By Pauline Benetti
Special to The PREVIEW
Defining what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist (UU) is a never-ending UU endeavor with a multitude of outcomes, as this Sunday’s service will demonstrate. It is also a necessary and useful endeavor within a religion that does not subscribe to a creed as other religions do.
It has been said UUism is more a frame of mind than an organization. This Sunday, we will examine the characteristics of that mindset and the tension that is created between it and the organizational needs and, perhaps, in so doing, understand why the numbers of individuals who identify as Unitarians are two to three times larger than indicated by membership numbers recorded in various population research polls.
This service should provide “food for thought” for all levels of interest from those who are UUs “in spirit” to those who are committed members. In any event, UU boundaries are quite permeable, so anyone looking for “something on a Sunday morning,” should feel welcome to drop in and discover if or whether they are on the spectrum.
Pauline Benetti, lay leader, holds in her history a teaching career devoted to shaping and forming creative, thinking individuals and a corporate career as a trainer and technical writer. The transition from one to the other was dramatic. Now here in Pagosa, she has returned to her genetic roots: soil, water, plants and critters, and has time to add the satisfaction of service — whether it be with the Pagosa UU Fellowship, the Pagosa Farmers Market or the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership.
Ours is a welcoming congregation; we invite everyone to share in our faith community. Usually, leadership is by Pastor Dean Cerny on the third and fourth Sundays; however, this Sunday a lay leader will preside.
The Religious Exploration (RE) program has reached its end for this school year, but will start up again in September. For more information, contact Anna Ramirez at afrancis_@hotmail.com.
Find us in Unit B-15 of the Greenbriar Plaza. From North Pagosa Boulevard, turn right onto Park Avenue and right again into Greenbriar Plaza, then turn left and continue around the complex until you see the Unitarian Universalist sign as it faces the mountains. Join us. For further information about the Pagosa UU Fellowship, visit pagosauu.org or call 731-7900.
