I’ve been a Fellowship member for since 1990. I joined to give our children a spiritual education, but now that they are fully launched with good UU values I am still a member for my own sake. I’m helping with the upcoming Stewardship Campaign, and I am going to tell you why I support this Fellowship with my time and treasure.

I see the Fellowship as a liberal sanctuary in a predominantly conservative community. Our values of social change and caring are dear to my heart, but they are not shared by the majority of our neighbors. At work and in my regular golfing foursome I have had to be careful about how I express my views. But here I feel at home and accepted by my companions in our shared spiritual journeys.

Although we are a minority in the Conejo Valley, there are still many hundreds of fellow travelers in our community that also need to have a spiritual home. They need to feel free to express their nonconventional ideas, gender expressions and preferences, and social views without fear of exclusion. They need us, and we need to be here for them.