Midweek Message August 26, 2025

Hello Beloveds!

     My first month in Nashville is coming to a close and it has sure been a busy one! I’ve experienced the agony of your August summer heat right alongside the delightful faux fall the south is known for. I’ve spent my time out of the pulpit attending Worship, Faith Formation, and Board retreats and generally getting to know FUUN’s history, culture, and mission. I’m also using this time to tend to relationships with FUUN’s affiliated ministers and the greater Tennessee UU clergy- who actually gathered in our building just yesterday. I know this process of learning and relationship building will likely take many more months- even years!- but I am truly looking forward to it. 

Luckily I’m not alone on the path of discovery because I know each of you are getting to know me as well as together we learn what this new era of ministry will look and feel like. 

I don’t intend to make major changes during my first year as your minister but you will see some shifts here and there- particularly in worship. As worship is a central part of our community life I’d like to take this opportunity to let you know about these shifts in advance with the hope that you can enter the sanctuary with an open mind and heart.

Beginning on my first Sunday in the pulpit, you may notice that our flow of worship will have changed a bit. Together, the Worship Team, the staff, and I have spent time dreaming about how we wish to have worship feel at FUUN. We hope it will feel transformative, nourishing, and intentional for you each Sunday we’re together. To that end, and with the feedback I’ve heard from so many of you in mind, we’ve chosen to include a meditation of one form or another each week, to play with colorful fabrics for the altar table, to include an interactive element to online participation (whenever possible), and to shift announcements to outside of the worship hour, among other minor tweaks.

It’s natural and to be expected that hearing some of these changes may make you uneasy. There is a particular comfort that comes from routine and when so much of the world feels out of our control these days, I can understand a desire to maintain a sense of familiarity. And, I hope you can also be open to seeing this as a grand adventure we are embarking on- one worthy of taking a few risks from time to time. 

Thank you for your warm welcome to FUUN, for sharing your optimism and hopes with me, and for letting me earn your trust. 

Yours in the Faith,

Rev. Charlotte