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Rev. Michelle LaGrave and Rev. Chris Jimmerson
June 1, 2025
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
Today’s service will be our last with Rev. Michelle. Join us as we celebrate the good work we have done together and wish each other well with blessings for the journey.
Chalice Lighting
This is the flame we hold in our hearts as we strive for justice for everyone. This is the light we shine upon systems of oppression until they are no more. This is the warmth that we share with one another as our struggle becomes our salvation.
Call to Worship
WE COME TO LOVE A CHURCH
by Andrew C. KennedyWe come to love a church,
the traditions,
the history,
and especially the people associated with it.
And through these people,
young and old,
known and unknown,
we reach out,
both backward into history
and forward into the future.
To link together the generations
in this imperfect but
blessed community
of memory and hope.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Sermon
NOTE: This is an edited ai generated transcript.
Please forgive any omissions or errors.
To everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. Whether it is the Bible you read or Simon and Garfunkel you listen to, it is time. It is time to come together, to be together one last time. To laugh, to cry, to mourn, to reflect, to celebrate, to express our gratitude, and to say goodbye and God be with you.
These past two years, has it really only been two years, have been purpose filled and busy and comfortable and a trial and so many many things. You have listened to each other and explored and experimented and made decisions and grown into an even stronger congregation than you were just a short time ago. You have worked hard and you have much to be proud of and you each deserve a gold star which you can collect on your way out of worship today. Surprise, this is a long service.
It is feeling fairly impossible to recap everything we have done together in one short little time together today so I’m just going to share a few highlights And then if you want to shout out a few more as we go along, feel free,
Co-ministry. You experimented with the idea of co-ministry with the special purpose underlying it of trying to dismantle some of that dominant culture of hierarchy and move in a new direction that is more collaborative, more partnership-based, more cooperative. You had listening circles, you experimented with Jonalu as an interim co-lead minister, and then with me for two years.
Your board decided after listening to you that this was definitely the direction you wanted to go, and that is what you chose. That was a lot of work just in that one piece of figuring out that whole process of how to decide on co-ministry or not and how to conduct search.
We’ve only been together two years and yet you had two search committees. Usually congregations have one in two years and they’re exhausted at the end, and y’all still seem to have energy. So you went through one search process, you called and settled one co-lead minister, you had a formal installation, that in itself is a huge accomplishment.
And then you made the courageous decision with the second search committee to wait for the right match for your next co-lead minister when a good match didn’t show up during that search process. And then you made the wise decision to take next year off from settled search because you deserve a break.
Last summer you ordained the Reverend Carrie Holly-Hurt and this year you decided to hire her for the next two years as an assistant minister. Still keeping, still keeping the idea of co-ministry in the forefront and still hoping for that in the future, but in the meantime, finding a wonderful minister who knows you and knows you well and can help you through the next couple of years. And I have to tell you, I feel so much better leaving you all knowing that it’s Reverend Chris and Reverend Carrie that I’m leaving with you leaving you with. That’s all. That is that is so much.
And then you also ran a successful capital campaign to fully pay off your construction loan. And in the same year, the same budget year, you also raised 100% of your stewardship goal.
You survived multiple RE transitions, Religious Education transitions, and you did so with grace. So sadly, there were more transitions than you all wanted or I wanted, but they were done with grace and without the conflict and the drama of some of the things that have happened in the past. And so that is a huge change and a huge cause for celebration.
And now you’re here with Sol, and I have every hope and every faith that this is going to be a long-term ministry between Sol and all of you.
Oh my gosh, is there more? Yes, yes, there is more still. You survived all of that, you did all of that, and then you also made four months of long overdue sabbatical we’ve happened for your newly settled co-minister.
You created brand new programs like the Caring Companions and the Online Caregivers Support Group.
You reincarnated or reinvigorated the Outreach Program with a twist, it is now not only for seniors, it’s for anyone who is disabled or otherwise unable to get out of the house for long periods of time or very often.
You continued the arduous work of dismantling white supremacy culture, no more parliamentarian, no more Roberts rules, you have your own simplified versions of rules for congregational meetings, you no longer focus on quantity over quality in your board reporting. You have greatly reduced expectations of perfection from each other, from staff and from your ministers.
You’ve supported your BIPOC group and joining DRUM, which is Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries, the National BIPOC group.
You’ve made more room for younger generations in congregational life, not just in worship, but in all aspects of congregational life. You’ve made more room for diverse needs in worship styles, clapping at sometimes, not clapping at other times, having some kinds of music at sometimes, other kinds at other times, trying to find that balance so that everybody’s needs can be met some of the time. Enough of the time.
