Karen Washington became involved with UUCP when she discovered that the
Seven Principles fit so well with the principles that she embraced as
life goals. Karen began attending UUCP in 1996 and joined one year later.
The first thing that attracted her was "the warmth and love of
the congregation." The specific thing that made her join UUCP was
the hymn, "Come, Sing a Song With Me". "The first time
that I sang it, I broke into tears and knew I was at home."
Starting when she was a six-year old Roman Catholic learning the Ten
Commandments, to later when she was a Girl Scout learning the Girl Scout
Laws, she had the belief that if she did her part to live a principled
life, she could make the world a little better. Karen said, "The
people who I met in UUCP really seemed to be people who were working
to follow the principles of this religion that I also believe. Perhaps
there is no dogma for UUs, but a principled, ethical way of life is
a dogma for me."
Today, Karen is on the Board, sings with the Choir, is on the Program
Team, R.E. Team, is Board Liaison to the Justice Team, and is the Youth
Group Advisor. The things that bring her the most joy are "singing;
not feeling ashamed to be joyful and loving; having a wonderful mother
and siblings; having a garden; and being retired since Sept. 29th."
Her frustrations come from "The hatred and evil in the world that
I really suspect will never change and not succeeding in spreading-the-word
about UUCP."
This is the beginning of her 3rd year on the Board. Although she was
honored to join the Board, at first she had a certain amount of insecurity.
She looked forward to being in a position where she would get to know
the "inner workings" of the congregation. From the beginning,
her goal "was to make the Board seem like less of an inner sanctum
to the newer or average congregant. The Board has always been a part
of the whole, and I suspect that most people felt, as I had, that it
was apart from the whole. Communication was and is still the key."
Karen really enjoys working with children. She was a Girl Scout Leader
for almost 20 years, and is still involved in Girl Scouting in Englewood.
Her experience working with young people influenced her decision to
become the current Youth Advisor. She said, "I think the R.E. program
is really an important part of any church, and that if we cannot help
our young people grow up knowing what it means to live as a UU, to make
life decisions as a UU, then we're missing an important part about what
it really means to be a Unitarian Universalist person. We might as well
be a club getting together once a week for a nice spiritual lecture
and coffee."
Karen feels that one of the special things she's gained by being a
part of this congregation is getting to know so many people who have
enriched her life. She said, "I just wish I could get all of my
other friends and family to be a part of this spiritual family."
However, she feels that she is still struggling to have her personal
religious beliefs not feel so at odds with some of the congregants.
Karen said, "It's a true struggle to believe strongly in God and
know that so many people are uncomfortable with the concept, but tolerate
my beliefs "on principle"… But I have faith that things
will change.
