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Sunday Morning Welcome - Voices of Eliot

2006

Kim Fitzgerald - November 5, 2006

When Joan asked me to speak today, I had to think of something remotely interesting to share, so I thought I would tell you about my volunteer experience in the nursery.

I started volunteering at the nursery back in 2001, mostly because I thought it would be an easy gig. You know, show up one or two Sundays a month, hold a few babies, meet some new people, and eventually use that time to connect with my own teenage daughter, who would join me a few years later.

I was unprepared for the fact that I would get completely hooked. I love it and continue to do it for all the reasons I mentioned - if you are six years old or under and used to go to 9:15 nursery - I know you! I have watched you grow up!

But what I have discovered is a sociological phenomenon: Eliot adult Visitors come to Eliot just like the children who come to the nursery. Let me explain.....

Sometimes they must be coaxed. They are thinking, "The last time I was in a place like this, I did not like this! I was very afraid!"

Sometimes they must be distracted. "Look! There's a train, let's play with a ball! We have covenant groups, and Room at the Inn, and GATE!"

Sometimes they toddle in with wonder, "What is this place? I have never been to a place like this before. What is that toy? What is that chalice thing? What is a Bread Service? What is a Flower Communion?"

Sometimes they stand at the window and look out at the older kids, wondering what they will do when they get to play on the playground - the look on their faces is similar to the look you are giving me now that asks, "What will I say when I volunteer to do the welcome?"

Occasionally, they come in with no preconceived notions about what they are about to experience. They look around in awe. There is an innocent wonder about them.

Almost always, they need to be embraced, or comforted, or engaged in some way - to feel comfortable and welcomed with open hearts, open spirits, and open minds.

It's been my job in nursery to welcome the babies (and their families). It's our job as members of Eliot to welcome the adults. So welcome to Eliot Chapel!

Lynn Murphy - October 8, 2006

I've been a member of Eliot for over 16 years. My journey here started when I was three years old and took my first dancing lessons in a dancing school in a converted garage. Most of us don't start our welcoming story that far back, but it occurred to me there may have been a connection between my learning to dance in those early years in a converted garage to my learning to nurture myself spiritually here at Eliot, a converted Episcopal church.

As an adult I came to Eliot during the feminist movement seeking a vibrant, liberal community willing to ask questions, seek answers, and grow both emotionally and spiritually. This community was such a contrast to the confined way I was brought up as a Missouri Lutheran Synod parishioner.

I immediately felt at home here and free at last to explore the vast world of spirituality. During my years at Eliot I have been able to explore Native American, Goddess, and now Buddhist worship. I "converted" easily to Unitarianism because it was the perfect fit for me. It allowed me to expand my spirituality. I could explore and honor all kinds of spiritual beliefs; I was free to find what was best for me while supporting what was best for others in the congregation. We weren't told what we must believe. We are free to find that for ourselves.

At the same time this community made a commitment to honor others who may be gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgendered and welcome them to our place, I became free and comfortable enough to trust you with another truth, that I am lesbian. I am so proud to have been part of the transition to a Welcoming Congregation.

So from converted garage to converted church, I have danced and found life ever more fun and fulfilling for the experience. Thank you, Eliot, for your love and support.

Joan McCready - June 11, 2006

Our family has been giving our time, talent and treasure to Eliot Chapel for twenty months.

We came to Eliot Chapel a year ago in the fall for our daughters. Both girls were expressing an interest in church, in religion, and in spiritual things. And both have thrived in the Religious Education programs for their age groups.

The theme of today's service is "Milestones Sunday." Breana - our younger - celebrates a special year of RE with her GATE partner, while Gretchen celebrates her milestone of high school graduation today.

Matthew and I have always been seekers. Being at Eliot has provided many opportunities for us. Together and separately, we've been involved in the New "U" class, the Welcoming Congregation group, the Five Questions class, a Covenant Group, several adult RE presentations, and Newcomer Dinners. Breana and I attended a Passover Seder this spring as a GATE activity. Both girls participated in the Youth Coffee House. I've taught an RE class, and I even survived being a chaperone for the high school youth at the winter Con.

