Linda & Roger Anderson

Hello, we’re Linda & Roger Anderson.

We want to speak about our first contact with Beacon.

It was 1999, and we were looking for a place for our kids, then 7 & 5, to get some exposure to spirituality.

Linda was raised as a Catholic, and Roger as a Presbyterian.

We’d scoped out services in both those traditions for our kids, but we were not comfortable.

The day we visited Beacon was Kim Beach’s first service as the interim minister.

He spoke about what UU-ism meant to him.

At the end of the sermon, he asked for congregational response.

I thought, “What did the minister just say?”

No priest ever asked for the congregations’ input.

My hands gripped the wicker chair to try to hold onto something.

Then Roger raised his hand to speak.

“What did he just do?”

What I remember was how welcome I felt.

We were married by a priest, who told me to cross my fingers during some parts of the service.

So I always felt like I needed a shell to protect myself when I was in a church.

Not at Beacon.

Not only was I free to develop my own spirituality, but I was surrounded by people, each of whom was engaged in his or her own search, and all of whom would support me.

• My father was an alcoholic, and coming to Beacon reminded me of my first visit to Al-Anon.

  • I didn’t have to accept the script of conformity, whether to a creed or to codependency.

  • I felt empowered and supported.

We realized immediately that this is it; this is the place, not just for our kids, but for the two of us as well.

We found life-long friends.

The support and freedom we found here called us to get more and more engaged.

And, as Joe Parsons said when he was President of the Board, the more active you become, the more you want to contribute.

We move into a time where we give generously to support how Beacon’s mission comes alive in our lives and in the world, creating a life, a community, a world that we dream about.

Thank you!