Rev. Audette Fulbright

Reverence Road – April 2013

rob — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:27:06 +0000

A tree is known by its fruit; a [person] by [their] deeds. A good deed is never lost; she who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
~Saint Basil

Is anyone else amazed at how quickly the days have been passing? Our family has been here in Cheyenne and with the church for almost a year now. By the time you read this, Easter will have come and gone, as will have birthdays and Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween…Board meetings and congregational conversations and worship over months of Sundays. It’s a special time. I’m still working to get to know each of you, which is the essential work of a first year. There are some of you with whom I have not yet spent time either one on one or in small groups. Let’s work together to make that happen this spring and summer.

One of the things that makes a community strong and vibrant is high-quality communication. This is something your whole leadership team has been thinking about over the year. From the stewardship team working to build opportunities for every member and friend to come together for conversation and fellowship, to the Board and Committee on Ministry working to make more opportunities for congregational conversation, to the in-process development of a new website and more use of social media, to my own in-home and after-church conversational groups… we want to build a community with many avenues for people to know and understand and discuss ideas and plans together. And then, of course, we have to come together to make them happen.

I hope you will be a part of the conversation, and a part of the action here at UUCC.
Keeping in mind that you can stay informed by:

reading the monthly Focus;
looking on the walls and bulletin boards for our weekly and monthly calendars;
reading the weekly e-bulletin;
carefully reviewing the announcements printed each week in the Order of Service;
following us on FaceBook;
contacting the office with any questions you may have about activities….

…there are so many ways to stay informed and engaged.

I also want you to know that I am available for pastoral care and conversation should you need to talk, or if you should want to explore any spiritual topics together. I also do work with couples and families, in a pastoral setting and for short periods of time. Although sometimes the calendar is quite full, and we need to plan a week or two in advance, it’s very important to me that you know that there is someone here at UUCC who cares very much about you and about how you are doing. I’m here if you need me.

In closing, more than ever, I feel the strength of our stewardship theme: Without You, We Are Not Complete. I look forward to the days ahead and the time we will have together.

–
in faith & fellowship,
Rev. Audette

Reverence Road Daily Prayer, November 8th, 2012

afulbright — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:19:20 +0000

To those rejoicing: let it well up as a spirit of joy and gratitude; to those mourning: let it be a quiet place of discerning wide enough for hope to enter in; for all of us together, let all emerge from a spirit of Love

Reverence Road – November 2012

rob — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:31:17 +0000

It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today. – Barack Obama

This month, after the excitements of “Start Up” and the remarkably deep grace of the Installation, combined with the beauty of this first Wyoming fall, I find myself in total agreement with Walt Whitman, as he sang: “Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road – healthy, free, the world before me….all seems beautiful to me; I can repeat over and over to men and women, You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you…Forward! After the great Companions! and to belong to them! They, too, are on the road!…Onward! to that which is endless, as it was beginningless, to undergo much…to know the Universe itself as a road – as many roads – as roads for traveling souls.” (from “Song of the Open Road”)

What more can be said? The road lies before us, and here we are companions together, already well begun on our way! Every day in our congregation, people need our help and hands reach out toward them. Make your hands a part of that work; join us as part of our pastoral care support structure. Our church is a sanctuary for those in need – lend a hand. Join us here on Saturday, November 3, as we help young DREAM(act)ers prepare their federal paperwork, so that those young people who have never known any country but the U.S. can be legally present among us. Come, take part in a class or a chalice circle. We want to know your stories, and we want to share ours with you. And if you have no family to be with on Thanksgiving day, join us here at the church from 11-1, and we will make merry together! Afoot and light-hearted, we are on our way! Brightest blessings, and see you in church!

Rev. Audette

Reverence Road Daily Prayer, October 30

afulbright — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:25:13 +0000

For all who are weary, worn and waiting…for all who are hungry, cold or displaced…for all who have lost what they love, but not yet lost hope…we stand with you, we wrap you in a quilt of love, we are ready to lend hands and what help we may. This is our prayer.

Reverence Road Daily Prayer October 27, 2012

afulbright — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 02:38:13 +0000

For the kindness of strangers…for the pearls thrown before us by people we have never met…for the light of the Sun which we did not cause to rise…this prayer, this moment of thanks.

