Friends, you may always reach me at vsafford@ucdsm.org or at 612-405-3318 (a cell number dedicated to church work). We can schedule a Zoom appointment when I am working remotely from St. Paul, or we can meet at church or in your home when I’m here in Des Moines., or simply talk by phone. If you’d like to meet in person during an upcoming visit, please reach out to schedule an appointment!
Please come if you have a pastoral concern (a sadness or some issue weighing on your heart), a spiritual query, a question or something you’d like me to know about congregational life (church programs, committees, or the ministry transition), or just come to introduce yourself and say hello!
May 16, 2023
A Letter from Rev. Victoria
Dear Friends,
My ministry at First Unitarian Church of Des Moines is drawing to a close, and I am writing with sadness and confident hope as you carry forward the beautiful work of this congregation: to grow your souls in community and serve the world in love.
I am grateful for the graceful luck that brought us together this year, and grateful for your forbearance with this ministry that was in so many ways far from ideal. Your congregation needs and deserves a minister who is in residence full-time, not commuting, not preaching on a screen remotely. Thank you for your patience with all this, and for welcoming me into your community.
I’ll be present with you on Sunday, June 4, when my sermon will be an “annual report” of sorts, sharing reflections on this year we’ve shared. My final Sunday service with you will be on June 11. My work here ends on June 15; please do reach out if you would like to meet on Zoom or in person, or to speak by phone, before then.
As you know, I’m sure, from past ministry transitions, the UUA and UU Ministers Association offer clear guidelines about leaving. I know that I will continue to serve you best, going forward, by stepping back entirely from contact with members and friends of the congregation. When your new Interim Minister arrives, and later, when a settled minister is called, I will be honored to sign a written covenant with each of them, assuring them my care for you is deep enough that I will respect this collegial and professional boundary. I’m sure similar covenants have been and will be in place with my beloved colleagues who have served you in the past, both as interim and settled ministers, whether in the lead role or as associates. Please know: for me, there is real grief in this, but there is also gratitude and joy, as I think of the life of your church flowing like a mighty river, from its powerful sources in 1877 through years and years to come. I will carry you in my heart, with love.
Together with the Board of Trustees and Interim Search Committee, I’m excited about the Interim Minister you’ll soon meet to companion you through the next two years. I’m working now with your staff team, lay leaders and the Board to ensure that Sunday services, pastoral care, rites of passage, and staff supervision will continue smoothly in the weeks between the end of my ministry on June 15, and the start of theirs on August 1. All will be well.
May compassion, trust and courage sojourn with us as we part. My prayer for you is one you know by heart, as I do, now, as well: Hallowed be each coming morning; calm and peaceful be each night.
With respect and gratitude, Victoria