Farewell Message From Ministerial Intern

Two Years! It’s already been two years! UCE is so robust that there are many of you that I have not met face to face and many events I have not attended. And yet, here we are with my last day written on the calendar on May 28. Most of my time in May will be focused on finalizing my committee obligations and then traveling to Boston with the junior high class as one of the chaperons. I am preaching one last time onMay 5 and this will also be my last Sunday with you.

My ministerial journey is at a transition stage. I will graduate from Meadville Lombard Theological School on May 19 and have my interview with the UUA’s Ministerial Fellowship Committee around September 19. Assuming all goes well with the Fellowship Committee, I will be eligible for ordination. I will be sure to share the details with you. You have been such an important part of my ministerial formation that I am hopeful that UCE and my home church, The Second Unitarian Church of Chicago, will be my joint ordaining communities.

My wish for you is that you experience the transformative love I have found embodied at UCE. A love that provides comfort and care to the members and friends of UCE. A love that brings racial justice, environmental justice, and societal change to the communities UCE chooses to engage with. My challenge to you is to expand the radical hospitality UCE offers in order to bring that transformative love to more people and places: to enrich your spiritual life, to support the vulnerable within and beyond our walls, and to revolutionize our society.

Finally, thank you. Thank you for supporting me, being honest in your feedback, encouraging me to step outside of my comfort zone, and loving me. A special thank you to the staff and to my internship committee, Chris Allender, Trudi Davis, Bill Hartgering, Kristin Larsen, George Monical, and Michael Skilton, for their generosity of time and spirit.

I have enjoyed my two years with you immensely and am grateful for the opportunity to have spent this time with you. Many Blessings, Susan Frances