Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

...a mind is much predicament as such a place. And yet a knowledge is here that tenses the throat as for song: the inheritance of the ones, alive or once alive, who stand behind the ones I have imagined, who took into their minds the troubles of this place, the blights of love and race, but saw a good fate here and willingly paid its cost, kept it the best they could, thought of its good, and mourned the good they lost. - Wendell Berry

It’s an accomplishment that lives in the memory of our denomination, an accomplishment that still has the power to strike awe into the hearts of members of other UU congregations: twenty-five years ago, when KUUF was a small fellowship with fewer than 80 pledging units, the members made the decision to build a new building and call a full-time minister all in the same year.

People dug deep. They didn’t give money to other charities. They spent long hours hand-dipping shingles. They sweated and skimped and sacrificed and then they celebrated—they had done what many had considered impossible. They transformed themselves from a tiny fellowship, meeting in a decaying building, tucked away in the woods where no one could find them, into a “full service church.”

Where did they find the chutzpah, passion, and strength to do what needed to be done? Perhaps there was something in the air or the water that instilled courage and a sense of purpose in people. Or perhaps they simply believed that what they were doing was so important that they couldn’t let any challenges stand in their way.

As the poet Wendell Berry puts it, they looked at the world, and “took into their minds the troubles of this place the blights of love and race.” In other words, they read the newspaper or watched the television, and noticed how much violence, injustice, and pain there is in the world. Perhaps they looked around them, or looked within, and saw loneliness and a deep need for fellowship. Their response was to turn their face to the future and resolutely build a “good fate,” for themselves, and for those of us who are here today.

They certainly had challenges! I know for a fact that the people who were here in 1985 had disagreements and differences of opinion. Some of them got tired, and even burnt out. They had good days and bad days, suffered losses and carried personal burdens. They were (and are) as human as the rest of us.

Yet as we look back, their challenges aren’t what lasted. What did? Their legacy includes our beautiful building and, indeed, our entire religious community. Both are a testament to their generosity, of pocket and of spirit. We owe them so much.

What they did is now ours to do, and it is no less important today than it was twenty-five years ago. In fact, I believe it is even more important. In the midst of the so-called “culture war,” religion is a potent weapon for people who believe that their way to be human is the only right way.

Twenty-five years later, we still take the troubles of the world into our mind. Twenty-five years later, we still imagine a world where all people are understood to have inherent worth and dignity. Twenty-five years later, we still keep this dream alive the best we can.

Our Mission as the Kitsap Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is to build a liberal religious community of love and justice, enriched by diversity, that nurtures spirituality and inspires us to act on our beliefs.