During the first weeks of my freshman year of college, there was 
the student organization fair. Do any of you remember those? Every student group had a table out to try to recruit new members. My college had the usual array of a cappella troupes, political organizations, intramural sports, and the like. However, the religious student groups were not at that fair. They were across campus at their own event in the chapel. Maybe it was deemed too “religious” for the more secular school to have spirituality alongside improv comedy. Maybe there just wasn’t enough room in the student center. Either way, it always felt like a form of othering to me (who unsurprisingly worked for the Chaplain’s Office and attended more than one of those religious groups). One of my hopes for this community at UU Asheville is that folks find the kind of belonging that allows them to be their full selves, without needing to split half of their identity across campus.
We are coming up on our own “Fair” at the end of the month, after services on the 28th of the month, an opportunity fair where the groups that have formed within our large congregation shall engage in a similar ritual. There will be tables in Sandburg Hall, and we’ll all mingle around them, finding belonging in our joined work here together. Or at least that’s what I assume will happen because I haven’t seen one take place yet. We were scheduled to have our Opportunity Fair around the same time last year, scheduled for Sunday, September 29th. As we come up on the anniversary of Helene, my hope is that we can lean into community again, like we did last year. I hope we find ourselves “Building Belonging” as Rev. Claudia talked about last week, and that we do so in a way that helps us all feel more whole, more liberated, more held in our vulnerable moments.
Building a beloved community alongside you,
Rev. Trevor Johnson
Connections Coordinator