Dear beloved community,

It’s hard to believe that my time with you is beginning to draw to a close. In about a month, I will say goodbye — with my last Sunday among you on June 7. Even writing that feels a little surreal. I will carry so many of you with me. You have shaped me, challenged me, encouraged me, and trusted me in ways that have changed who I am as a minister and as a human being. That is a gift I will always cherish.

As I prepare for what comes next, I’ve also been wrapping up some meaningful work beyond UCE. I just finished facilitating a series of workshops with the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association on artificial intelligence, and I’ve been invited to turn that work into a standalone curriculum, which will be my summer project. It feels like a continuation of something many of us have already been doing together: learning how to meet a changing world with curiosity and courage, not knowing how the future will look but approaching it grounded in our values.

As part of that, I’ve created an AI Toolkit that will soon be available on the UCE website. It includes an overview of what AI is (and isn’t) good at right now, a practical matrix to help you discern when and how you might decide to use it, guidance on transparency and disclosure, and tools for skillful prompting, iteration, and evaluating outputs. If you’re curious, here’s a sneak preview.

And one more invitation: I hope to see some of you at my ordination on June 13 at 2:30pm at Unity Temple (and on YouTube for those joining from afar). All are warmly invited — you can RSVP here.

It would mean so much to celebrate that moment with you, the people who have helped form me into a parish minister. It’s not any “higher power” or authoritative body that ordains a UU minister, it’s the people who give us our sense of call and legitimacy, and your trust in me has been both humbling and sustaining. I carry that trust forward, hoping to continue growing into it.

Thank you for the ways you have loved me, taught me, and walked alongside me. I will continue to carry you with me.

With deep gratitude and love,

Emma