Dear friends,

In the same way that I have been concerned about how people in our UU congregation have been doing in the wake of the election, it occurred to me that other local clergy serving congregations from historically liberal religious traditions might also be needing some support and community.

Several of us gathered at a downtown cafe and I could feel people’s relief at simply being able to sit down together.  And we immediately wanted to create opportunities for members of all our congregations to gather together, strengthen our bonds of community with one another, and create the ground for future collaborations.

For now at least, we’re calling ourselves the Saratoga Interfaith Alliance and we’ve scheduled our first event!

Keeping things light for a first event, we’ll screen the comedy movie Keeping the Faith and have a brief discussion afterwards.  It’ll be Sunday, December 15, at 6:30 in our UU sanctuary. What’s the movie about? It’s a love triangle between a priest and a rabbi who are both longing for the woman who completed their trio of best friends when they were kids.  And they wonder how to navigate relationships as people–and friends–of faith  I hope the evening will be a pleasant social event where members of our faith communities to get to know one another better and discuss the commitments we make living as people of faith.  There’s an event page on our website here.  And you can RSVP here.  Thanks to Rabbi Ilana Symons for the event poster!

Remember the soup potluck after the service this Sunday (Nov 24)!  We’ll be hearing about some of the hopes and memories that were in the time capsule we dug up from 2013. The service at 10am will tell the story of a “Thanksgiving Soup Communion” — we’ll make a yummy vegetarian winter kale soup during the service.  Bring your own place settings and a glass, if you can.  And we’re leaning into the “luck” part of “potluck”–bring what you’re able to share, and don’t worry if you can’t bring something.

Let’s continue to keep our faith in one another and take advantage of these opportunities to grow our experience of community and demonstrate our commitment to one another.

love,
Rev Joe

P.S.  The Braver/Wiser Wednesday meeting for Wednesday, Nov 27, is canceled.  The next Braver/Wiser Wednesday session will be December 4 at 8:30am.

P.P.S.  The next Leaning into Meaning session will be Wednesday, December 4 at 5:30.