Our Minister
 Rev. SUSAN KARLSON


Summer 2010

            This week marks the beginning of the summer season.  Here at the Unitarian Church of Staten Island, we hold the Arthur Foise Summer Forums but we don’t have weekly worship services or Religious Exploration.  It is a quieter time of year as church life slows down. Some people (and I count myself among them) have been going full steam ahead and so we wind down during the summer, reflect on what is needed for the coming year and regroup again in the fall.

            This summer, I hope to really take some time to reflect on the last two years at this church. Our theme for the coming year is “Building A New Way” based on the song by the same name. We began singing this song at my installation in April of 2009.  That song caught on this year and we have sung it often and with passion. Since the children learned it for the Installation, they too know it. When you build a new way, you don’t let go of everything and start from scratch. You honor the past and the legacy that comes from those people who were ahead of their time, who had their own ideas of what was right, just and loving.  The founders and generations that came after them are still very much with us. In cleaning out the boiler area, many archives and historical elements were found, evidence of what previous generations prized and bequeathed to us.

            So with the legacy from others, we build on that solid foundation but our awareness deepens about what matters most now.  The times are changing. New people enter through the doors of the church and have their own concepts of what a progressive church can be.  Inclusivity means embracing the opinions and views of our existing members and making room for those who are new and have gifts and talents of their own.

            My plans this summer are to come up with some Adult Religious Exploration offerings to begin this fall and continue throughout the year. I want to plan services given our theme of “Building a new way”.  I plan to go to the Unitarian Universalist Leadership Training Institute (UULTI) with other leaders of the congregation the end of August, and I hope to go to the Migrant Resource Center and Shelter in Mexico and become acquainted first hand with the conditions and the needs of those deported and trying to cross the borders.  I also have a week of spiritual renewal built into my summer in late July. 

            What will you do with your precious summer?  I hope that it brings you peace, renewal and a deeper understanding of what is most important to you among all your commitments and passions.

Wishing you all a good summer!

Be Well,

Susan

*Note on minister's summer plans:

    The minister at the Unitarian Church of Staten Island has four weeks of study leave and four weeks of vacation, most of which are taken in the summer when the church has lay forums instead of worship services.  I will begin my study leave, a time for planning, studying and spiritual renewal for the year ahead, the week of Monday, June 28th through Sunday, July 25th.  I will be on vacation the first week of August and perhaps some long weekends. 

    I will take the rest of my vacation this year in November to go to India with my daughter and her boyfriend. I hope to visit some of our sister congregations while we're there. I will certainly provide pastoral coverage while I am away on vacation and will let you know as my plans develop and as I work them out with the Board of Trustees and the Worship Arts Committee.

May you all have a summer that is edifying, delightful and that buoys and renews your spirits.

  
Sermon Audio:

2/14 Reimagining Valentine's Day (part 1)

2/14 Reimagining Valentine's Day (part 2)

2/7 Putting Youth First



Contact
 Rev. Susan Karlson,
Unitarian Universalist Minister

Home:
718-442-1012

Church Office:
718-447-2204

Cell:
347-466-0864.

Email:
minister -- @ -- uucsi.org

"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
-- Quote from the fox
in The Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery




About Rev. Karlson

The Rev. Susan Karlson is the minister of the Unitarian Church of Staten Island. Susan moved to Staten Island after receiving and accepting the call to be the settled minister here on May 4, 2008. She officially began her ministry on September 1st. Please see her welcome message on the home page of this website. She lives with her husband, Alan Kindler; a cavorting dog, Lillith; and a beguiling cat, Blue. Susan's daughter lives in New York and Alan's three daughters and his mother live in Virginia. Susan and Alan are delighted to live in Staten Island and look forward to many fulfilling years with the Unitarian Church of Staten Island.


Prior Ministries:
Consulting minister to the Gulf Coast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Gulfport, Mississippi from 2007-2008. Settled Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington in Wilmington, North Carolina (UUFW) from 2003-2007.


Ordination and Unitarian 

Universalist Fellowship:

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Wilmington ordained her to the Unitarian Universalist ministry on November 2, 2003. She received Preliminary Fellowship in May of 2003, recognized at the Service of the Living Tradition during the 2003 General Assembly in Boston, Massachusetts. Susan received Final Fellowship in the fall of 2006, recognized at the Service of the Living Tradition in Portland, Oregon. She was ordained as a Minister of Integral Yoga in 1982 in Santa Barbara, California.


Education and Former

Professional Experience:

Masters in Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. in May of 2003. Susan had a prior career as a clinical social worker and still holds a License in Clinical Social Work in Virginia. She received her Masters in Social Work from Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia and obtained her B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Social Welfare from Old Dominion University, also in Norfolk. Susan had an Integral Yoga Teaching Center in Los Angeles, California, teaching hatha yoga, prenatal yoga, and meditation classes.


Social Justice and Community Involvement:
Susan has a passion for social justice work, born out of a lifelong desire to be of service and her social work background. She served as the co-chair of the Ministerial Roundtable in Wilmington, North Carolina, an interfaith clergy group dedicated to healing the wounds of racism in the area, particularly in congregations which have often been complicit in spreading racial injustice but have institutional and cultural power to transform and dismantle racism. She also served on the Board of Directors for the African American Heritage Foundation.

She was a member of the Thomas Jefferson District's Antiracism Transformation Team since its inception. She participated in three interfaith panels in Wilmington, NC on clergy responses to marriage equality and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender concerns, the difference between religion and spirituality, and the significance of the first amendment concerning religious freedom. She was an active participant in the Steps Coalition, a grassroots community organization working on recovery and transformation in the Gulf Coast area after Hurricane Katrina.


Hobbies and Interests:
Susan regularly practices yoga, qigong and meditation. Her interests include writing, walking, travel, scrapbooking and on an irregular basis, learning to play the guitar.

I regularly practice gigong and other forms of meditation and yoga. I have an active prayer practice and spend time each day with devotional readings. I love to write, walk, travel, and am learning to play the guitar.