Author: Rev. Sean Neil-Barron (Page 4 of 9)

by Rev. Sean

Last evening I sat down on a cushion, lit a candle, and did something. Contemplation seems too lofty a word, it could have been prayer, maybe meditation. Mostly I just watched the flame dance, felt my breath, and deepened into the silence. I actually threw my phone across the room (onto the bed), to get away from the notifications, disruptions and if I am totally honest the seduction of its distractions.

Spiritual Discipline, is just that, a discipline. I love discipline, mostly the type of discipline that other people exercise that make my life easier. Being on time. Taking time for self-care. I’m not always a fan of the disciplines that ask ME to be disciplined. To push against my natural inclinations — the stubborn, sometimes lazy, sometimes too skeptical to be curious ones– to do what I know will help me be better in the long run, even if that means sacrificing something pleasurable in the short term.

Discipline changes us. Like drops of water, small and seemingly insignificant, rolling through a plain. With enough time, carve the deepest of valleys. Transforming the base realities of our lives in unrecognizable ways.

It’s the discipline of showing up to worship even if you don’t feel like it. The discipline of showing up for that friend when the relationship has frayed. The discipline of calling someone in, rather than casting them out. The disciplines that take intense effort to start, and even more to maintain, but once we built the habit become second nature. The discipline of being a part of the Church of Humanity.

Discipline gets a bad rap. We think of harsh parenting styles, or the work of the state. We actually took the word all together out of our UU principles which used to read “a free and disciplined search for truth and meaning”. We swapped in responsible in the 80s. But discipline is doesn’t have to be authoritarian. For at its heart it is the cultivation of capacity, through practices within, among and beyond ourselves, that we engage in intentionally, regularity, and with depth. Capacities to live life more fully, more vividly, more relationally.

When I stood up I felt a shift. It was subtle and faded fast. This is no enlightenment story but you probably already knew that. But it was there. I felt a little more here, a little more grounded, a little more alive to myself and the world. As I write this article — I’m making a commitment to myself to sit down on the cushion tonight. Not because there is anything sacred about candles and silence — other the the holiness they evoke within me. But because I know I will be better because I did it. Even if I would much rather finish watching the new season of Grace and Frankie.

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron

Rev. Sean is Foothills Acting Senior Minister while Rev. Gretchen is on Sabbatical.
Responsible for Worship, Justice Ministries, Faith Formation Strategies and sits on Foothills Executive Leadership Team with Director of Finances and Operations Katie Watkins.

Sean was born on Treaty 7 land in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and comes to Foothills after four years in New England where he completed seminary at Harvard Divinity School where he studied alongside future imams, rabbis, justice activists, and other Unitarian Universalists. Sean is a self-proclaimed nerd — particularly about history, current politics, science, and Star Wars. Outside of ministry you will find Sean hiking or cooking up a storm with his partner Charles, watching his son’s basketball games, all under the watchful eye of their dog Dollie.

You may have notice that the past two Sundays we’ve had coffee hour outside – by the warmth of our fire pits. In an attempt to support the desire expressed by many of you for a longer and more spacious coffee hour, the Hospitality Team is trying an experiment through January: Weather permitting, we’ll have coffee hour on the patio with two small fires! Some of you have personally experienced the limits of our space on Sunday mornings when we need to – very quickly – turn the social hall into an extended sanctuary for the 10am service. Our hope is to create a warm and welcoming environment on the patio to give more space and time to those treasured conversations that happen before and after services. But! Don’t forget to check-in with Jude in the social hall before heading outside who will have the Caring Card table setup inside. And, you’re invited to thank your resident Fire Keepers – Hospitality Team volunteers who tend the fires in-between services.

We’d love your thoughts and feedback about the outdoor fire-pit experiment. You are welcome to send a note to Kristen and Kathryn, who lead our Hospitality Team:

Kristen Psaki, Ministerial Resident, kristen@foothillsuu.org
Kathryn Boyle, Office and Facilities Manager, kathryn@foothillsuu.org

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron

Rev. Sean is Foothills Acting Senior Minister while Rev. Gretchen is on Sabbatical.
Responsible for Worship, Justice Ministries, Faith Formation Strategies and sits on Foothills Executive Leadership Team with Director of Finances and Operations Katie Watkins.

Sean was born on Treaty 7 land in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and comes to Foothills after four years in New England where he completed seminary at Harvard Divinity School where he studied alongside future imams, rabbis, justice activists, and other Unitarian Universalists. Sean is a self-proclaimed nerd — particularly about history, current politics, science, and Star Wars. Outside of ministry you will find Sean hiking or cooking up a storm with his partner Charles, watching his son’s basketball games, all under the watchful eye of their dog Dollie.

Jeffrey Mizell, Business Administrator 

I walked into the offices of my Senate representatives, of my congresswoman, and into countless more offices of elected officials outside of my district. As the Program Manager of Washington, DC, operations for a global humanitarian organization it was my role to represent and advocate our organization’s policy recommendations to our elected officials. I was lucky, as my organization was well-known, I garnered a face-to-face meeting with most of the officials.

My testimony was well-researched, reasoned, and spoken. Each member of congress with whom I spoke applauded our work. What an accomplishment, they said. Our request was quite simple: fund two programs for child and maternal health and education for women and girls in developing nations. Though it was indeed fine work that we had undertaken, they told us that now was not a good time to fight for funding these programs. Maybe in the next Congress. Defeated and deflated, I hopped back on the Metro and took it to the very last stop in Virginia where I lived.

