Reverend Victoria Safford

VICTORIA SAFFORD is minister of White Bear Unitarian Universalist Church. A native of New York State, she came to Minnesota in 1999, following a ten-year ministry at Northampton, Massachusetts and five years of work with the American Friends Service Committee as a community organizer and activist.  Reverend Safford is a graduate of Vassar College and Yale Divinity School and the winner of numerous sermon awards, including most recently the UUA’s Annual Program Fund award and that of the Unitarian Universalist Sunday School Society.  She lives in Mahtomedi with her husband Ross and their daughter, Hope. 

FROM THE MINISTER, June, 2008

620 adults, 369 children and youth, dozens of friends and contributors: how it is it possible to be in meaningful relation in a congregation of this size, over a thousand people? Over many years, we¹ve come to know that the deepest, longest-lasting, and most satisfying connections here are woven through small groups. Not on Sunday morning, when we gather together and sing together "in one strong body," but all the other times, when, in human-scale circles, we can speak and be heard, listen and be transformed, "touch and be touched," come to know each other one by one, and in turn be known. Sometimes that knowing deepens through a shared task - serving on a committee, helping with a project, cooking on Wednesday nights or cutting buckthorn on a Saturday. Sometimes it's through a common devotion - singing in the choir over many seasons, sitting in the weekly group, attending a class, or teaching a class in R.E. Sunday morning has its own purpose and power - but it¹s in the small groups that the congregation comes to life as a community.

Some years ago, we cast our first "Sharing Circles," groups of 8-10 people meeting together over several months for reflection, sharing, and conversation on a series of topics. Led by volunteer facilitators, the groups were meant to offers ways to connect more deeply with each other, with our own beliefs and questions, and with our shared tradition. Since 2002 we've convened 62 groups with almost 500 participants! This year, we changed the format and the theme to focus on our Unitarian Universalist principles, and 8 groups, led by Charlotte Preston, Dan Labore, Mara Coyle, Karen Hering, Ann McComb, Evan Boyd, Karen West and Christine Spiritwolf, gathered to share insights on faith, ethics, meaning and their own lives.

Next fall, we'll start new circles. I hope you'll make time to take part. Whether you are a longtime member of the congregation or whether you've just started coming, these groups are a wonderful, inviting way to connect. Our point of departure for conversation will be the sources of our liberal faith, as expressed in the UUA's statement of Principles and Purposes, and as expressed in the stories of our own lives. These should be beautiful, rich conversations.

We're looking for volunteers to facilitate next year's round of conversations. We'll provide you with a simple format, clear topics with a discussion guide, provocative questions and background readings, and plenty of support. Facilitators meet monthly with Doug Federhart or me in a small group of their own; please let us know if this is something you'd like to try. No experience required! We¹ll hold a training session on THURSDAY JUNE 18 at 7:00 p.m., and all are welcome.

The Opening Words spoken in the sharing circles every time they meet capture best what these small groups are about - and indeed, what our church is about:

We are here together to grow together in understanding, in wisdom, in friendship and love.

May the gift we bring in listening be as heartfelt as the gift we bring in speaking.

To this meeting we offer our best selves ­ mind, heart, spirit ­ that this Circle, and the larger circles where we dwell, may be deepened, broadened, and blessed.

Watch for sign-up sheets in the fall!

I will be on vacation in July, and otherwise here through the summer, with regular office hours.

safford@whitebearunitarian.org 651.426.2369 church 651.762.0976 home Office: Monday-Thursday, 8:15 - 5:15, Sunday afternoons and evenings by appointment. (I am here on Fridays, but reserve the day for writing and service preparation)