Two days from now, June 1, will mark my first year of discovery of this wonderful church in the woods and the wonderful people who fill it up every Sunday. I woke up that morning and decided to do something for myself, to give myself a present. The people who know me best would laugh and pat me on the back with a hearty "Yeah, right," when I told them what I did on my birthday. For they knew that me walking into a church was most likely never going to happen. Well, a year later and you guys just can't get rid of me. "I'm stayin'."

So this year I've decided to buy myself a piece of Artwork for my birthday. Now that's not a rarity for me, not something new for me, but this is a special kind of Artwork, and ongoing piece that will take a lifetime to finish.

Now no one has put a price on this Artwork so I will have to figure out what it's worth to me and make a commitment to pay what I can afford. "Ah, commitment." There's the rarity. There's the difference. Not something new, but something, as some of you know, that has been a little difficult for me lately.

The easiest way for me to pay for this Artwork is to buy directly from the source. In fact they have set up a kind of "buy here, pay here" plan for me, something called a pledge card.

I will show you this Artwork, this ongoing piece being created by some of the best Artists I know of – the UU congregation and the little church in the woods. (Great Artists). You will see it as a smile on my face, the painting in my mind, and the coloring of my heart and for that I am forever grateful.

- From a testimonial given Sunday, May 30, 2004, by Mike Kerrigan