Long time, loooooong time, no blog post. Covid-19 has meant that I spend far too much time online. I think in part because of that, I’ve had essentially no desire to blog. But I’m going to try to get back into it, because … there’s a lot to share!

One of the nicest things that has happened during the pandemic, for me personally, is that an old friend is now the minister at the church around the corner, the Congregational Church of Littleton (CCOL). Once upon a time, CCOL and First Church Unitarian (FCU) were the same Town Church, established in 1714. In the 1830s and 1840s, we had that trinitarian/unitarian split and became two separate congregations. But with my old friend (Pastor Jen Munroe-Nathans) now around the corner, I hope we can join together more and more!

Yesterday, I had the honor of delivering the Charge to the Minister and the Charge to the Congregation in Pastor Jen’s installation. If you want to watch the service, here it is:

It was a lovely and inspiring service. (My piece, for my mother, who will want to start there, is here.)

I so look forward to more and more “good trouble” with my old friend, and our congregations.

My grandfather was in fact an ordained German Reform minister (Rev. Dr. Elmer R. Hoke), which is part of the United Church of Christ, like CCOL. So that’s kind of cool, too.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of being involved in the Greater Lowell Interfaith Leadership Alliance (GLILA)’s Annual Spring Gathering for Peace. [I live in downtown Lowell, so I participate in GLILA. I also participate in the Greater Littleton Interfaith Council (GLIC).]

Here’s a video from yesterday’s virtual interfaith event of GLILA. If you watch on YouTube, click on “show more” in the description for blue time stamps that will take you to any particular part of the event.