About Us

First Sunday Speakers

October, 2004

Good Morning, my name is Cathie _____. I have been invited to tell my story in 3-5 minutes or less. If you feel that I have talked long enough, I give anyone permission to stand up and I will sit down. Please let me speak for at least 3 minutes, which is my allotted time. 

I began this experiment called life in a small town in Southern Idaho where, there is real competition between the Methodists and the Mormons. I was raised a Methodist so I recall when church school started in the fall, we would know which church had the most registered for Sunday School that year, so that number would be the one to beat for the next year. Looking back, I think that is sort of silly. But then maybe that is how the competitive spirit is developed. Anyway, church was what everybody I knew did on Sunday mornings. I was active in the youth group until I moved before entering high school. I moved from this comfortable small town called Gooding , Idaho , to Bellevue , WA , a suburb of Seattle . That certainly was a shock to my system. The Idaho high school may have had 300 kids total and my class in WA, had 400 students. I lived with my sister and her family. In the winter, their Sunday morning activity was skiing, so that is what I did. I missed the companionship and friendship that I had experienced in church, but the old saying is “When in Rome , do as the Romans” so that is what I did, I skied. I enjoyed that and did make some friends, but I missed church.  

When I went to college, I decided that I wanted to attend church again. The closest church to the campus was a Presbyterian church. The denomination didn’t really matter to me; I just wanted to attend any church again. There were 2 Presbyterian churches in this small college town. Most of the youth attended the church that was within walking distance. I didn’t care for that minister so I was the only college student who attended the church further out of town. I was fortunate enough to have a VW bug so could drive myself.

This was the 60’s. There were college protests about Vietnam and all the other college “activities” going on. At that time I was very afraid of all that sort of thing. I always wanted to be a “good girl” and do what was right, so protesting was really scary for me. I just didn’t get it. My major was Anthropology/Sociology. I was fascinated by the different ways that people live; what they found important; how they relate to the world around them. I remember reading the book Hawaii by James Mitchner. That was a real eye opener to me; ie missionaries were telling native peoples that how they lived their lives was wrong. How could this be? How could the God and Jesus that I had learned about as a child be telling people that there is only “one true way” to live? The same thing happens to most native peoples when they come into contact with their so-called “white brothers”. It truly bothered me that white folk seem so arrogant-as if we know what is best for everyone. Arrogance bothers me still.  

Life moves on. I graduated from college, met Fred, we married and moved to Warner, New Hampshire . I wanted to be involved in a church, so I joined and became active in the United Church in Warner. It is a combination of UCC and American Baptist denominations. Fred attended some times, but mostly not. I knew that he had belonged to UU churches before we met, but I wanted to be involved in the community and thought that the church was the way to do that. I was on the search committee when the church was looking for a new minister. A search committee is an interesting and exhausting process. I rather enjoyed it, but will never do it again. A minister was selected, not my choice, but I was too tired of the process to state my reservations, so that was that. I told the new minister that I would stay as secretary for one year, so he could get his feet wet and then he could find someone else. Well in that year, this person turned out to be not exactly the same person that I thought we had hired. I should have followed my gut feeling and stated my uncertainty about this person. Another lesson learned.

 When I said that I wanted to find another church, Fred suggested that we try out the UU church in Concord . After the first service Fred signed the membership book, which was open every Sunday at that time. It took me a few more years to sign the book. Initially I didn’t see much difference in this church except that there was no talk of Jesus and very little talk of God. Now I feel that it is the little things that make such a big difference. That is another story. I became involved in the choir, or course, and have always felt comfortable here. Somehow I feel that church shouldn’t be where you just feel comfortable. There is a quote of some sort that I am certain to misquote that says something like, “Church is a place to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” Over the years, I have heard words about accepting differing views, tolerance, the interdependent web of life. All good words, but somehow they were just words. I have settled into the comfort of the “life of the church”.

 Life goes on. Then I attended my first General Assembly in Nashville TN. in 2000. I didn’t really know what to expect; thought it would be like any huge convention. Well I was surprised at what was there. So many people, but mostly I learned what Unitarian Universalism really stands for. The interdependent web is more than just words. There were workshops talking about the action that churches are taking on social issues. Our daughter had been talking about consumerism, IMF& World Bank issues. I had not really listened, just thinking that she was a teenager who didn’t know the real world. I should have listened. At GA I found people talking about the same issues. This UUism deals with real social issues that effect us all. They are dealing with racism with the Journey Toward Wholeness Program. There is a Green Sanctuary Program to help congregations live the 7 th Principle through conservation. I don’t really know how to explain it, except to say that it was like my eyes were opened. I felt so excited that I wanted to share all that I had learned with this congregation.

 When I came home I lead a discussion concerning economic justice. I have attempted other times to have discussions of this sort with not a very strong response. I have recently come to realize that just because I want something for the church, doesn’t mean that the church wants the same thing. I would like to have an active social witness program in this church, but apparently that is not what the church wants. I am very proud of the church for giving away our plate collections. I would like to do “good works” if you will, from a faith prospective, not just give money. That is me, and I need to know that others may not feel the same way. Right now I am involved in District work. That is fulfilling, but somewhere inside of me, that feeling I had at my first GA has not returned. Someday I will find another “fit” for me.  

I am very glad to have had the opportunity to speak to you today because of the topic of our speaker. I hope that some of you may be excited to work towards registering people to vote this year. A good, worthy project that could use our support.

Thank you for listening.