Reflections in the month of Janus

As January begins, I make a ritual of examining Janus’s two faces – one looking back at the year that just ended and one looking forward to the year ahead of us. One hopes to look backwards with a feeling of accomplishment and look forward with a feeling of purpose. Happily, when it comes to EUU, that is exactly my frame of mind.

The retreat in Spa this past fall, while not as well-attended as we had hoped, was well-planned and executed by the Netherlands Fellowship. I’m sure that you share in my gratitude for the hard work they put into ensuring that we had a place and time for fellowship and growth.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to meet our new UUA Ambassador, Diane Rollert. Diane will be travelling to Europe approximately twice a year and trying to see three Fellowships each trip. We are in the midst of planning her next trip, which will kick off with a service in Stuttgart on March 4. In future, we are hoping to set up a pattern whereby Diane’s visits will coincide with CC meetings, allowing us another opportunity for fellowship between retreats.

At the CC meeting in Paris this January, we plan to begin tackling a number
of issues that should strengthen EUU moving forward.

 

1. Key is getting our new website up and running so that we can promote cooperation between our fellowships. It has long been a dream of mine to create an EUU calendar that would include all our Fellowships’ services, discussion groups and activities.
2.  I also want to encourage the Fellowships to develop tent-pole events –
   special events around which their yearly worship is organized and that will attract visitors from other groups. While our Retreats will continue to be the focus of our coming together, many members welcome the chance to visit
   and worship with other EUU members in between.
3. R.E. continues to be a challenge for our organization, and we need to renew our commitment to our young families.
4. Music is an essential part of our worship, and we have been blessed to
   have so many talented musicians amongst our members. We need to continue valuing what we have and exploring new opportunities (like inviting
   choirs to retreats.)
5. Retaining our identity as Unitarian Universalists in Europe, while at the
   same time finding new structures that bind us to other Unitarians and likeminded folk in Europe.

I hope all who can will join us at our next Annual General Meeting in Dijon,
where we can review our accomplishments and start to take concrete steps
towards our future goals. I have been told everyone hates meetings, but I am
determined to make this meeting a dilly. Anyone who wants to know what
that means will have to show up!