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Text Box: The Minister’s Journal

Text Box: The West Valley UU Times

Text Box: I have mentioned more than once that a fully-participating member of a healthy church is automatically a member of the caring committee. Caring for one another, and sharing times of happiness, sorrow, and concern are part of the life of a religious congregation. It doesn't take a huge amount of effort to reach out and see how someone is feeling. And it doesn't really take much in the way of special training or experience to be a caring visitor. As members of a church community, we share not only our common humanity but also our good manners and our willingness to thoughtfully engage other people in dialogue. Visiting the infirm or the elderly or the grieving does not require any special medical or psychological skills or credentials. Sometimes you just want to be there, and the person you are visiting just wants a little company. Filling the air with a lot of meaningless conversation can actually get in the way of a caring visit. Part of my own training as a parish visitor before my ministry days involved simply going out and

Text Box: visiting people who for physical reasons, including but not exclusively advanced age, were no longer capable of coming to church on Sunday morning. Sometimes the caring committee would bring them extra flowers, or tapes of the services. Usually they already had the newsletter, but sometimes it was hard for an elder to read or to understand exactly what the news was about, so a little explanation was provided. It was something of an honor, and rarely a burden, to visit with someone whose years of experience dwarfed my own, someone who had lived a long and interesting life and was now waiting to see what would happen next. -Continued on Page 4-

Calendar of Events	2
Just What’s On My Mind - Barbara Kovach	3
R.E. News	4
UUA News & UU Humor	5
Bulletin Board Announcements	6
Board Meeting Highlights	7
February Sunday Services	8