Our organization was supported nearly entirely by individual donations and volunteers.  Just a few days after my unsuccessful trip to the Capitol, I hosted an event at a church in McLean, Virginia, where more than 1,500 volunteers gathered over two days to create more than 300,000 meals for humanitarian relief in developing nations. Their donation included countless volunteer hours of donated time, and more than $80,000. Not long after that meal packaging event, Hurricane Matthew ravaged the island of Haiti. Within one week, my organization had airlifted more than 2 million humanitarian meals into Haiti. Every one of those 300,000 meals packed by those volunteers at that church in McLean were delivered to people in desperate need of them.

This is the impact that committed and passionate individuals can have on the world. Often, we think of ourselves in a small community bubble, our sphere of influence extremely limited. Walking into the Capitol offices, I felt like I was on a cloud – like I could walk out having made a tangible difference in the world. I left feeling the opposite – like my hard work was all for naught.

Alone, perhaps, our impact can be limited. However, when we join together with our community, we can have the almost unlimited potential to have a real impact in our world. The impact of receiving a warm meal after your homes were destroyed.

This is why we give. The gift we give – no matter their size – are one way of joining, hand-in-hand, with likeminded individuals of our community to have an impact greater than our individual efforts may allow.

While I have only been working at Foothills for a short time, I have witnessed time and time again, how this is already and can continue to be community that affects real change in our world.  This is what the city of Fort Collins saw in us when they awarded us the 2018 Fort Collins Human Relations Award, recognizing how we have embodied a spirit of inclusiveness, giving and altruism that has made Fort Collins into a better place for all people to live.

This is especially true when each of us bringing our passions, hopes, dreams, and resources to the table.

This award is a direct reflection of the gifts that each member brings to this community. We have joined together, let’s make a positive impact on our world together.

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron

Rev. Sean is Foothills Acting Senior Minister while Rev. Gretchen is on Sabbatical.
Responsible for Worship, Justice Ministries, Faith Formation Strategies and sits on Foothills Executive Leadership Team with Director of Finances and Operations Katie Watkins.

Sean was born on Treaty 7 land in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and comes to Foothills after four years in New England where he completed seminary at Harvard Divinity School where he studied alongside future imams, rabbis, justice activists, and other Unitarian Universalists. Sean is a self-proclaimed nerd — particularly about history, current politics, science, and Star Wars. Outside of ministry you will find Sean hiking or cooking up a storm with his partner Charles, watching his son’s basketball games, all under the watchful eye of their dog Dollie.

Dear Members of the Foothills Community,

It is with great sadness that we share that Rev. Dr. Marc Salkin, Foothills former Senior Minister, passed away this weekend from complications connected to his recent cancer diagnosis. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife Vicki, and their children Becky and David.

Rev. Salkin was called to serve Foothills in 1991 having previously served congregations in Watertown, Massachusetts; San Diego, California; and in Mexico City.

Marc served our church for twenty three years, with grace and compassion, an incisive humor, and a deeply caring presence. His deeply thoughtful sermons and intellect spoke with wise counsel about the human condition and the state of our world.

During his ministry, Marc officiated numerous memorials, where his authentic presence helped comfort family members, friends and, whole communities. That he found time to serve (most recently as an ESL Tutor) beyond his own ministry at Foothills, often inspired us to find our own place of service in the web of life. His door was always open to anyone seeking counsel or a kind word (and maybe a corny pun), and his ambient sense of ease and generous welcome facilitated the congregation’s growth by nearly double during his ministry.

Marc retired from Foothills and the ministry in 2014. In acknowledgment of their gratitude for his service, the congregation voted Marc be designated Foothills’ Minister Emeritus as he concluded his ministry.

In honor of Marc and his ministry, a Remembrance Book for condolences, memories, and stories will be placed in the foyer of the church to be shared with Marc’s family. The book will be available when the church office is open and on Sunday.

The news of Marc’s death, as with any loss, will impact each of us in our own way. Grief has a way of wrestling its way into our hearts and lives and will journey with us for some time, if not always. Especially the grief for someone who has been present for a whole generation’s milestones, as Marc has been for many. Whatever complexity of feelings you may be experiencing from receiving this news, know they are normal and typical. We invite everyone in our church community to take time to care for themselves, and to reach out to support others, as this is a time for tenderness and compassion.

Details for a Celebration of Life have yet to be determined and the church will follow the direction of Marc’s family as to sharing this information with our community. His family has encouraged that any gifts of support be directed to the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Innocence Project, both organizations that represent the causes closest to Marc’s heart.

If you are looking for support and community, we encourage you to attend our first-ever Holiday Healing service led by our Ministerial Resident Kristen Psaki. This contemplative Vespers style service will take place on Thursday, December 13th, at 6:15 pm and is an opportunity to find community and stillness, in the midst of all types of loss and grief. Additionally, our seasonal grief small group Tangled Blessings, facilitated by Foothills’ community member and chaplain, Christopher Lamb, gathers on Dec. 17th at 6:30 pm, and is open to all.

In faith and partnership,

Revs. Gretchen Haley and Sean Neil-Barron

Rev. Sean Neil-Barron

Rev. Sean is Foothills Acting Senior Minister while Rev. Gretchen is on Sabbatical.
Responsible for Worship, Justice Ministries, Faith Formation Strategies and sits on Foothills Executive Leadership Team with Director of Finances and Operations Katie Watkins.

Sean was born on Treaty 7 land in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and comes to Foothills after four years in New England where he completed seminary at Harvard Divinity School where he studied alongside future imams, rabbis, justice activists, and other Unitarian Universalists. Sean is a self-proclaimed nerd — particularly about history, current politics, science, and Star Wars. Outside of ministry you will find Sean hiking or cooking up a storm with his partner Charles, watching his son’s basketball games, all under the watchful eye of their dog Dollie.