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 Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey IslandMinistryMinister
The Reverend Ketcham was ordained in May 1999 after graduation from Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. She served the Wy-east UU Congregation in Portland, Oregon, for four years. Through June 2007 she also served the Vashon Island Unitarian Fellowship. Reverend Ketcham moved to Whidbey Island in 2006 and serves in the pulpit approximately twice per month. Her pulpit schedule is available in each monthly newsletter and on the online Calendar of Events. She has instituted a North End Koffee Klatch group which meets monthly in Coupeville and a South End Koffee Klatch that meets in Clinton. Her efforts have included assisting the congregation in becoming a Welcoming Congregation, open and welcoming to sexual minorities. In addition she provides pastoral care, consultation to committees and individuals, and rites of passage ceremonies. The services of Reverend Ketcham have been valuable in expanding the presence and influence of UUCWI into the Whidbey Island community, establishing itself as a liberal faith tradition which is responsive to the social justice needs of the larger community. Many of Reverend Ketcham's sermons are online and may be downloaded from the list at the bottom of this page. Contact Rev. Ketcham by telephone at 360-331-2163.
ChaplainsA chaplain is a key lay-member of the Pastoral Care team for the Congregation. She or he represents the Congregation, normally at times when the minister is not available:
The chaplain works with and seeks advice from the UUCWI minister. Contact our chaplains: for Sally Elder (north Whidbey), call 360-675-3314; for Bill Graves (south Whidbey), call 360-341-1772. Providing Spiritual EmpathyThe chaplain will visit and talk with people who have undergone or are undergoing situations in their lives that are causing stress, sadness, grief, doubt, perceived loss of meaning, etc. and, as a result, may be feeling spiritually insecure or adrift. Visits may take place by request of the individual, the individual's family, or as a result of an offer made by the chaplain. Visits are not for the purpose of providing mental-health counseling, but rather for the purpose of lending an empathic ear, providing emotional support, helping the individual to feel cared about by the UU community, and buoying their spirits. The chaplain will recommend or encourage counseling or use of other appropriate community resources when the person's emotional situation seems to warrant that. An up-to-date list of community resources will be maintained for this purpose. Rites-of-Passage CeremoniesRites-of-Passage ceremonies include memorial services, weddings, child dedications, ceremonies of comittment or union, and such. The chaplain will first encourage the requesting parties to engage our minister or another nearby UU minister, especially for weddings and child dedications when lead time will usually allow one of them to be available. If no UU minister is available, the chaplain will work with the requesting parties to create a ceremony that meaningfully meets their needs and desires, and complies with any applicable requirements. For a couple requesting to be married, the chaplain will encourage premarital counseling if that has not already taken place, but a decision by the couple to forgo such counseling will not prevent the chaplain from conducting the ceremony unless she feels it is essential based on the behavior of the particular couple. SermonsSelected sermons will be posted here as they are made available. Some of the sermons are provided in Portable Document File (.pdf) format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing. If this software does not automatically open when you click on a sermon link below, you can download a free copy from the Adobe web site. After you download the software, you need to install it. Please see complete instructions for help. Please note that all sermons are copyrighted. Please ask permission to use anything more than brief excerpts. 2008 Sermons Shaping Worth Together: How we Worship, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, May 4, 2008Source #6: Wisdom of Earth-Centered Traditions, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, April 6, 2008 Confessions of a Christian Humanist, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, March 23, 2008 The Nurse Log's Tale, - Dr. Laurent A. Parks Daloz, March 9, 2008 In Andy's Garden, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, March 2, 2008 Our Fifth Source: Humanism, - Rev. Kit Ketcham with Malcolm Ferrier, February 17, 2008 Speaking Truth to Power - in Love, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, February 3, 2008 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Classism, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, January 20, 2008 Twelfth night Epiphanies, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, January 6, 2008 2007 Sermons Where is God in This?, - Bill Graves, January 7, 2007Acknowledging our Spiritual Ancestors, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, January 14, 2007 The Grandmother Galaxy, - Shirley Ann