Tag Archives: uu

Chris Rohrs

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OK, I think I’m better now. I found out that a colleague and member of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Columbus, GA, Chris Rohrs, just died this morning at home. He’s responsible for letting me create their website in the first place.

He last sent me a message last night, for me to post John Nix’s writeup of the history of UUFC on the site, and I spent much of last night doing that plus other things on the site. From what I was told, he didn’t go to service yesterday (I didn’t go due to base access issues). I’ve called his spouse, Nikki, to offer my condolences.

I’m amazed by this incident, its timing and how much of a blow it was to me emotionally upon reading the email sent out tonight. I am glad that we met, that he frequently and publicly congratulated me on my #WebDesign work, and that he offered a bit of his own life experience to me when he felt like it.

He was also familiar with old-school science fiction works, like those of Terry Pratchett and #LarryNiven; he explained #Ringworld to me, which was a first for me. He was brutally honest to a T, an aspect which I noticed he applied to everyone, no exceptions. He didn’t hold back. And he looked forward to our youth and young adult group – which I found out will be renamed to “Torch” – changing the atmosphere in the UUFC. So we will. And we won’t hold back. Especially not me.

Got a Client!

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I sold my work, made it personal, and listened to members. I demonstrated the website in action on my Macbook, answered all the questions, and I named a *reasonable price* upfront. By the time I finished, shook their hands and left the meeting, I knew that I had a captive audience.

As of 9:03, I can confirm that a small local progressive congregation’s board has approved my proposal to do their website, with a contract to be signed the middle of next month. I am so glad for this moment, and I thank those who lent their support to my proposal before the board meeting, as well as all those who urged me not to sell myself short.

Despite every past impulse compelling me to lower my price, this proposal was at my true, intended price. I will never doubt my skills or my talents, nor will I ever stop asking questions, nor will I ever stop believing that there is always a better way to communicate your ideals. And I now know a better minimum of what my work is worth. #wordpress

Idea: Unitarian Universalist Sports Ministry

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Many UU congregations with their own edifices possess a room that is used as a lending library for books, DVDs and other materials. For example, the UU Fellowship of Columbus, which I’ve attended variably since last year, has a lending library which shares space with the fellowship’s nursery. 

But something that I don’t see mentioned on any UU church site is a sports/fitness space of any kind. 

I’m helping set up a youth/young adult group for this congregation, and we’re starting out small (as a Facebook group). I don’t mind that we’re starting out like this, given that the church’s demographic is largely within the senior citizen demographic. 

But in addition to the many events that we’ll probably do if we attract enough people, I think a solid way to attract young adults to the UU church is through an appeal to fitness and sport. 

I see that many UU churches sponsor trips to mountain resorts, camp sites and whatnot, but a dedicated space for storing sports goods and playing sports would be interesting to hear about from a UU church. I can imagine people coming to UU churches after school or after work during the week, at least to work off stress without having to join an expensive gym or use a recreation center. 

For the UUs, I think the benefit would be an opportunity to operate a sports/fitness space along UU principles. These spaces would emphasize equality, freedom and solidarity.

Finally, I think that such play spaces would start to expand the UU movement’s principles from the exclusively-“intellectual” stereotype of its members to people who are more interested in physical activity and engagement. I think those who are less interested in “intellectual/academic” pursuits are not being engaged enough, and can just as well benefit from UU principles in their personal experiences and social relations. 

Many UU churches also have a meditation room, so why not a gym?