Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe

Multiculturalism is not just about numbers, it is about the larger ministry of our faith. I examine the challenging  nature of our future recognizing that by the year 2050, if not sooner, the Anglo culture will be a minority.

Reverend Gary Kowalski will serve the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe as interim minister starting August 15, 2010.

A greeting from Gary:

Last  month I spent a week painting at the Vermont Studio Center.  On rainy days, when I couldn’t go outdoors, I went to the life drawing sessions.  The model started out with several short poses, where we had just ten minutes to sketch the entire human  figure.  And when I surveyed the results later, I saw that my drawings from those short poses were better than the ones where I had a whole hour to work.

Fewer erasures, bolder strokes, bigger shapes, better art. You sketch faster, looser and more creatively the less time you’re given.

I’m hoping that same rule applies to our time together next year.  We’ll have just twelve months to get acquainted, find our focus and fill in the canvas.  A brief window, over before you know it.  But perhaps that gives us a freedom to experiment and a requirement to concentrate on the essentials before our eyes.  Fewer distractions.  More clarity.

Mistakes will be part of the process.  But don’t worry.  It’s all in pencil.

If together we make a beautiful line or two, we’ll have achieved our goal.

Gary

Gary Kowalski is ...

• A lifelong UU, born and raised in Oklahoma.
• He attended Harvard College, where he studied history, and then the Harvard Divinity School.
• Gary has been married for the past twenty-eight years to Dori Jones, an attorney who practices as a Public Defender, doing family and juvenile law.
• He's the father of two kids, adopted son Noah (who is Korean) and daughter Holly, both currently in college.
• He's served UU congregations in Andover, Mass, Memphis, Tennessee, Kent, Washington and, for the last 20 years, been senior minister to the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, Vermont.
• Reverend Kowalski is author of several books on animals, spirituality, science and history.
• He's a social and racial justice activist, serving on his state's advisory panel to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
• He's won several awards for great preaching.
• He's an avid tennis player, sailor, artist and nature lover.