You’ve made worship more accessible. You’ve made congregational life more accessible than it had been before in lots of small different ways that have added up. That is just incredible. I don’t even have words for it.
And that’s what you did on top of all of the usual things you do to sustain a vital and thriving church. The worship services, the memorial services, the religious education for adults and children, the social justice in an even heavier than usual political climate, both here in Texas and in the nation.
All the things you had to do for good governance, updating bylaws and policies, this place doesn’t run itself after all.
All the things that you do to love and care for each other, to learn together, to grieve together, to celebrate together, the work you have done is not final, it’s not a hundred percent finished or a hundred percent perfect or complete, but you know what? It’s not supposed to be. It’s never done. And what you have done is absolutely incredible, absolutely amazing. I am so proud of you.
I hope that what you’re hearing is that this church is in a really good place right now. You have all done really good work, and you have lots to celebrate, and not only am I proud of all of you, I have faith in all of you for the future, for the years after I’ve left you and the good work, the good ministry that you will continue to do with Reverend Chris and for a little while with Reverend Carrie and with whatever ministers you call after that.
Which also means it’s a good time to say goodbye Which we will do with some good boundaries in place You’ve done this before most of you are probably familiar. I will need to leave and take a pretty complete departure when I leave. That means we won’t be in contact for quite a while. So I am on Facebook. If you are friends with me or want to friend me before I leave, I will not unfriend you.
You will still be able to read all my posts and see what I’m up to. And honestly, I’m not a big poster anyway, so don’t get overly excited about this. But I will unfollow you so that I am not tempted to respond to you pastorally or to try to be your minister when I am no longer your minister. But you can feel like you still have some connection and you still know what’s going on in my life.
And with Reverend Chris’s blessing, once I am matched with my new service dog, I’m going to send you a video of me with my dog.
Holding these lines I think will be easier because I am leaving you in such good hands with Reverend Carrie and Reverend Chris with a very capable and cooperative staff. They’re in really really good shape right now. a strong and well-trained board, and all of the work that you have done. It will all serve you well.
It’s also perhaps a little bit easier to leave you because I have so much to be grateful for from our time together. For the ways you’ve supported the transformational aspects of my interim ministry, the ways you supported me personally and perhaps most impactful, of all, the way you shared your can-do spirits with me. The feeling of coming here on Sunday morning and that energy and vitality that courses through this congregation is something that I will carry with me always.
I appreciate you and I am grateful for you. I am glad this church exists and I have faith in you. May God go with you. Goodbye. So long. Farewell.
Release from Covenant
Minister: When I came to serve this congregation, we marked the beginning of this interim by making promises to one another about how we would be together. Thus, we created the essence of a covenant. It is right to mark the ending of such a relationship, and today we do that.
Congregation: We welcomed you. We promised to use our hands and hearts, our vision and voices, to help and not to harm this community through this time of transition. We promised to share our portions of truth with you and promised to listen deeply to what you would say. We let you know that we would dare to disagree agreeably with you, to dream what we might become and to venture down some untried paths as we set out to make ready for new called ministry.
Minister: I, too, promise to share my portions of truth with you and promise to listen deeply to what you would say. I let you know that I would dare to speak hard truth to you as best I could discern them, to hold up a mirror so that you could see your past and present clearly and to make it some empty space here for the new to enter in.
Congregation: You have made our concerns your concerns and led us as you were able in the paths of understanding and right relations. We have looked to you for leadership, insight, and guidance.
Minister: You have entrusted to me the deep concerns of your lives. You have worked side-by-side with me and we have sought together to live lives of integrity and worth.
Congregation: We recognize that the professional ministry of this congregation is fulfilled not by one minister but by ministers who have come before and ministers who are still to come. Knowing this, we hereby release you from your covenant with us. We send you on your way and wish you well. We will honor your gifts to us by sharing them with others.
Minister: When I came, you pledged to support me and work with me as together we would carry forward the ministry of this congregation. I now release you from your covenant with me and return to you for safekeeping the free pulpit of this congregation. May you be blessed by the spirit of love and life. Know that I will always keep you in my heart.
Extinguishing the Chalice
We extinguish this flame, but not the light of truth, the warmth of community, or the fire of commitment. These we hold in our hearts until we are together again.
Benediction
Go in peace with love in your hearts, kindness on your lips, and compassion at your fingertips. Blessing all others as you yourselves are now blessed.
Goodbye, God be with you. Amen and blessed be.
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