Ranck, January 21, 2007 Dealing with "An Inconvenient Truth, - Social Action Committee, January 28, 2007 Our Love is Here to Stay, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, February 11, 2007 Hope Behind the Headlines , - Walter G. Andrews, February 25, 2007 Faithfulness: Our Covenant with Self , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, March 11, 2007 Faithfulness to the Covenant with our Community , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, March 18, 2007 Faithfulness to the Covenant with Earth , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, March 25, 2007 Renascence , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, April 8, 2007 Facts About Easter , - Tom Walker, April 15, 2007 A long, loving look at the Real , - Bill Graves, May 6, 2007 Leaping from our Spheres , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, May 13, 2007 Leaving the Island , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, May 20, 2007 Laughing at Ourselves , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, June 10, 2007 A Sense of Place and Community , - Malcolm D. Ferrier, August 5, 2007 Source #1: Experiencing the Mystery , - Rev. Kit Ketcham, September 23, 2007 An Attitude of Gratitude, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, October 7, 2007 He said; She said: Words and Deeds of Prophetic Women and Men; Source #2, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, October 21, 2007 Wisdom from the World's Religions; Source #3, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, November 18, 2007 Wisdom from the teachings of Judaism and Christianity; Source #4, - Rev. Kit Ketcham, December 9, 2007 Revering our Children, Protecting their Childhood (Soapbox Sunday talk), - Adam Fawcett, December 30, 2007 2006 Sermons Winter Reflections: Nature as Sacred Text, January 8, 2006Who Am I and What Is My Purpose?, January 22, 2006 What Must I Do to Be Saved?, February 13, 2006 How Do I Know What I Know?, March 6, 2006 Disparate Housewives: How Feminism Has Changed Religion, March 19, 2006 Who or What Is in Charge? The God Question, April 9, 2006 Reflections on Passover and Easter, April 16, 2006 Notes on Earth Day, April 23, 2006 Thomas Merton and Nature, May 7, 2006 Spirit of Life, Come Unto Me, May 14, 2006 What Does My Death Mean?, May 21, 2006 First They Ignore You, June 11, 2006 The Interdependent Web of Existence, September 3, 2006 Coming Home to UUCWI, September 10, 2006 Roots and Wings: Our UU Heritage, September 10, 2006 Voting our Values, November 12, 2006 Surprised By Joy, December 10, 2006 2005 Sermons Aequanimitas (peace of mind) – Imperturbability in a Troubled World, January 2, 2005Four Spiritualities: An Introduction, January 9, 2005 The Journeys of Unity and Devotion, January 23, 2005 Preaching the Relativist Gospel in an Absolutist Age: The Sequel, February 6, 2005 The Journeys of Works and Harmony, February 13, 2005 Let Justice Flow, March 13, 2005 Malcolm Ferrier: This I Believe, March 20, 2005 Robert Lufburrow: This I Believe, March 20, 2005 Easter Through a UU Lens, March 27, 2005 In Andy's Garden, April 17, 2005 Reflections on UU Worship, May 1, 2005 Bridges and Dams on the River of Life, May 8, 2005 Taking the Fifth: Claiming Our Democratic Heritage, May 15, 2005 Grief: A Journey Through Grief – Living our Losses, May 29, 2005 Hellfire And Dalmations: Ministry Without Dogma, June 12, 2005 Flirting with the Truth, August 7, 2005 The Bible and Homosexuality, October 9, 2005 Radical Hospitality, October 23, 2005 Evangelical Unitarian Universalism 101, October 30, 2005 Revisiting the J-Word, November 6, 2005 Hating War; Caring for the Warrior, November 13, 2005 Simple Giftsr, December 11, 2005 2004 Sermons Can We Ever Say 'Enough?'", January 4, 2004Martin Luther King's Challenge To Unitarian Universalists, January 11, 2004 The Ninety-Nine Names of God, February 22, 2004 Death, February 29, 2004 Our Sacred Cosmos, March 14, 2004 Come Into The Circle, March 28, 2004 Sermon on the Amount, April 11, 2004 My Mother's Garden, May 9, 2004 Finding the Sacred in the Profane, May 23, 2004 On a Green Sanctuary, June 6, 2004 T-Shirt Theology: Heretic in Good Company, June 13, 2004 Why I Am a Unitarian Universalist, August 1, 2004 Unitarian Universalism: The Promise and the Challenge, September 26, 2004 The Sermon on the Amount, October 10, 2004 Enslaved by the Truth?, October 31, 2004 Stretching Our Understanding, November 14, 2004 What Wondrous Love Is This?, November 21, 2004 Four by Four: Four Religions, Four Ways of Finding Meaning, December 12, 2004 From Solstice to Sacred Birthday, December 19, 2004 2003 Sermons Abortion: Helping People in Trouble, February 2, 2003This I Believe, March 30, 2003 The Beloved Community, September 14, 2003 Rolling Out The Welcome Mat, October 12, 2003 Hope Has Human Hands, November 9, 2003 Marching to a Different Little Drummer Boy, December 14, 2003 2002 Sermons Hags and Heroes: Ugly to Beautiful, December 8, 2002 |
Home I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy. |
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island is pleased to have the services of a part-time minister, the Reverend Elizabeth 'Kit' Ketcham, who began to serve us in September of 2003.