the chair with her knees to her chest, arms crossed, grimacing. She begrudgingly plodded off to RE when it was time. But as she has been growing into herself at FUSF, I have seen some interesting things pop up in her artwork. Drawings of fists raised with “BLM” written in big letters, and LOTS of Pride flags. At an Out Metrowest event here in the Fall, she shared their preferred pronouns in public for the first time– she/they. FUSF has given my youngest a place to engage with the community on their terms.

So, thank you, to all of you who have helped my children grow and be who they are. I donate my time, talent, and treasure to FUSF because it is a spiritual home that provides a safe place to learn and grow, not just for me, but for my children as well.

Celeste Falcone

When I come to FUSF on Sundays, in many ways it is like a little vacation. I am brought into a very special sacred space with the beautiful chalice quilt, the wall of art to contemplate, and the view of creation splendidly revealed through our glass wall. I am invited to be still and calm. I am treated to the thoughtful, lovely stories and lessons, presented to our children by our director of religious education, and to the more challenging stories and lessons presented by our very fine minister. I am carried away, moved, and inspired by the excellent music provided, and yes, literally nourished by delicious treats and coffee.

These aspects draw so many of us here for weekly soul respite and nourishment. We bring our human uniqueness and commonality, our fears and aspirations, coming to be inspired, challenged, consoled and to break bread and create bonds of community. Being in this space, this community, nourishes my senses and my soul and keeps me coming back again and again.

Rand Barthel

I am a UU “lifer”—I’ve been a UU since I was 4-years old, attending five UU congregations in my lifetime. My earliest UU memory was of the fellowship at the Dartmouth College chapel, where I remember scissors, glue, and reading a book about the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Then there were more years of scissors and glue in the RE program of the Birmingham Unitarian Church in Birmingham, Michigan.

I stepped away from active participation during my college years, but I never stopped identifying as a UU. When my wife and I met and married, we were briefly members of the UU congregation in Reading, Massachusetts until my career took us to the Franklin area. We soon joined the Unitarian Congregation of Mendon and Uxbridge. Finally, we arrived at the First Universalist Society In Franklin in 1999.

What I have learned from being a life-long UU, involved with five different UU congregations, is that FUSF is priceless. FUSF is the most spiritually healthy and forward-looking UU congregation I have known.