Dear Ones,
First and foremost, thank you to everyone reading this letter. Thank you for caring enough about
MVUUF to stay engaged with us as we try to find a new way of being, a way that is both sustainable and
inspirational. It has been two and a half years since the Board presented the jaw-dropping budget gap of
$95,000. Two and a half years is a long time for a community to live in extreme uncertainty. It is a
testament to your strong faith that MVUUF and you are still here. You have once again demonstrated
that atheists can have faith too.
In the days and months ahead, please reach out to our Board members and thank them for their service
to your shared community. If it weren’t for them and all those who have gone before them, MVUUF
would not still be here. In the best of times, being a Board member means taking on a level of
responsibility that many either do not have the time or desire to assume. In our current situation, these
individuals said yes, knowing that their responsibilities would be difficult. Please thank them for their
love of MVUUF—they are a blessing to us all.
As we have gone through these months of discernment, I have witnessed you being your best selves.
Despite the anxiety many of us feel, you keep showing up for one another with love and humility. The
MVUUF community that I see now is not the community that I met five years ago. You are stronger,
clearer in your values and purpose, and more committed to MVUUF and to one another. You
understand that there is no perfect community. Instead, you realize that the choice is between
imperfect community or no community. And you believe that MVUUF is the best imperfect community
for you, even on its bad days.
And now we are at decision point.
The Board and many volunteers have worked incredibly hard to research MVUUF’s financial options and
present them in a way that is cohesive. The Board and I will be hosting four Listening Sessions in
November to help folx process the report and begin listening to one another’s thoughts and feelings
(both matter). Then based on the report and your feedback from the Listening Sessions, they will
propose a plan for the congregation to vote on at our Special Congregational Meeting during the
December 17 worship service time (11am).
More important than what you decide in the vote, is how you decide to treat one another during this
final stretch of the discernment process. Remember that the How of this process matters more than the
What. Let me say that again: Remember that the How of this process matters more than the What. As
long as you can continue to center your love of this community, one another, and the Unitarian
Universalist faith, MVUUF will continue to survive and will ultimately thrive again.
As you all have been going through your discernment process, I have also been going through my own,
trying to determine what will be best for my ministry and, more importantly, my family. When I
originally accepted your call, I explained that I hoped to be here for at least six years, staying through
June 2024 (the same length of time as Rev. Amy Russell). Of course, that was before I saw you (truly)
embrace my son and my new husband a year later. That was before I learned the difference between
performing a memorial service for a stranger and a celebration of someone I loved and mourned. That
was before I fell in love with you all.
After a lot of reflection and many conversations with trusted folx outside of the congregation, I’ve
decided that I very much want to stay and continue to share the Courageous Love of Unitarian
Universalism with the Dayton community. I believe that we have laid the groundwork to thrive as a
community, to grow spiritually as individuals, and to have an impact in Southwest Ohio (which sorely
needs organized progressives).
In the first year of ministry, the UUA sends ministers an article that talks about the first 10 years of
congregational ministry (although this link is from a Baptist educational group, the original publisher the
Alban Institute was much closer in theology to us and the United Church of Christ). As you’ll see, the
descriptions match us well in most cases, while the exact years are a bit off. I think the mismatches are
because of all that we’ve been through together, even before the 3-year COVID Pandemic. It’s like we
were in the accelerated program.
What I find most inspiring is that the article asserts that our ministries don’t begin until our tenth year
(which once again, I feel like we may hit a couple of years earlier). It is important to note that it takes
years to build the trust and connection between minister and congregation that is necessary for life
changing ministry to begin (both sides need to trust one another). I feel it would be sad to give up what
we are on the verge of and start over at another congregation—even a bigger one, even one offering a
better compensation package.
I think that there is only one way that the congregation can afford to keep and give me and the staff fair
raises annually (raises based on both cost-of-living increases and merit recognition): selling the 8690
property and leasing/sharing space from/with a like-minded non-profit. While I have grown to love our
building and beautiful campus, I do not believe that MVUUF has the financial or volunteer staffing
needed to sustain the building, our current mission, and the professional staffing level needed.
Therefore, if the membership votes to keep the building, I will go into ministerial search in January and
move to my next congregation in June. I will do this with gratitude and love for what we accomplished
together and will spend my final 6 months with MVUUF giving us both a “good good-bye.” Although this
was a very difficult decision to make, I feel a great sense of peace for the first time since we discovered
the large budget gap.
When I shared my decision with the Board, we wrestled with when to disclose my decision to the full
congregation. We are in agreement that we do not want my decision to encourage members to make a
decision that they don’t agree with, meaning it won’t be good for MVUUF if members choose to sell the
building to keep Rev. Kellie. That choice would put us down a path of resentment, disappointment, and
guilt which would be detrimental to MVUUF and Unitarian Universalism in Dayton. Yet, we are trying to
be as transparent as possible and believe that this information is an important factor to consider when
making your decision (a factor, not the only factor).
MVUUF is not its minister. MVUUF is not its building. MVUUF is you and all the you’s that haven’t even
heard of Unitarian Universalism yet. Make your decision for them.
And most importantly, stay committed to this community even if you don’t agree with the decision the
membership selects. Have faith that together you will make it work or together you will make another
decision. Have faith in one another. I know I do.
Once again, I will leave you with words from Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Wayne B. Arnason:
Take courage friends.
The way is often hard, the path is never clear,
and the stakes are very high.
Take courage.
For deep down, there is another truth:
you are not alone.
I pray for your health, growth, and flourishing.
With much gratitude and love,
Kellie