Well, I’m all moved in, and almost all unpacked, and almost all my files are in the right place.And I’ve returned from Interim Ministry Training in Edmonton Canada, with a bag full of tools to help me be the best possible interim minister for TPUUF. And I have seen most of you on one of the last Sundays. Now I would like to introduce myself to you in more detail:
I’m 53 years old, the mother of 22-year old twin daughters, Susanne and Michaela, and the wife of Roger, a Pennsylvanian from Perkasie. Roger will hold down the fort in Ellicott City, MD, where we moved 16 years ago from Germany. I am renting a 200-year old farmhouse in Lederach, which reminds me very much of my home in Bavaria.
I have a Bachelors Degree in Therapeutic Recreation; and a Masters of Divinity Degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary. The last year I spent on Long Island, serving the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington as an Intern. You will hear about my passions and my pet peeves in my sermons in the course of the next year; so I won’t list them here.
Enough about me as a person! As a minister, I see myself as the “primus inter pares” of our religious community. In the pulpit I occasionally wear a robe; I always wear one when I
officiate at a ceremony; but I will sit down with you afterwards for Sunday brunch or other refreshments.
Theologically, I’m a typical UU-amalgamation: a Buddhist theist with a strong appreciation of nature-based spirituality, African drumming, and many other spiritual disciplines . . . I will make full use of the freedom of the pulpit that UU’s are famous for, and I invite you to
discuss with me – alone or in a group – any of the areas or viewpoints you agree or disagree with. I love discussions! That is, as long as I can sit down: I have degenerative disk disease, which makes it very painful for me to stand in one spot for long.
Now for some housekeeping:
As a 3/4-time minister, I will work approximately 9 units. Two of those units are dedicated to sermon writing, and one unit is the Sunday morning worship time. I will preach on two Sundays in November, January, March and June; three Sundays in October, December, February and April. I will drop in at all of your small groups and committees, at least in the beginning, to get to know you better.
I don’t have regular office hours yet, because I need to meet with all of the committees in the first several weeks. Please call me at the office and we can arrange a meeting time.
Whenever I’m in the office, and the door is open, you are more than welcome to come in. If the door is shut, I trust that you will respect this as a signal that I am either in a meeting with someone, counseling someone, or need a few undisturbed minutes to finish some critical work.
If you have urgent need for pastoral care, I am available for you 24/7. Please call me any time – at the office or on my cell phone (443-691-2289) – and I will do my best to be available for you.
Well, I that’s quite enough for a first message! But before I close, I’d like to draw your attention to the blurb about Association Sunday, and to the invitation to “Time to Talk,” elsewhere in this newsletter.
I am very much looking forward to an interesting, fruitful, and fun-filled year together!
Rev. Gabi
P.S.: Please try to wear your name tags when you are at TPUUF, that way I can learn your names faster. My memory isn’t what it used to be . . .
