Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Duluth 
Interim Minister
Welcome to our new interim minister, Gail Marriner! Gail began her new position August 1st. More information about her will be posted here soon, so stay tuned! Below is Gail's letter to the congregation from our August newsletter:
In medias res*
Do you remember Mary Poppins? Do you remember the job description sent up the chimney to the four winds? Do you remember how she floats in clasping her parrot handled umbrella and her magic carpet bag? Do you remember how she takes the children on unexpected adventures into chalk drawings and to tea parties held on the ceiling? And do you remember what she tells the children when they ask if she will stay forever? She says, "I’ll stay until the wind changes…"
Well, Mary Poppins is my role model when it comes to interim ministry. Ok, so the job description was sent out electronically rather than floating up the chimney and it was for a parish minister, not a nanny. And I drove into town at the beginning of June in a Honda Odyssey, with two kids, a dog, a husband and a moving van full of stuff, rather than arriving by umbrella. And my luggage isn’t magical. We will have some wonderful adventures, though. Together we will explore what it means to be a progressive, program size, Unitarian Universalist congregation, in a new ecologically sensitive building, high above the shores of Lake Superior .
You have had a long journey. You have navigated many transitions. You are not the congregation you were a decade ago or even two years ago. Our task together, is to look at who you have been, discover who you are now, and discern who you are becoming. When we discover this and when you are feeling more confident and comfortable with your new self and ready to go forward, the wind will have changed and it will be time for me to leave.
In the meantime, my family and I have moved into a house on Hartley Road and we have fallen in love with Duluth. I’m a Minnesota girl from way back – I grew up in Rochester and my folks still have a lake place over on the Whitefish chain — so this feels like coming home. I’m really glad to be here, and I’m looking forward to meeting you!
Blessings,
Gail*a literary term meaning to begin a story in the middle of the action