Our path to Eliot would be another entire welcome - well, to be honest, it would be an entire sermon some Sunday. But we are here, and this is where we belong - for now. We hope your path will cross, and maybe even join, ours. Welcome.

Anthony Castro - October 1, 2006

My wife Missy, our daughters and I have been attending Eliot Chapel for several years.

When I was asked to do the Welcome component of today's service, I was urged to make sure to hit all the bullet points of greeting our guests. But once this part was completed, the instructions that were emailed to me earlier this week said, "Now just say a few words on… Why you attend Eliot…"

My first thought was to go into the unique elements that make Eliot so special on these Sunday mornings such as: The incredible diversity of music and all the talented musicians every week. Or I thought of talking about the inspiring sermons by Daniel and Bonnie. Or maybe discuss the extensive educational program for our kids, and on and on… I thought of talking about: "All that Eliot has to offer."

I also thought of dissecting Eliot's Mission Statement that focuses on Free Spiritual Grow and Social Justice..

But the more I sat with this question, "Why do I attend Eliot?… Why am I a member?…." I realized the answer is much more simple.

I come to Eliot on these Sunday mornings because when I do,… "I leave feeling Better…." I feel better about myself and I feel better about the world and I feel better about the people in this world.

I am a psychologist by trade and my job is to do exactly that… my job is to help people feel better. I feel blessed that Eliot Chapel is MY Therapist. The spiritual and emotional guidance and care that I receive during "My Sunday morning therapy sessions" leaves me energized, confident about myself, and thankful I have such a wonderful family and giving community.

Psychotherapy is a good thing. Psychotropic medications certainly can be helpful as well. But to me, there is no better talk therapy or Antidepressant then what we all experience here at Eliot every Sunday morning.

Welcome to Eliot!

Pam Jeffries - May 7, 2006

My husband and I have been giving time and money to Eliot Chapel for over 2 years now.

I grew up in one of those families that goes to church every Sunday, but never talked about religion. My father was in the Air Force, so when we moved from base to base, we would find a Methodist-kind-of-church that seemed to fit all right and go there.

When my father retired from the Air Force, he got a job in Saudi Arabia, where we lived for a couple of years. We attended a Christian church that assembled in a movie theatre on Sundays. But assembling once a week is nothing like praying 5 times a day, which I learned the Muslims did. As I played outside (in the sand), I would hear the muezzins calling out from the minarets of their ancient mosques.

During Ramadan, you could hear the cannons firing as the sun went down, signifying the daily fast was over and the nightly feast had begun. And the Hadj - the annual pilgrimage to Mecca - seemed an incredible testimony to the Muslims' faith.

I'm pretty sure it was during those 2 years that I deduced that perhaps Christians hadn't cornered the market on religious truth.

Fast forward many years, and I marry a wonderful man whose family was the opposite of mine: they talked about religion, but didn't go to church. We met in college at Mizzou, but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area because - well, St. Louis is a great family town and we didn't have a family.

There was quite a bit of spiritual searching over the course of our 12 years in the Bay Area. But not long after our son was born, a friend turned us onto the Unitarian Universalist church in Oakland, where we lived. Right away, we got it. And it felt really good.

We decided to return to St. Louis, shortly after the dot com bubble burst. But we mourned the loss of our church. Surely, there would never be a progressive Unitarian church in conservative St. Louis!

We are so grateful we were wrong. And since we now have 2 children, we couldn't feel better about Eliot Chapel. Not only have my husband and I found a spiritual home, but our children are getting a broad religious education - delivered by devoted teachers - that I hope will cultivate in them an appreciation of others' beliefs and an inner peace regarding their own.

Welcome to Eliot Chapel. I hope you find support for your spiritual path here, too.

