Unitarian Universalist Society Of Germantown-Different People, Different Beliefs, One Faith

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Credos

From time to time, adult members and our older teenagers give credos, their personal statement of what they believe or why they are members of the Unitarian Society of Germantown. We will be posting credos here.  Reading them will tell you a lot about who we are.

Linda Bernstein

I have been a member of USG since 1985.

This is the most important institution in my life.  Although I belong to and support many worthwhile institutions including educational and activist groups, I am mindful that no one supports USG but us, its members.  There are about 300 of us and it is up to only us to care for and support this institution. 

Since joining this congregation I have seen it make a life sustaining difference in the lives of its members.  I have been part of the congregation when it supported a family whose husband was dying from Lou Gehrig’s’ disease, as well as a family whose child was murdered in a senseless act of violence.   

No institution could replace the generosity and care offered by members and staff of USG.

My own family was been supported when one of our sons suffered a life threatening illness.  Imagine my surprise when church members I barely knew began appearing at my doorstep bearing meals for my family.  Other members were equally generous with their prayers and support.

We are living through very difficult and challenging times.  Many of our members face serious financial concerns.  Even though we may not be personally at risk, all of us are concerned about the welfare of our country, and most especially those close to us. 

I have come to look at the church as part of my family.  A family shares its resources among its members and treats all the children equally.  When times are tough, a family would not starve one child and keep the others well fed.   That’s the way I look at supporting the church.  It is part of my family and I will be as generous as I can. 

Many people ask me how much they should pledge now that we are in the midst of our Annual Budget Drive.

I can only relate my own experience.  When we first started pledging, we picked an amount pretty much out of the air, and received a nice thank you from the church.  I realize now looking back, that it was a token amount, in terms of what we could afford.  A few years later, a visiting steward asked us to do something she said was outrageous.  She asked us to double our pledge.  We took a hard swallow and agreed.  Immediately we felt better about our participation in USG.  Our budget allowed a contribution we never would have considered if not prompted. 

A few years later, the Board adopted the Suggested Share giving program. As we looked at the chart, many of us found the amounts sobering.  Even so, many of us agreed to give it a try, to move to Suggested Share in increments, since we could not move all at once.  I remember saying, let’s hold hands and jump, and see what happened.  What happened again was a deeper connection to UU values, to USG and to the spiritual value of generosity. 

Whether your pledge is large or small in absolute amounts, if you are giving at the Suggested Share level, or working toward that, you will reap the benefit of generosity in giving. 

This year, we have been asked again to move to larger amounts than any of think possible.  All I can say is that every time I have raised my pledge in a significant amount, the resonation within the core of my spiritual being has been profound. 

In this time of difficulty and uncertainty, I ask myself what my most important values are.  They are the ones this congregation holds dear. 

I know I receive much more from the church than I give, and I am very grateful for what I have received and continue to receive.  My gratitude leads me to be as generous as I can to USG. 


Andrea Barsevick

I have been a member of the Unitarian Society of Germantown for the past 22+ years.  I have been asked to tell you why I am a member and why I contribute time, skills, and money to this congregation.

Let me give you the short answer first: COMMUNITY.  That’s right, this church—YOU—are my community.  You nourish my soul, challenge my intellect, and hold me up when I am down.  Let me tell you some stories about how this came to be. 

Lesson #1 in community: people in this church reach out to one another in meaningful ways.  When my family moved to Philly in the fall of 1986, we didn’t know a soul.  I was starting a faculty position at Penn and my husband Rudy did not yet have a job.  Our kids, ages four and six, were starting new schools.  We decided to join a church to help us meet other people as we learned our way around.  USG was a good fit.  Our son Rob hooked up with a boy who went to his school.  Our daughter Beth made a friend the first day in Sunday School.  My husband liked the senior minister, Bill Gardener.  I liked the Associate Minister, Marguerite Lovett.  But it still felt pretty lonely most of the time. 

I remember one Sunday there was a luncheon after church.  I set next to Adelle Ebenbach, a well known and highly respected elder stateswoman of the church.  I remember telling Adelle that I was glad we were joining the church because I felt the ministers could be a kind of lifeline in a time of need.  Adelle said, “Andrea, if you need help, you can call me.  I will be happy to help out however I can.  And there are plenty of other people in this church who would also help you.”  WOW!  Those words have stayed with me all this time.  It was my first glimpse of this community that I now claim as my own. There are many more powerful examples of how members of this community have reached out to me and my family, but those are stories for another day.

Lesson #2: what you give you always get back a hundred-fold.  As many of you know, I have taught the 7th & 8th grade kids religious education for quite a few years now.  The course used to be called “About Your Sexuality.”  Now it’s called “OWL” which stands for “Our Whole Lives.”  OWL isn’t nearly as cool of a name; it sounds too much like bird watching.  Despite its name the course is wonderful.  It is perfect for pre-teens and young teens who are just beginning to experience their adult sexuality and are intensely curious about it.  It is not a course about “plumbing” as my husband would say.  It is about exploring values such as “relationships” and “power.”  It is about understanding and making choices.  It is about the first UU principle that affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every human being. Teaching this course every other year since 1989, I have spent a whole year in deep conversation with all the young teens in this community.  I have watched—no, I have helped them grow up!  And these young people have a place in my heart for the rest of their lives.  They have become enfolded in my community. 

Lesson #3: When in doubt, hold onto the nearest hand.  I think of the time when my kids were in high school as the “desperate years.”  As my husband and I shared our stories with other parents of teens, we received nods of recognition from many parents.  A small group of us formed the “POET” Society.  No we were not writing verse; we were the Parents of Exasperating Teens, POET, aptly named.  We parents convened regularly to laugh, cry, rant, and express our angst about the teenagers who ran our lives.  We held each others’ hands, offered tentative advice (until we learned that this wasn’t about solutions!), and just held on to each other during the rough ride. 

Lesson #4: Inclusiveness.  Whenever I taught the Sexuality class, I reminded myself that approximately one out of ten kids will ultimately identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans-gender.  Little did I know that one of those kids would be my own child.  By mid-high school, it was an emerging truth that our daughter was more interested in girls than in boys.  It was reassuring to me that our church is a welcoming congregation.  This means that we have embraced a culture of inclusiveness for folks of “different” sexuality.   This is part of the “adult” community; but I didn’t know if my daughter was able to get the support she needed in the congregation.  Later, I learned that the YRUU group, the youth group of this church, was a major support for our daughter as she struggled with how to come out to her parents and the world. 

The stories and lessons could go on.  But you get the picture.  This church—YOU—have enfolded me into your arms; you have nourished me and encouraged me to nourish others.  We have struggled together over the rough patches.  And we have celebrated the inherent worth of every one of us.  For these reasons and many more, I give my financial support to this congregation.  I give as much as I can and I increase it as often as I can.  And, it has been worth it.