Rev. Vanessa Titang

Tag: ministry

  • Ordination Day

    Ordination Day

    On June 30th, 2024, I had the gift of being ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister by the 3 church collaborative of Maine.  Held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ellsworth, I was joined by congregants, friends,  family, mentors,  and colleagues.

    The Rev. Ali KC Bell gave the sermon that was moving, powerful, and timely; reminding me of why I started this journey, and what efforts await me next.

    I am blessed to have had the gift of this day, with so many hands welcoming me into fellowship. I am blessed to now be tasked with what comes ahead, serving as Reverend Vanessa Titang.

    Blessed be!

  • “To Bless the Messy” Homily

    This homily has been one that I have returned to multiple times for different spaces. It is also what I presented as my homily for the Ministerial Fellowship Committee in March 2023.

    As the world remains complicated and in many ways a messy place, I believe this message remains relevant.

  • Big News: Preliminary Fellowship

    It is with sweet relief and fulfillment that word has reached me from the Unitarian Universalist Association that I have now achieved Preliminary Fellowship.


    In March, I was both content and disappointed in receiving a 2 (passing, but with contingencies) from my Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) interview. Yet, I am appreciative that within me the MFC had seen my growing edges as well as my potential. I am grateful for this additional growth experience. Upon reading pieces on trauma (the book My Grandmother’s Hands, by Resmaa Menakem; and information from the UU Trauma Response Ministry (https://www.uutrm.org/), and taking 2 Renaissance Modules this summer (UU Theology and Teacher Development) my contingencies were fulfilled.


    In this time, the reprieve from direct ministerial practice and/or seminary study allowed me time and space for discernment of what ministry I am called to, and essentially, in answering “What comes next?” In these last months away from ministry (in an area unfortunately geographically isolated from UU settings) I have missed the community that UU faith creates. I am eager to dive back into this hard, beautiful, meaningful work of ministry. As such, at this time, with the wonderful news of entering Preliminary Fellowship, I am looking into contract ministry, with the intent to return to New England.


    Alas, through all of this, I am deeply appreciative of all who have supported and helped grow me to this point. Your love and wisdom are felt and recognized.
    In gratitude, I pray:

    May you, too, be held in gentle, wise hands
    that love, grow, and nurture you.
    May you too be continuously loved
    Into being.

    Amen.

  • Post MFC Meeting Reflection

    Post MFC Meeting Reflection

    Hello dear ones,

    Much has come to pass since I have updated on my ministerial journey here– I realize now I never updated on the decision of the MFC after my meeting!
    So I was “continued in candidacy”, with some contingencies to complete. Upon completion I can be granted preliminary fellowship. Some ministers I know who previously saw the MFC tell me the MFC used to call this “passing with contingencies”. So I passed. But, it was hard to feel that way after the decision was made. It was definitely a mix of emotions and hence probably why I never got around to posting here.

    Since then I have completed a number of my contingencies, with 2 remaining (UUA Renaissance Modules). I will take the modules this summer.
    Of the contingencies I completed I was asked to view the UU Trauma Response Ministry website, educate myself more on “Safe Congregations”, and to read My Grandmother’s Hands, by Resmaa Menakem.
    My Grandmother’s Hands was a challenge, but a necessary one. I had already had a copy of the book, but never got around to reading it until now. I HIGHLY recommend it, but also to be sure to have a support system in the process; it brings up a lot of difficult topics that can further be difficult based on your own personal story.

    After doing these things, and having time to process I am appreciative of the pause and discernment time the MFC enabled me, with their decision. I don’t think I could have written this well to inform immediately after their decision. Some things take time, and I have a habit of “taking the long way around.”

    Blessings,
    Vanessa

  • (Preparing for the MFC) With a Non-anxious Presence

    Dear Ones,

    This evening I will interview before the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee.
    I have been preparing for this moment since the day I decided to apply to seminary. A successful interview would put me into preliminary fellowship in ministry.

    I am not anxious, as I thought I would be. Nerves are there, but I think this is what healthy confidence feels like, or just the realization of being READY.

    Blessings to you all!
    Graciously,
    Vanessa

  • Blessed, When the World Has Fallen Apart

    Blessed, When the World Has Fallen Apart

    (Reflection on a blessing from a Nigerian Chief, given Juneteenth 2022, in Maine)

    The world has fallen apart

    Though this is not the first time,

    It is just one of the times

    where it is all too much;

    Intentionally crafted

    By mortal powers that be.

