Meet Our Minister!
Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Rev. Sarah Schurr and I have the privilege of serving as your consulting minister. In this quarter time position, I will be in Juneau for five ten-day visits in the 2011-12 church year. When I am in Juneau I will be preaching, visiting with congregants, reaching out to the greater community, and strengthening JUUF by working with the board and other congregational leaders. I will continue to work with JUUF remotely, from my home in Portland Oregon, between visits. Whether in Juneau or in Portland, you can always call on me if you have a pastoral emergency. I am your minister. And since I have lived so many years in Portland, I already have a good raincoat and am not bothered one bit by long, dark afternoons.
Having your own minister is different from having a visiting preacher or a consultant who comes for a single visit. You and I will be in an ongoing relationship as we work together to support this wonderful Juneau Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and to do the work of our liberal faith in Juneau and in the world. I will be a minister, trained in our UU faith, who enables our collective hopes and dreams. Through it all, we will be a team and I promise to give you the best I have to give. It is an honor to serve you in this truly sacred way.
You can reach me by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . I generally check e-mail several times a day. You can also reach me at 503-936-0479. If I am not available to answer the phone when you call, leave a message on my confidential voice mail and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Words About Worship by Rev. Sarah Schurr
Worship is what happens at Unitarian Universalist Congregations all over the world on Sunday mornings. We gather together in a UU Fellowship to do something different from what we do at other times during the week. We gather to talk about the answers to life’s big questions and to question a lot of our big answers. It is important work to do.
Some folks might be surprised that we call it Worship. Many people might associate the word with bowing down to something that is all powerful, or making us less than we are. Now I do think a little humility is a good thing when faced with big questions of life, but that is really not what the word is about. Not at all.
The word “worshiping” actually comes from the Old English for “worth shaping”. It has to do with looking at what is most important, most worthy for us, and giving it shape and working with it in our lives. And it has to do with what shapes us as well. What is it that gives shape to our lives and is most influential for us as people? This is not so much a bowing down but a holding up that which is most worthy. This could be love, or justice, or community…
Many of our historic writers thought worship was an important topic for Unitarians and Universalists. But today I offer you one of my favorite quotes. It is from the 20th century humanist Kenneth L Patton. “Let us worship, not in bowing down, not with closed eyes and stopped ears. Let us worship with the opening of all with windows of our beings, with a full outstretching of our spirits. Let us worship, and let us learn to love.”