Dear Friends,
I will be going on sabbatical from January-June 2008. As specified in our letters of agreement with the congregation, called ministers earn one month of sabbatical for each year of service. Sabbaticals are usually taken every six years. This will be my second sabbatical. I was granted my first one in 2001. I am excited about this opportunity for continuing education, research, travel and weekends with my spouse, Patty.
In January I will be taking a week long intensive at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley titled Combating Oppression: Power Analysis through Anti-Ableist and Anti-Racist Lenses http://www.sksm.edu/academics/intersession_2008.php One of my ongoing personal and ministerial goals is to face the comfort of my own racial and class privilege and learn how I can be an ally to people of color and other marginalized groups as we create the beloved community in our congregation and the communities we serve. I want to see our church grow into the fullness of its mission “to fostering the process of becoming a diverse and multicultural congregation.” I want to do my part in helping to make that reality come true.
I will also be taking an intensive on spiritual direction in February at Wisdom University in Oakland, “Dreaming Our Dreams: Asleep and Awake,”. Wisdom University was started by former Dominican priest Matthew Fox who began a program of creation spirituality that draws from the wisdom of all traditions. I will be studying with Lauren Artress, an Episcopal priest from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Rev. Artress has singularly helped to inspire the resurgence of interest in the labyrinth as a spiritual tool. In the course I will be doing dream work and using the mandala.
The vision statement that we as a congregation crafted with the Rev. Fran Dew during the first year of interim ministry guides me in seeking out educational opportunities. “Our vision for The First Unitarian Church of San Jose in 2010: A church with a vibrant congregational life that reflects a supportive, joyful and diverse intergenerational community. A church that offers a wide variety of opportunities for spiritual expression and personal growth…”
I hope to bring back from my work with the Rev. Artress, Starr King School for the Ministry and research on contemporary models of children and youth ministry, ideas to enrich the offerings for spiritual growth that our congregation offers its members and friends.
And if all goes well, Patty and I will also be going on a couple’s retreat, seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time and traveling to Prague, Czechoslovakia for our first European adventure.
I am deeply grateful to the congregation for this opportunity to focus on improving my ministerial skills and knowledge, deepening my spiritual life, and having some precious time with Patty to renew our marriage and have some fun together!
I wish all of us could have a sabbatical, a time for reflection and renewal. We all need now and then in our lives to stop and take stock of where we are and where we want to go to live a fuller life. I am unbelievably blessed to have this chance to do just that.
I hope to let you all know what I am up to from time to time and to submit devotional blogs to this site as has been my goal.
With deep gratitude and an exuberance beyond measure,
Geoff
P.S. It is with great pleasure that I announce that Sonya Sukalski, graduate of Starr King School for the Ministry will be serving as the Sabbatical Religious Educator during my absence. Sonya is currently completing her Pastoral Clinical Education as a hospice chaplain. Sonya completed an internship at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Livermore. She has extensive experience in Unitarian Universalist congregations and religious education. She has twin daughters! Sonya will fill you in with more details about herself in an upcoming newsletter in December. Suffice it to say, I am excited that Sonya will be ministering to and with us beginning in January through June of 2008. She will not only be helping us to maintain our programs but will bring her creative flair to enrich them.