I’m so pleased to begin my time as UUCPA’s Interim Minister! Some of you may not know that I served as Sabbatical Minister from July – December of 2023, and I’m thrilled to have been invited back. I’m grateful to the Search/Hiring Team for their confidence in me, and very much look forward to getting to know you as our two years together unfolds, whether we’re meeting for the first time or renewing a previous connection.
Interim ministry is by nature transitional. First in that I’ll be with you for a limited time. More so, a major focus is to help UUCPA discern its main needs and challenges, goals and desires, and together lay a solid foundation for future thriving with a new longer-term minister.
The Board and I will communicate further details of this process over the next months, and there will be chances to provide input as such deliberations progress. I hope you’ll take an active role as opportunities arise.
Along with this I’ll do the usual ministerial work of planning Sunday services, providing pastoral care, and working with the Board, staff, and various teams and committees. Throughout August I’ll be getting up to speed with these, and reacquainting myself with the many procedural and technical elements of UUCPA’s operations. So I’ll see most of you on Sept. 7, when Rev. Cat Boyle and I will facilitate our church year “season opener” Water Communion service. The congregational picnic follows that, and details on both will be shared as the date approaches.
A few days prior I’ll also share a note that outlines some of my personal, professional, and spiritual background. For now, I’ll stick to conveying a few key practical matters:
- The best way to contact me is via my work email, interimminister@uucpa.org. (If you have my prior sabbatical work email of pfarriday@uucpa.org in your address books, please delete it as it’s now defunct.)
- Of course we can arrange to speak or meet (in person or online), yet the best way to initiate that is via email. (Or if you don’t have easy email access, call (650) 494-0541 x26.) I’ll also likely set up a Calendly or similar account that enables folks to easily book meetings at certain times, including in person many Sundays after services. (And if an alternative time is needed we’ll find it.)
- While my overall schedule may evolve, and there’s often some flexibility, here are some general starting parameters to keep in mind:
— Normally the best days to email me and get a fairly prompt reply are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Because…
— Fridays and early Saturdays are customarily reserved to finish preparing for Sundays. So excepting those involved with the upcoming service (as well as Board members and staff), if you email between Friday and Monday I likely won’t reply until Tuesday at the earliest. Because…
— My usual off times are Saturday afternoon/night, and from Sunday afternoon through Monday night. (And Sunday mornings when I’m not part of that week’s service, on average once per month.)
— Of course urgent pastoral care situations are an exception. In such cases please call 650-494-0541 x25, and typically I or Rev. Cat will either pick up or return your call asap.
Lastly, not knowing if I’d end up with ministerial work this year I’d already planned a few days travel to my home state of Minnesota in later August. It turns out that a brother from Detroit and my daughter and son (both in LA) will also visit the Bay Area over Labor Day weekend. So during the interview process the Search Team graciously agreed to me taking some early vacation time, which encompasses most of August 20 – Sept. 1.
Consequently Rev. Cat will cover any urgent pastoral care needs during this stretch. (And for any Board members who read this, I will attend the Aug. 27 meeting, hopefully in person but at least online.)
Thanks for noting these less-than-inspiring but important workaday matters. And to not end on that, here’s a small abridged excerpt from hymnal Reading #647 by W. Waldemar W. Argow. (And no, those multiple W’s aren’t a typo. 🙂 I offer it because to me it imparts a taste of why we choose to gather in spiritual community:
Differing words describe the outward appearance of things;
diverse symbols represent that which stands beyond and within.
Yet every person’s hunger is the same,
and heart communicates with heart.
… For an eternal verity abides beneath diversities;
we are children of one great love, united in our one eternal family.
Again I look forward to getting acquainted, and to working together in service of expanding this one great love.
Many Blessings!
Rev. Peter Farriday (he/him/his; and “Peter” or “Reverend Peter” is fine for casual interactions.)