"Faith Matters" Blog

Natalie Fenimore

Seven years ago I joined the UUCF staff as Director of Religious Exploration and in that time UUCF and I have been on a journey together. 

When I began my service the Program Building was brand new and so were the playgrounds. And since then, the Sanctuary has been remodeled and expanded. The beautiful grounds have been well tended. Hundreds of you have volunteered in the Religious Exploration Program for children and youth. And I have shared a worship story with hundreds more.

Like many of you, I have found myself companioned by joys and sorrows: My children have grown to young adults, my mother has died. I have watched the many children of our community learn and grow - and grow.

Professionally, I became a Credentialed Religious Educator, a Credentialed Religious Educator Master's Level and an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister. I now serve as the President of the Liberal Religious Educators Association. I went to seminary, was a hospital chaplain and a ministerial intern. I became your Minister for Religious Exploration.

As I have deepened my professionalism through study, reflection, credentialing and degrees, some have asked me if I was making a plan to leave. I can honestly say, "No." Each step seemed to me a way to better serve UUCF; to follow in the big shoes of Rev. Roberta Nelson, Rev. Marge Corletti, Rev. Eva Ceskava who served UUCF as Ministers of Religious Education.

And so it is just now that I look up and see that another road lies ahead. It is time to go - to move along - to strike out on a new journey. This August I will become the Parish Minister at Davies Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church.

I will miss UUCF. I will miss you - young and old. I will miss the beauty of the campus. I will miss the people I have worked with. I will regret not being around to drive on the new roads after all the terrible construction I have driven through. Yet I know that you will care for each other as you always have and so, with few other regrets, I am going to a new place to learn and grow. Many thanks to you all for your care and your support over the years.

Take care, 

Pam McKeta Wins Annual RE Award

RE Committee Chair Kathy Hochberg, left, presents the 2012 Bill Welch RE Award to Pam McKeta.

This past weekend, as we honored all those who volunteer in our Religious Exploration (RE) Program, the RE Committee also bestowed its annual Bill Welch RE Award in recognition of outstanding service to UUCF's RE Program. Here is how RE Committee Chair Kathy Hochberg honored several runner's up and this year's recipient, Pam McKeta. 

"Over the last month, the RE committee has read the nominations submitted by RE teachers and parents. We found it heartening to hear about the good works of the RE teachers who are helping to nurture the youngest members of our spiritual community. The number of nominations received and the gratitude expressed with them are a testament to the time, energy, commitment and care these teachers devote to our RE program. It's important that all the teachers here today know that your efforts are both noticed and appreciated.

Before I announce this year's recipient, I would first like to recognize three teachers who received multiple nominations. The first is Dan Earle, who spearheaded the effort to implement 6th grade OWL (Our Whole Lives). According to one nominator, Dan 'taught the kids with gentleness on a delicate topic, listened with patience, displayed openness to their concerns. The children's comfort level with him was clear.' We on the RE Committee were so excited about the work he has been doing in OWL over the last several years that we recently asked him to join our committee. We are grateful he agreed and is now serving as its OWL liaison. 

We also want to recognize Dennis McCafferty for his work with the Middle School-High School class at the Saturday service. Dennis, according to one of his nominators, 'is great at getting the kids involved in discussions of serious issues but also at allowing them to see the lighter side of things. My kids really want to go to RE and Dennis is a big part of the reason why.' 

Tom Richardson also received multiple nominations for his long service to the high school youth of our Congregation. One nominator put it best saying, 'He has worked passionately, long after his children aged out of the program, for the improvement of youth ministry in our Congregation.'  

Even among these fantastic people working with and for the children and youth of our Congregation, this year's Bill Welch award winner stands out. She has, almost single-handedly in one year, transformed the way an entire age group experiences RE, by creating a curriculum from scratch for our 2- and 3-year-olds. According to one of her nominators, she developed a course arc that grows with the kids, has just the right amount of structure and repetition but also weaves in a meaningful tie to our UU principles that 2- and 3-year-olds can understand. One of her coteachers wrote: 'She has worked diligently to stock our classroom with all the props needed to accompany her planned activities. Her leadership, attitude and creativity have made being a coteacher of this class a real pleasure; not a session goes by where a parent helper has not commented on what a great class it is.' Another nominator said, 'She is a visionary, is approachable and is modest about her undertakings.' 

In addition to all this work for the 2s and 3s, she is also a member of the Partner Church Circle and is a cowriter of our new summer RE curriculum, 'One Journey, Many Paths,' which will introduce participants to our Partner Churches in Szengertize, Romania, and Puriang, India.   

But, above all, I hope we celebrate her kind, gentle spirit, which makes her a fantastic teacher of our youngest class, showing them that our spiritual home is a safe, welcoming place for them, too. It is my honor to present the 2012 Bill Welch RE award to Pam McKeta."