Minister's Message

Rev. Hoyt-McDaniels writes a weekly Minister's Message for our church newsletter.  Here are the most recent messages.  For an archive of earlier messages visit Rev. Hoyt-McDaniel's personal website.

February 22, 2025 "Strategic Plan"

If you're new to our church you may not know we have a Strategic Plan.  You can read it here.  During my Minister's Report at the Congregational Meeting on Sunday, I will refer to the progress we have made against the goals of the Strategic Plan, so you might want to read it before our meeting.  Like all important church documents, our Strategic Plan is posted on a google drive called "Congregational Life" shared by all church members.  To access the drive, you need a free google account and the church needs to know which account you will use.  Click here for help accessing the Congregational Life drive .

February 15, 2025, "Balance"

As a citizen, I feel a duty to engage in national politics.  I stay informed, but I know there's little I can do and fretting about it depletes me.  As a private person, I have fulfilling work to do, satisfying relationship with friends and family, and activities that bring me pleasure.  It strengthens me.  It would be wrong to neglect my duty as a citizen, so rather than feeling "torn" between the two, which implies severing the public from the private, I seek balance, a point where my contributions as a citizen are made valuable because I've maximized my personal power.

February 8, 2025, "Harvest the Power'"
Our first session of Harvest the Power was a great success.  Twenty-One participants learned core theories of personal power and where it comes from and shared stories of our leadership experiences.  This Saturday, Jacki Weber and I lead the class in a session on relational power titled, "From I to We".  If you missed our first session you are still encouraged to come to any of the remaining five sessions.  Even if you can only attend one Saturday, please do!  Register Here.  

February 1, 2025, "Winter is Here'"
Winter has at last arrived in Southern California.  The weather has been cold as I walk to the church from the bus stop and it's cold in my office until the heater does its job.  We've all appreciated the rain we finally had - it was beginning to feel that it would never come!  It helps my spirit to stay connected to the physical world, to notice the lengthening days, the new shoots coming up in the ground.  There's an old joke that everyone complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it.  I say, rather than complain that every day isn't 72 degrees and sunny, our spirits would be healthier if we learned to celebrate the changes of every season.