Dear Friends,

First, thank you so very much for your kindness, compassion and generosity of spirit as I navigated my first week here alongside the death of a young man in our community in Vermont. George was close with my daughter, and his family is well-known and loved in our small town. Sunday was a very challenging day for me on many levels, and it really was the warmth and understanding and words of love that came from so many of you that helped me get through.

I am so happy to be here among you, learning how this place works, about its history, and about your dreams for the future. What a beautiful group of souls you are. I feel an uplift already, and an openness to try new things and to entertain new ideas. It’s a new year and we are watching our world fall apart around us, which is so sad and scary, but, as I said on Sunday, the choice to build a new meeting house is a kind of resistance in and of itself. We resist the narrative that all is lost, that there is no hope, that young people don’t care. Its life-affirming resistance made manifest as warm and inviting community space.

I’m looking forward to working together these next months to get us ready to find your next settled minister, one who is excited about what’s happening here. I appreciate your patience as I learn names, the systems, the rituals. Please reach out if you’d like to meet for coffee, a ski, a walk!

With warmest blessings,

Melissa