Reverence Road Daily Prayer – October 18, 2012

afulbright — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 17:15:11 +0000

For those whose anger makes them hit and hate; for those whose deep need they try to fill with money, drugs, sex, or other forms of grasping; for those whose loneliness leads them toward despair…peace in this moment, honor for their true needs, and a prayer that they experience that Love which can wash away sorrow and fear. #ReverenceRoadDailyPrayer

Reverence Road Daily Prayer – October 17

afulbright — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:16:47 +0000

For all those who serve faithfully and with honor…for all those brave enough to speak truth to power…for all those seeking a better way and a path to get there…encouragement and hope for the journey. #ReverenceRoadDailyPrayer

Reverence Road Daily Prayer – October 16, 2012

afulbright — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:11:19 +0000

Cultivating a patient heart…seeing the Highest Good emerge in the world…remembering that the kin-dom of God is always at hand: I dedicate this day, this breath, this prayer. #ReverenceRoadDailyPrayer

Reverence Road Daily Prayer – October 15, 2012

rob — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 03:19:46 +0000

For laughter, love and Life itself…for days of joy and times of sorrow to season them…for you and all you bring to this world: this prayer, this moment. #ReverenceRoadDailyPrayer

Rev. Audette in the news

afulbright — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 17:06:38 +0000

NEW MINISTER AT HELM OF CHEYENNE UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH

By James Chilton

http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2012/10/13/news/20local_10-13-12.txt

CHEYENNE — A study released this week shows that nearly 20 percent of Americans now consider themselves part of no organized religion.

That could be good news for Rev. Audette Fulbright.She is set to be installed as the new minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Cheyenne later this month, and she’s eager to see her congregation grow.And that may be what happens. According to the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, national Unitarian Universalism membership grew nearly 16 percent from 2000-2010 even as more conventional faiths lost members.“There are more folks that have an open-minded approach to religion and life than are really being served here,” Fulbright said. “‘Nones’ (people who profess no specific religious faith) are a big, growing group. It’s a huge proportion of the U.S. and one of our biggest (sources of new membership).”Formed in 1961 through the merger of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church in America, Unitarian Universalism has Judeo-Christian roots.But it now incorporates teachings from a wide range of other religious traditions and philosophies.“We’re a non-creedal faith; we gather around a set of seven principles rather than creeds and doctrines,” Fulbright said.“We believe the world is full of interesting philosophies and religions. There are men and women in this world who, all the time, are showing us new amazing things through their lives and teaching us how to live and become better people.”

Rather than adhere to the teachings of a single holy book or a rigid hierarchy, Fulbright said Unitarian Universalism is decentralized. It does not provide the solutions to life’s answers.

Instead, the church takes a broad look at many different doctrines and invites adherents to make their own conclusions.

“It’s spirituality without certainty, if you will,” she said.

“We have a huge number of people who would call themselves humanist in one way or another. Probably the largest percentage would identify themselves as religious seekers.”

As such, Fulbright said her congregation is a mash-up of people with a wide range of underlying beliefs, from nominal Christians and Buddhists to earth-centric faiths and even agnostics and atheists.

But the one thing that unifies them, she said, is that they are open-minded and willing to discuss the things that bring them together rather than drive them apart.

“Our theology is to practice how to be together with very diverse understandings of religion,” Fulbright said. “We still act together, we still love together and we want to listen to each other and learn from each other.”

Originally from South Carolina, Fulbright said she wasn’t raised with any particular religion, her parents encouraging her to make her own decisions. But she added that she always considered herself a religious person. The question was, which religion?

“When I was young, I wanted to be a religious professional,” she said. “But I hadn’t seen any women religious professionals, and I couldn’t find a community of faith that worked for me.”

Fulbright said she joined a Unitarian Universalist congregation while she was in college, where she studied psychology.

But as she was preparing to take the Graduate Record Examination, Fulbright had a revelation.

“I was walking into a hallway, and when the light flipped on, the ‘light’ flipped on,” she said. “I just understood deeply that I needed to be a UU minister. So I applied to seminary.”

Fulbright finished that in California in 2000 and served as a minister in Roanoke, Va. throughout the 2000s and into this year. As she was preparing to move on, she began looking at congregations around the country and found herself drawn to Cheyenne’s.

“The one here was the one I found the most affinity with,” she said. “(It) has been very active in the community both in serving people who need to be cared for and in being advocates for justice. They love each other; there’s a palpable sense of welcome when you go there.”

While Fulbright will be formally installed as the new minister at 4 p.m. on Oct. 21, she has been conducting services there for about a month.

She said on a typical Sunday her services can look at any of a number of religious texts, from the Bible and the Quran to her personal favorite, the Tao Te Ching, a text fundamental to Taoism.

“Most of the time, if people have been to any other kind of Protestant church, they don’t find the format wildly different,” she said.

“But it’s different in the ideas that are included in the service and their source material.

“It’s not just the Bible; it might be a poem by Maya Angelou or a reading from the Bhagavad Gita. It could come from any tradition or science. I love quantum physics and I tend to talk a lot about it.”

Ultimately, she said, Unitarian Universalism is about affirming the inherent worth and dignity of every person, regardless of background or belief.

Whether one is an agnostic looking for a likeminded community, a Christian seeking a less dogmatic atmosphere or a Buddhist searching for a place to meditate, Fulbright said all are welcome under her roof.

“‘Give them hope, not hell,’ is our religious tradition,” she said.

“Our faith is built on the belief that we need not think alike to love alike, and that’s what I deeply believe.”