Testimonial

         A hamlet in western Charles County is my physical home, and Davies is my spiritual home.  When I came back home to Charles County in 1999 after a 44-year absence, I had already been a UU for 15 years.  Whether I would attend a UU church wasn’t an issue; it was just a matter of finding the right one.  In the fall of that year I came to Davies once, and it only took that one visit for me to know that this place would become my home.  The welcome was warm and I was even recruited for the choir!

         After that one visit I couldn’t return for awhile.  I was building a house, sharing in the care of three terminally ill family members, and completing the largest project I ever had in my career as an independent consultant.  These were all I could handle, until at least one of these three responsibilities was finished.

         By autumn of 2000 I had been in my new house for a few months, and I returned to Davies.  Soon I was invite to the Women’s Circle, where I found emotional support as I went through the loss of one of my sisters, my mother, and my father.  I was deeply glad to be part of a spiritual community where no one expected me to believe that a loving and powerful god would visit my sister with the agonies she experienced in her life and in her dying.  Instead, they simply cared.

         Having recently moved back to an area that I had left at the age of 17, I didn’t have many friends or close connections while going through these losses.  At my sister’s funeral in a Methodist church not long after I returned, I was painfully aware that none of those attending were there to support me.  A few months later, after I had made more connections at Davies, one member of the Women’s Circle came to my mother’s funeral.  When my father died the next year, there was a pew full of my Davies friends.  Having this support meant more than I will ever be able to say.

         A few years ago I had to have shoulder surgery.  A Davies friend came to me, told me she had watched her brother go through such surgery, and invited me to stay with her and her husband after my surgery.  These Davies friends took me in when my need was great.

         I continue to give my Time, Talent, and Treasure to Davies for a variety of reasons, but two are the most important.  First is this sense of community and the support I find here.  The other reason is that I want to be the kind of person who tries to make the world around her a little better. I know I’ll give more energy to my efforts if I’m among people who are also trying to do the same.  All this is well worth all that I can give of both money and time.   

         I’ve been a Unitarian Universalist for 25 years, and a member of Davies for 10 years.  Many UU churches are open, welcoming communities, and Davies is among the best of them.

- Jessica

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