Dear Seeking and Curious Friends,

Let me be among those welcoming you to Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Congregation! When I was in search for a settled ministry, this congregation quickly drew my attention and admiration. I soon realized that there's something special at work among the members of Live Oak, and that I wanted to be part of it. I'm grateful to the mixture of grace, luck, and alchemy that brought us together, and to have been called as the settled Parish Minister of Live Oak.

If you are looking for a church home where you can be known and held as your spiritual journey unfolds, know that we prize warmth and the deep knowing of each other. Live Oak members are passionate about creating and sustaining this web of community, and bringing newcomers into it - at all age levels. The congregation has a longstanding commitment to families, children, and youth: integrating them into services, and providing them with the resources and language to deepen families' conversations about, and exploration into, spiritual matters. Live Oak is a congregation that loves to sing, and laugh, and sometimes cry together. Beneath it all, there is a shared commitment to our Unitarian Universalist Principles and Purposes, and to the liberal religious tradition that we have inherited.

We hope that you will join us for Sunday morning worship, if you haven't already. Visitors are expected! Come and join us!

Bright blessings,
Erika

Rev. Erika's Theology of Unitarian Universalism

I feel blessed to have found Unitarian Universalism: our vibrant and free faith which allows us to engage the questions in our lives rather than subscribe to easy answers. I believe that the world - and our immediate community - is hungry for our "good news" of interdependence, grace, and justice.

My personal theology rests on several beliefs: that we are responsible for our own spiritual journeys, and seeking out our own truth; that we are connected to each other in ways seen and unseen; that we are called to create justice and healing in the world; and that we are held in an abiding Presence that will never let us go.

As a Unitarian Universalist, my religious "authority" comes from different sources. I honor the wisdom of the world's religions. I'm inspired by, and find solace in, the words of sages ranging from Marge Piercy to Rev. Howard Thurman to early Christian texts. At the same time, I believe that our religious path involves cultivating what Thomas Merton called "the silence that is printed in the centre of our beings." We need to attend to the voice of wisdom that comes forth from within each of us.

My faith also rests in the power and solace of community. Whether on Sunday mornings, at committee meetings, or to share social time, we come together as a beloved community that loves generously and lives fully. I believe that religious community provides a steadfast presence for each other even as we bear collective witness to injustice and hate in our world. Together, we can bring greater wholeness and healing to the community and to each other.

Biography

Erika Hewitt was raised in the Midwest, the daughter of a Methodist minister and a clinical psychologist. Her younger brother is a European travel guide/travel writer (possibly the world's second best job, after ministry).

Erika graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a degree in psychology before turning her academic focus toward Latin America. While a graduate student in New Orleans, she discovered Unitarian Universalism. Her involvement with the First UU Church of New Orleans helped her to discern a call to the ministry, so after living in several countries and earning two Master's degrees (Latin American Studies and Anthropology), Erika moved to Berkeley and attended Starr King School for the Ministry, graduating in 2002.

Erika served two Unitarian Universalist congregations before coming to Live Oak, her first ministerial settlement, in August 2005. In addition to her formal ministry at Live Oak, Erika also teaches yoga at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center. Erika approaches yoga as an embodied spiritual practice -- one that she engages in daily. She views the yoga mat as a meeting place, where we connect and re-comment with the Source of Life, and as an arena for the struggle to reconcile our "growing edges" with our aspirations.