Please Note: As I hope that you have already heard, I have announced my retirement from congregational ministry, effective June 30th, at the end of my current agreement with the Fellowship.

During the past twelve years, we have traveled together, and I am truly grateful for the journey that we have shared. While I know that it would be impossible to name every single experience or personal quality that I have am thankful for, I do want to acknowledge with gratitude least a few of the most important blessings that I have experienced here.

I’m grateful for the trust that we have shared. We have faced a number of challenges together, and in some cases we have encountered serious disagreements. Even in those times, we have trusted each other and continued the dialogue with a conviction that we all wanted what was best for the congregation more than we wanted to “win.” We have trusted each other’s motives and believed in those with whom we disagreed. We have worked to develop good processes, and learned to “trust the process.” From my perspective, these forms of trust have served us very well.

I’m grateful for the work that we have done together. Our efforts over the past twelve years have made significant differences in the world around us. Rainbow Café, New Day Prison Ministries, and our AIDS/Africa project have touched the lives of thousands of people facing serious challenges. Our facility is a beautiful home and a resource to events like the Alternative Gift Fair and the Ralph Anderson Interfaith Dialogues. Our ongoing service in ministries like “Feed My Sheep” and “Spirit of Christmas” touches peoples’ lives with love. Working together, we have supported the formation of Unitarian Universalist congregations in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and Cape Girardeau, Missouri. And we have worked to understand and to change ourselves as well – for instance, more than one hundred of us have built our own theologies.

I’m grateful for the love and support that you have offered me and my family. It takes a village to raise a child, and I am grateful that this Fellowship has been both a loving and a challenging village for my daughter and for so many other children. I’m grateful for the community that is present here, with many points of entry, and with many forms of affirmation offered to those present.

I’m grateful, too, that the gifts I have named above were not reserved for me, but have been widely shared throughout this Fellowship. I am thankful for the many forms of generosity that we have created and nurtured in this faith community, and for the commitment to our Unitarian Universalist principles that holds us together.

I’m still here, through the end of June, as your minister. Please don’t forget that I’m here if you need me!

With sincere thanks, Bill S.