In the News
Asking the Clergy: Most significant historical Black figures
From left, the Rev. Natalie M. Fenimore of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, the Rev. Lisa Williams, of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Sister Zainab Bey of the Interfaith Institute of Long Island and the Islamic Center of Long Island. Credit: UU Congregation at Shelter Rock; Hy-Sync Media/James McCray; JamaaI T. Morris
Published by Newsday, February 5, 2o23.
Contributed by Jim Merritt, Journalist
“Black Resistance in the Past, Present and Future,” is the theme of this February’s celebration of Black History Month, according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. This week’s clergy discuss notable African Americans from their faith backgrounds who were paragons of resistance in centuries past.
The Rev. Natalie M. Fenimore
Lead minister and minister of Lifespan Religious Education, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset
There are many significant Black Unitarian Universalists, among them poet and abolitionist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper(1825-1911) and the Rev. Hope Johnson, the minister emerita at the UU Congregation of Central Nassau, in Garden City, and a national conflict resolution and social justice advocate until her death in 2020.
Another important figure is Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928), the son of enslaved people and an inventor who worked with Thomas Alva Edison on the invention of the light bulb and Alexander Graham Bell on the development of the telephone. Latimer was a creative and intellectually curious person who never received the same recognition or pay as non-Black inventors. Latimer insisted on pushing past imposed boundaries. He bought a large house in Flushing, Queens, when few Black people were allowed to live there and in 1908 was a founder of the Unitarian Church in Flushing.
Latimer’s poetic soul shows through in his description of incandescent lighting: “Like the light of the sun, it beautifies all things on which it shines, and is no less welcome in the palace than in the humblest home.” In his heart, his work and his faith, Latimer sought light, beauty and equality. He was true to Unitarian Universalism’s inclusive message of worth and dignity for all.
Asking the Clergy: Finding wisdom in other faith traditions
From left, the Rev. Natalie M. Fenimore of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, the Rev. Vicky L. Eastland of Brookville Reformed Church, and Marie McNair of the Baha’is of Long Island. Credit: UU Congregation at Shelter Rock; Raju A. Eastland; Rebecca McNair
Published by Newsday, January 15, 2023. Jim Merritt, Journalist
World Religion Day, observed on Jan. 15 by members of the Baha’i Faith, is an occasion for interfaith gatherings and celebrating both commonalities and differences among the world’s faiths. This week’s clergy discuss how teachings from other faiths have informed their experiences as spiritual leaders.
The Rev. Natalie M. Fenimore
Lead minister and minister of Lifespan Religious Education, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset
As a Unitarian Universalist minister, my seminary education included the study of other faith traditions. I came to know and appreciate wisdom and beauty inherent in traditions outside my own. Through study and interfaith relationships, I have experienced the many ways that faith communities seek to make meaning, give comfort, share joy.
In my congregation, we seek to join with other faiths to build a better world. I have learned the wisdom of widening the circle of love and care. I have learned that there are so many ways in which other faith traditions offer insights into our common humanity. I regularly use readings and stories from many faith traditions in worship services and for spiritual reflection.
In the words of the noted theologian, philosopher and civil rights activist Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, “No religion is an island. We are all involved with one another. Spiritual betrayal on the part of one of us affects the faith of all of us. Views adopted in one community have an impact on other communities.” All faith traditions can embrace tolerance and diversity. Each human can reflect the glory of the Creator and beauty of creation.
Asking the Clergy: What do houses of worship owe their community?
From left, Rabbi Joel M. Levenson of Midway Jewish Center, the Rev. David Carl Olson of Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, and the Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter of Congregational Church of Patchogue. Credit: Alex M. Wolff; David Carl Olson; Jeffrey Basinger
Published by Newsday, November 6, 2022. Jim Merritt, Journalist
Houses of worship don’t exist in a vacuum, but are often in or near communities with challenges such as food insecurity, health disparities and a lack of equal rights and opportunity. This week’s clergy discuss how they fulfill their faith’s call to public service in their neighborhoods and beyond.
The Rev. David Carl Olson
Associate minister for Congregational Life, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset
Religion includes a call to the development of character. This happens individually through study and devotion, of course, but it is best refined congregationally through public service. Starting in the congregation, we provide a helping hand where it is needed. Then together, in ways that seek to transform, we serve by shortening the distance between our congregation and the communities where we live our public lives.
We learn to identify with the community, to know its heart — joys and woes, assets and deficits. We apply that collective character that we’ve developed. We show leadership by making stronger connections within the community and even make a civic demand. The late U.S. Rep. John Lewis, speaking atop the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 1, 2020, urged us, “Get in good trouble! Necessary trouble! And help redeem the soul of America.” It is the faith that we practice — of seeing our interconnectedness and the inherent worth of each person — that allows us to engage the community not as outside agitators, but as community members and community leaders. Community members not afraid to make a little good trouble, community members willing to do our part in implementing what we demand.
Asking the Clergy: Explaining Sept. 11 to today's youth
From left: Rabbi Ira Ebbin of Congregation Ohav Sholom, Arthur Dobrin of Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, and the Rev. Natalie M. Fenimore of Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock. Credit: Ira Ebbin; Linda Rosier; Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock
Published by Newsday, September 11, 2023. Jim Merritt, Journalist
Sunday, Sept. 11, marks the 21st anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in which nearly 3,000 Americans died, including about 500 Long Islanders. This week’s clergy discuss how they would talk about that day and its aftermath with the generation that has since come of age.
The Rev. Natalie M. Fenimore
Lead minister and minister of Lifespan Religious Education, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset
Children born after Sept. 11, 2001, have lived in a world shadowed by the death and destruction of that day — we all have. This tragedy was a trauma that seemed to normalize terrorism, war, hate. The deaths of thousands, including individual loved ones, are still mourned.
All our lives we will struggle to make sense of the tragedies happening around us. No one can say why these horrors happen. We struggle to keep our faith in goodness, hope, compassion and love.
Still, with all we know of pain, we must embrace our commitment to one another, to community, to accountability. We must not step away from the struggle of humanity but lean in to care and problem-solve. The 9/11 terrorists embraced beliefs of death and destruction; they were wrong. There is a faithfulness that honors life and is life-giving. It is a loving faith, which we must show to our children because this is the greater strength and the only way to a better future.