Jeanne Wilke - April 30, 2006

I've been a member of Eliot Chapel since 1988. In the Midwest, it seems that many UUs grew up in other religions and found Unitarian Universalism through various paths, many of which we hear about as Eliot folks share a bit of their stories on Sunday mornings. I grew up Southern Baptist in a Mississippi town about the size of Kirkwood, and church was a very important part of my childhood. A sequence of events beginning in the mid-80s led me to Eliot. At about the same time that the religion I grew up in was taking a hard conservative turn, I was returning to college and broadening my horizons. I happened to take an Asian philosophy course and quickly learned how ignorant I was about Eastern religions, some of which predated Christianity by many centuries. As I learned more, I began to realize that the belief that Christianity was superior to all other religions was unwarranted, at least for me, given that some of these religions held the same important tenets as Christianity.

During the same time frame, I happened to catch a feature story on a local TV newscast about the Religious Education Program at First Unitarian Church in the city. Middle school children were studying world religions and were going as a group to Jewish, Hindu, and Islamic services in the area. I was intrigued and surprised to discover that this denomination, Unitarian Universalism, made learning about world religions an important part of children's religious education - something I then knew was missing in my own experience as I was growing up.

Within a few weeks, I had followed up to find UU churches in the area and visited Eliot for the first time. Over the years, this community has become home for me. When I'm in the pew on Sunday mornings, I'm aware that for me the chapel itself is a sacred, physical space where I and many others have been inspired, challenged, and comforted by sermons, music, and the sense of community. Those who have gathered here have made this space sacred by participating in thousands of services and celebrations over many years, including my own wedding in 1999 and my husband's memorial service in 2004. Our participation and our commitment to Eliot ensures that it continues to be a nurturing, stimulating, and supportive community for those who are now members and friends and for those who continue to come through our doors, I did 18 years ago, looking for a community that fosters free religious thought, nurtures spiritual growth, and acts for social justice.

Julie Triplett - March 5, 2006

You see before you a gray-haired woman whose adventure began a long time ago. So it seemed only appropriate that my story should be told in the form of a fairy tale. So, here it is?

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a land to the north, called Iowa, a young woman left her rural home to enter a magic land called "College." In that magic land, many wonderful things occurred to change her life. One of them came about as a result of meeting a young man named Warren Allen Smith. Now this was a long before Smitty became a leader in the American Humanist Association, but even then he was an activist. One of his projects was the founding of a group call the Humanists' Club.

It was in attending these meetings that the young woman first encountered information about the Unitarian and Universalist religions. (This was so long ago that the two had not yet merged.) The young woman thought to herself, "Someday I will find one of those churches and become a part of it."

Every fairy tale needs to have a handsome prince, and there is one in this tale, as well. The young woman met him in the magic land. They were married and lived happily ever after.

But there is more to this story. A few years passed and she and her husband moved to Kirkwood. One day, the young woman saw a sign indicating that Eliot Unitarian Fellowship was located up the hill. Sure enough, she found it. It wasn't really a church, just two houses which served as a temporary home for a small group of Unitarians. But before long, the Fellowship had 50 people who were willing to commit to making the group a church.

In the years that have followed, she has contributed much of her time, energy, and funds to Unitarianism. She served as Religious Education Director, a founder of the Nursery School, and on committees too numerous to mention. When events took her family to Illinois, she continued as an active Unitarian at the Green Street church in Urbana, chairing the Board and serving as Canvass Chair.

Some years ago, she and her husband returned to the St. Louis area, where they happily resumed participation in the Eliot family. Eliot is an important part of her life, but to her Unitarian/Universalism is more than Eliot Chapel. She is grateful to be a part of a larger denomination. The blessing of this is that wherever she might go, she can find like-minded people with whom to share a dream of what religion should be. And this June, thousands of those UUs will be coming here, to St. Louis, to share with her and with all of you.

Now, isn't this a fairy tale come true?

Judy Highfill - Februuary 26, 2006

I started giving my time, talents and annual tithe to Eliot Chapel about 12 years ago. What I most recall about that Sunday was the Reading that morning of Lao Tzu: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao." Those ancient Asian words have always been one of my favorite definitions of God.

Soon after I joined Eliot, I learned about Mindfulness Meditation in an adult RE program, and helped start a meditation group that's been meeting--in one form or another--for over a decade.

