Yesterday's Installation service was truly amazing: my only regret is that I wish a lot more people could have been here to share it with me. Yet I'm also delighted by how many people were able to attend, and what a wonderful time we all had, both during the ceremony and at the reception afterwards. It was simply a magnificent occasion, as well as a fantastic opportunity for this congregation to celebrate itself and everything it stands for: its history, its mission, its identity and purpose and all the other important qualities and characteristics it represents in its unique position as Portland's Original Faith Community. "A Warm & Welcoming Place in the Heart of the City." I am SO eager and anxious to get back to full strength so that I can get right back in the middle of it all again. All in the fullness of time....
All in the fullness of time.
Started the day by coming in early for the Religious Education program's monthly pancake breakfast, which gave me a chance to rub elbows a little before attending the regular morning worship service, where I heard our District Executive, Mary Higgins, in the pulpit, and lit a candle during the Joys & Concerns. Afterwards I went back to the Rehab long enough to take a quick nap (and to see the Celtics pluck the Hawks), then returned to First Parish for the "Maine Event" of the day. Won't even try to describe everything that happened moment by moment, although I know maybe I should. Jazz, bagpipes, bassoon and violins...not to mention the Gay Men's Chorus and the First Parish Choir. A nice turnout of local UU clergy, along with a few good friends who came from a distance and, of course, Ted Anderson from Nantucket...who I invited specifically to preach the installation sermon. And a Trinity of local politicians, consisting of our Mayor, our State Representative, and the Speaker of the House. Installation Marshall Darrell Goodwin did a wonderful job coordinating all the details of the service, while food maven Janet Puistonen organized a reception to die for. And again, so many positive feelings and so much energy and enthusiasm. Everybody felt it. You really had to be there. Really....
About Me
- The Eclectic Cleric
- Portland, Maine, United States
- Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, sailing summers in the San Juan Islands and warding off the gloominess of the incessant winter rains by reading voraciously and drinking more than my fair share of Seattle's Best espresso. Five (count 'em) college degrees, making me an honest-to-God Crimson Dawg Duck Beaver Viking. Have served Unitarian Universalist congregations in both Midland Texas and on Nantucket Island (which made the 2004 election VERY interesting), as well as numerous other smaller UU fellowships along the I-5 corridor in Washington and Oregon. More recently, I relocated from the affluent faux rural suburbs of "the Neighborhood of Boston" (just beyond the Old North Bridge and through the woods, about five miles from the site of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond), to the bustling shores of Casco Bay at the southern edge of "Down East." But my ministry at the First Parish in Portland ME was cut short by a diagnosis of Lung Cancer in February, 2008. I currently live outside of Sacramento CA, retired with a permanent and total medical disability, as I battle with my disease and continue to ponder what God has in store for me next.
2 comments:
Hi Tim:
Glad it went so well. A candle was lit for you yesterday at FRS. I am confident you will be back in the pulpit soon without the wheelchair.
Lisa
Hi Tim,
It was a wonderful service. Jackie O. and I sat together for a time, smiling and occasionally misting up with pride and joy. We are all so very blessed.
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