Rev. Alden Studebaker
Hello Everybody,
We’ve reached the halfway point in our journey together as minister and congregation; two and a half years into my five-year contract. The honeymoon is over and now we’re seeing what we’ve got ourselves into! LOL!
In my experience as a minister these past forty-two years, I’ve observed a pattern emerging from this relationship. The first is generally excitement, new energy, curiosity, and getting acquainted. The next is our first “fight” or stressful event that signals that the honeymoon phase is behind us. In our modern era this moment, seems to come much earlier than it did in years past. Now, we’re in a sorting out phase, where some people are buying into the new leader and others are moving on. There is always a group of people that stay no matter who the minister is. Trust is something that hopefully comes later.
I realize that I am not everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak. Although I’ve never met the former minister, Rev. Christine McFarland, I’m sure that my style and message differ because we are different people with unique characteristics, education, and experiences. This statement is often attributed to our local icon, “You can please some of the people some of the time, all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln.
Ministry is definitely not about pleasing people. It’s about recognizing that we are all evolving together in consciousness. I may have been in this role for a long time, but I consider myself a lifelong learner. If you’ve got an idea for a Sunday message, class, event, or group, feel free to share it with me. If you’ve got a gripe, my door is almost always open when I’m here in the office. As our third essential Unity principle states: “We are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held in Mind.” We are co-creating our ministry through the ideas we share together and our willingness to do our part to make them happen.
Abundant blessings,
Alden Studebaker
July 21, 2026