Later on, I attended a Jewish Seder dinner. This is the Hebrew tradition on which the "Lord's Supper" is based. I hadn't participated in a Seder since the young adult confirmation class at the United Church of Christ in Union, MO, where our minister asked the only Jewish couple in town to teach us about this tradition so we could better understand our liberal Protestant roots.

Now every week I enjoy Israeli folk dancing at the Traditional Synagogue in West County. It's great exercise and the folks there--both Israeli and American--are friendly and welcoming. I would probably never have found this new spiritual practice had I not joined Eliot Chapel.

At my first Thanksgiving Bread Service at Eliot I learned about UU origins derived from the Pilgrims and Puritans who came to America from Europe. Later I discovered our connection to Transylvanians (present-day Romanians), whose king, in the 14th century, made tolerance the law during the bloody fighting between Catholics and Protestants.

Recently, visiting a UU Church in Clearwater, Florida, I learned about the Khasi [pronounced "Kah-see"], an indigenous group of about 10,000 Unitarians living in northeastern India, some of whom I expect to meet at an International Interfaith Congress of the IARF I'm attending in March in Taiwan, which I learned about last summer at the UU GA in Texas.

This summer we'll all have the opportunity to meet UU's from around the world at our Unitarian Universalist convention, the GA, or General Assembly, to be held right here in St. Louis at the Convention Center.

Unitarian Universalism… - it's a trip! And this June we won't even have to leave home to experience it! "It's coming to a theatre near you." I urge you to make the trip!

Kevin Mitchell - February 12, 2006

I've been giving time and money to Eliot Chapel for 3 years. I grew up Catholic. It's a beautiful religion, but for a child, it can be scary. I remember well the night before my first communion, my older brother, Timmy, whispered from the bed across the room: "You know, that the communion wafer is the actual body of Jesus Christ. Well, if you accidentally bite down on it, you're biting Jesus, and right then and there, you go straight to h-e-double-hockey sticks."

I lived through that and the other rituals. But my fondest memories of the church were the Sunday school and the teachers that influenced me. Ultimately, however, it wasn't a good fit and I wandered away.

As I approached my 40s with a child on the way my wife Lauren and I tried Eliot. We knew we found a home after a Youth Service. There is one next week. It's when the amazing kids who attend Religious Education here put on the service. These are inspirational and moving events. I saw that the children here were learning with no fear, only open hearts and open, questioning, minds. So we joined and enrolled our three-year-old Owen in R.E.

Now, when you enroll your child into R.E., there's a form. On the form is a box. Next the box is something to the effect of "we hope the parents of enrolled children teach three semesters over 18 years." Reasonable, I thought. So I checked the box.

My phone immediate rang. Hello? "Hi, I'm Joan Casey! I run RE! I see you want to teach R.E.!"

Despite my hesitation, suddenly there I was, a "Sunday School" teacher myself. I'm proud to say I'm going to teach my third semester next fall. It's a wonderful program inside and out, both in how the material is supplied and the support the teachers are given. Also, it's been a great way for me to get to know other Eliot members. And yes, as cliché as it is, the kids are certainly "teaching" me as much as I hope I'm teaching them. Especially the older ones, who of course have everything figured out.

Those here for the first time, I hope you find Eliot as comfortable and inspiring as I do. For those not here for the first time, but have yet to spend time with the wonderful kids of this community, I encourage you to give Joan your phone number.

Michael Pelot-Hobbs - January 15, 2006

I've been giving time and money to Eliot Chapel for almost 9 years.

The members of Eliot that I knew before coming here I always considered "special people":

• Open-minded
• Kind
• Tolerant and
• Sincere

That is what brought my family to this congregation. What has kept us coming is that we continue to meet more of these individuals here. People who come to Eliot to seek, as I do, for the meaning of being at this time in history at this place in the universe.

I do not look for fulfillment in an after-life. I do not look for answers to my many questions in any one place. I look for answers everywhere, in this life, knowing that there is not just "one truth" or "eternal truth", only "my truth".

My only certainty is that I am here

• in this place
• at this time
• in this life
• with these people.

For those of you that are already taking your journey here, I continue looking forward to sharing it with you. For those of you considering Eliot Chapel, we welcome you with open minds and warm hearts.