    Not ordained by divinity.

    Weakened,

    But not dead

    I remind myself.

    And yesterday I was again reminded

    Of ancestors

    Who have been tasked similarly.

    What is next?

    What do I do now?

    When my back has been given

    Far too much weight

    To bare;

    When the final straw is placed?

    I did not know what I needed,

    Until it was before me,

    A spirit of power and memory,

    Backlit by the warm glow of summer sun,

    A masked figure,

    Familiar to family I do not know,

    And my predecessors,

    Speaking in a language I do not know,

    But understood.

    The slow, careful sound of ankle bells  

    And a motion to come forth,

    Welcomed me in,

    And back,

    Back,

    Back,

    In time and space,

    Back.

    This has happened before,

    And here

    we are;

    Still.

    A blessing given

    Of memory,

    Of protection,

    Of our shared connection,

    I cannot know the intention,

    But I felt it

    We all felt it.

    Let us not forget;

    Never forget,

    This moment,

    Or all that brought us

    Here—in time and space.

    Remembering

    Past, present

    And that

    we are not done,

    –This is always just beginning.

    We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams,

    May we be our descendants’ bravest heroes,

    keepers of the flame,

    Knowing we are the ones we have been waiting for,

    Thus,

    let’s go!

  • Porous

    April 27, 2022

    Ministerial formation is a unique and significant process of understanding self, and through this growing wiser and closer to others. As a racial minority in this faith,  this region,  this country how this manifests for me is in many ways different that the experience of many of my peers. In formation both unnecessary and the needed protective layers of self are removed in the process, to grow anew. This poem is a reflection of the experience of vulnerability and growth in the formation process, particularly for members of minority and/or marginalized groups.

    Vulnerable;

    Stripped down to the root,

    The wick of my personhood,

    Bark removed,

    The damp core of wood exposed,

    Formation is just this

    –Formation;

    Here from a ready made structure

    It requires this stripping,

    For the careful identification of scars

    And gnarled roots;

    Grow anew

    New bark, new buds,

    And blooms will form,

    This regrowth is slow,

    Unperceivable without a microscope,

    Without awareness,

    But it occurs nonetheless,

    New growth forms skin,

    A new skin,

    A different skin,

    Not only providing protection,

    But also allowing breath;

    Porous,

    Not just a barrier,

    But filtering in

    The good.

  • But what does covenant mean; What does it mean to me?

    But what does covenant mean; What does it mean to me?

    Dear Ones,

    The last 5 months I have learned so much from my experience amongst the 3 church collaborative of Maine, as your ministerial intern. Currently, I am learning how to integrate pastoral care skills alongside worship to see the care of the individual and the congregation as a whole.

     In my time here and now in my final semester of divinity school I have come to appreciate the place and purpose of covenant in our faith spaces. When I first joined a Unitarian Universalist church in 2018 I found the emphasis on covenant new and a bit of a mystery.  I came to recognize the repetition of these covenants as part of a spiritual practice of joining and engaging in community.  It is in my final semester that I am really exploring and coming to understand what covenant means for and to us each.

    Oxford English dictionary defines covenant as follows,  

    1. an agreement.

    “there was a covenant between them that her name was never to be mentioned”

    • LAW

    a clause in a contract.

    • THEOLOGY

    an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people. The Jewish faith is based on the biblical covenants made with Abraham, Moses, and David.

     

    But the definition provided here  did not inform what I know is at the heart of covenant in UU churches.  Synonyms of “promise”, “pledge”, “vow” included later with this definition expressed the emotional, spiritual component in this kind of agreement.

    From my experience, yes, covenant is an agreement between people, but in their rarest form–with feelings exposed; markers of testament to the purpose and need for such powerful and yet delicate negotiation between human beings.  Covenant is us being authentically human and through agreements upholding expectations and granting grace.  This is a divine human spiritual contract. From this I now  appreciate why covenant remains such an integral piece of this faith, in upholding each of its 7 UU principles.

     

    My hope is that this exploration of covenant has filled you with curiosity and reaffirmed the value of covenant in our shared faith, as it has for me.

    With greatest blessings,

    Vanessa

     

  • Widen the Circle

    Widen the Circle

  • A Gift

    A Gift

    Original mixed media collage