Three Village Interfaith Clergy Association

Iona, Scotland, 2013 On All Saints Day in my tradition, and many Christian traditions, we remember those people who have passed from this world. We pause to recall the ways people who have died have touched our lives and who, even in their death, continue to touch our lives. We tell stories, light candles, and remember that we are connected with all who have gone before. On Sunday evening at Setauket Presbyterian we will gather to remember members of our community who have passed. Last Sunday our children decorated cards for the families who are grieving. These cards are colorful, bright, and a reminder that love is not ended by death. My grandmother used to tell me that this time of year is when the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest. She is someone who, even though she died in 2000, continues to impact my life - I like to think that veil is always somewhat thin.  In 2013 I spend a few months living on the small Scottish island of Iona. The founder of the ...

It is common practice for Unitarian Universalist ministers and their congregations to include in our Letter of Agreement (contract) provision for a sabbatical every five to seven years, accrued at a rate of one month per year, for up to six months. I’m in my ninth year of service with the UU Fellowship at Stony Brook and last year, finally, I felt the time was right to take a sabbatical. So last winter, January through March, I left my congregation to it’s own good governance, with guest coverage for every service I would have led, and emergency pastoral care coverage by various other UU ministers on our island through an exchange program we formed just for that purpose. I had two aims for the use of my time: a combo solo (with spouse) and group-tour trek down the National and State(s) Civil Rights Trail in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, and a deep immersion into Jewish studies.  In my pursuit of the dive into Judaism, I joined North Shore Jewish Center’s (NSJC) sixteen ...

This Sunday in our congregation, we begin a new year of Confirmation Class, when 8th and 9th graders explore their own faith--not the faith of their parents, or of their Sunday School teachers, or of their pastor, but their own. The hope is that they really dive in to their questions and wrestling and come out on the other side with a desire to keep asking questions and keep wrestling for the rest of their lives.  I came across a poem by Mary Oliver, and it made me think about how we share faith with young people. I'm wondering whether any such endeavor might begin with Mary Oliver's words: "I have a lot of edges called Perhaps and almost nothing you can call Certainty." "Angels" by Mary Oliver You might see an angel anytime and anywhere. Of course you have to open your eyes to a kind of second level, but it’s not really hard. The whole business of what’s reality and what isn’t has never been solved and probably never will be. So I don’t care to be t...

An Open Letter to the Three Village Community from the Three Village Interfaith Clergy Association Over the past weeks and months we have witnessed yet again the devastating impact of gun violence throughout the nation. As clergy we are wrestling, alongside our communities, with how we can best respond to the increasing violence and tension in our country’s communities and throughout our entire nation.  What role can faith groups play?  Like the members of the congregations we serve, we are concerned, angry and frustrated.  We are facing a public health crisis; guns have taken the lives of too many of our siblings.  As faith leaders we serve congregants who are impacted, directly and indirectly, by gun violence. We are there when families have lost loved ones due to gun violence, we hear the concerns and fears of our people, and we feel deeply within ourselves the endless attacks on children of the Divine. When our children return to school they will likely ...

In conversation with friends the topic of favorite spiritual writers came up. New books, recent articles, favorite quotes from various sources were shared. And then someone offered the following question: Who is your spiritual GPS? A few moments of silence and then a lively discussion ensued! I was at first intrigued by the question and then there he was with his various publications lining my book shelves! Henri Nouwen! He was a Dutch priest, professor, spiritual writer, and theologian. He based his thesis for an advanced degree on the work of Anton Boisen, an American minister who founded Clinical Pastoral Education, the training and education undertaken by every board-certified hospital and hospice chaplain. I did not know this about Henri Nouwen until much later in my spiritual journey with him. As a board-certified chaplain I appreciated him and his work even more. Fr. Nouwen focused on psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice, and commun...

I was going to write this blog about something different, but the recent events, especially the most recent shooting in a San Diego synagogue on the last day of Passover have totally occupied my thoughts.   I am preparing a small service for my students for Yom HaShaoah- Holocaust Remembrance Day.   We usually light a candle and read some poems and sing a song.   I felt I needed to do more this year.   The Holocaust is not some distant past event of history.   The students have seen videos of Nazis marching on the streets of American cities yelling anti-Semitic slogans.   Houses of worship are targets of violence of hate all over the globe, including 2 synagogues here in our country. These acts of hate and ignorance must be confronted head on, and Holocaust Remembrance Day seems the perfect day to begin. As a clergy member, these recent events have left me bereft and downtrodden.   My faith is tested, and my sadness is all encompassing. ...